Reconstruction of eroded and deposited sediment volumes in the floodplains of the embanked River Waal, the Netherlands, for the period 1650 – 1850 AD

The embanked floodplains of the River Waal developed as a result of stepwise downstream migration of meander bends between confining dykes. Accretion in the upstream limb of the outer bend – enhanced by groynes and trees – and erosion in the downstream limb have resulted in a series of successively developed sand bars, separated by secondary channels. On top of the sand bars and the secondary channel fills, fine-grained overbank sediments were deposited. Downstream migration ceased around 1850 AD, when the river bed was fixed by large-scale construction of groynes, and only overbank deposition continued.