Geosciences 560: Fluvial Geomorphology
Spring 2008
University of Montana
4 credits
MWF 8:10-9 am; Clapp 423

Instructor:
Andrew Wilcox, Assistant Professor, Geosciences
Office hours: MW 9-10 or by appointment; Football Stadium Skybox 104A
(temporary office during asbestos abatement of 3rd floor Clapp)
andrew.wilcox@umontana.edu; phone 243-4761

Fluvial Geomorphology will provide an in-depth investigation of the processes that determine the form and evolution of rivers and streams. The course will combine lectures, discussions, field data collection, and modeling activities. This is not a straight lecture class! Active learning and student participation will be an essential component. As much as possible, we will take advantage of the exciting geomorphic experiment occurring in our backyard this semester—the removal of Milltown Dam.

Our inquiries this semester will be guided by several related questions / themes:
• What processes determine the form and evolution of rivers and streams?
• How are form and process linked in river channels?
• How do river form and process vary spatially? Temporally?
• How can we apply knowledge about fluvial geomorphic processes to river restoration and management?

Goals
As a result of your experiences in G560, you will have the opportunity to:
• gain a strong understanding of river channel processes and of the linkages between river channel form and process
• acquire fundamental knowledge about fluvial geomorphic processes needed to manage and restore rivers
• communicate an understanding of the interrelationships among fluvial geomorphic concepts and theories to peers and others
• use models, data, and logical reasoning to critically evaluate and connect information about river processes
• interpret and analyze literature about fluvial geomorphology from both secondary and primary sources
• improve your capacity to work as a member of a productive, collaborative team
• gain experience collecting and analyzing field data
• improve writing skills.

Department of Geosciences Spring Seminars, Mondays 4:10-5, Skaggs 114
Attendance required at the following 2 seminars
4/21: Ben Crosby, Idaho State University: “Reading rivers: How do we interpret the origin and evolution of transient signals in channel networks?”
4/28: Leonard Sklar, San Francisco State University: “How pebbles shape mountains: the role of sediment in river incision into bedrock”
Attendance encouraged at other seminars as well (schedule)

Grading:
30% Group project
30% Final independent project
25% Assignments / assessments
10% Class participation (including leadership of a discussion, active participation in discussions and other in-class activities, seminar attendance)
5% Journal paper critical review

Group project:
We will be collecting and analyzing data related to the removal of Milltown Dam. This will entail at least one field trip and, working with a group, various types of analyses that will contribute to Milltown studies. Stay tuned for details.
Field trips:
Sunday, March 2: West Missoula / Kelly Island Group
Friday, March 7: Downstream of dam / Bandmann Flats Group
Saturday, March 8: Missoula Group

Total station data

Link to WinXSPro

CFR Field Project
Barnes et al. Roughness characteristics of natural channels
Aerial photographs were flown in 2006 by Missoula County and are available for download here. These are MrSID format, very large files. To view them, you can either pull them into ArcGIS or use a free viewer, available for download from www.lizardtech.com. View the metadata here. The relevant photo numbers are as follows: Tower Street/Kelly Island reach, 06_241320; Bandmann and Missoula Gage reaches, 06_181318; Missoula Gage reach continued, 06_191318.

Independent project:
The final project and paper will consist of an independent, hypothesis-driven research project on a topic in fluvial geomorphology of the student’s choice. Students are encouraged to pursue a topic that will contribute to their graduate research; otherwise I will happily assist students in developing a project. The project must use original research (i.e., not only literature review) to investigate and test a hypothesis about fluvial processes. A variety of tools may be used, including field data collection, modeling, GIS analysis, etc. The project will culminate in a paper of =10 pages (1.5 line spacing) in standard journal paper format (Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, References Cited, Tables and Figures) and a short presentation in the final week of class. Each student needs to meet with me to discuss their proposal and progress before April 18. Students are encouraged to assist each other with field data collection.
Proposal (one paragraph) due: March 21
Deadline for meeting with ACW to discuss project: April 18
Presentations: April 30 and May 2
Paper due date: May 7

Paper readings and discussion:
We will read one (or occasionally two) journal paper(s) each week and spend a portion of one class section each week discussing the paper. Discussion leadership will rotate among students. These will be relatively brief discussions (20-30 minutes) designed to encourage critical thinking about primary literature and broad participation. Students will also be asked to submit a written critical review (not a summary; =1 page single spaced) on any one journal paper other than the one for which you lead discussion.

Guidelines for discussion leadership

Guidelines for paper review

Lectures
Acknowledgments: In developing these lecture materials, I have drawn on images, ideas, and content from many sources, but would especially like to thank and acknowledge the following: Leonard Sklar, Ellen Wohl, Brian Bledsoe, Bill Dietrich, Derek Booth, Kelin Whipple, and Peter Wilcock.
Note: What is posted here are pdf's of the powerpoint slides shown during class. Often additional material will be covered on the whiteboard that will not be posted here.
Course overview (1/23, 1/25, 1/28)
Fluid mechanics (1/30, 2/4- only overview slides and figures shown here, most content presented on board)
Climate change and fluvial geomorphology (2/1)
Fluid mechanics: stress partitioning, turbulent and laminar flow, velocity profiles (only overview slides and figures shown here, most content presented on board)
Measuring discharge and introduction to sediment transport (2/27)
Sediment transport: modes of motion, forces on grains (3/3)
Sediment transport: estimating bed material transport, sediment mixtures, armoring, pulse experiments (3/14, 3/17)
River flows and geomorphology: Flow regimes, dominant discharge, hydraulic geometry (3/19, 3/31)
Hydraulic geometry, channel classification (4/2, 4/4)
Channel pattern (4/7, 4/9)
Flow in bends, floodplains (4/11, 4/14)
River profiles (4/16)

Announcements
1/29: Schedule revision: In recognition of the UM (and national) climate change teach-in day on Jan. 31, we will discuss climate change and fluvial geomorphology on Friday, Feb. 1. Part of the class time will include a journal paper discussion of Beltaos and Burrell, 2003, "Climatic change and river ice breakup". The paper is posted on Eres, please come to class on Friday ready to discuss. We'll return to the regularly scheduled program of fluid mechanics the following Monday.

2/14: We will be discussing Buffington & Montgomery (1999a), Effects of hydraulic roughness...., in class on Friday 2/15. The paper is posted on Eres.

2/14: I recommended that students who are less experienced with Excel do some online tutorials. Here is a link to an Excel tutorial exercise written by Steve Sheriff (Geosciences professor) that is a good place to start: Steve Sheriff Excel tutorial.

2/25/08: Please take a look at the questions I listed during class regarding the field project (link here) and email me your responses before Wednesday 2/27.

2/27/08: Initial field trips for Clark Fork River / Milltown field project scheduled (see above under group project). If you're not sure what group you're in, please contact me.

3/17/08: Mid-semester course evaluation- please provide me your feedback

4/10/08: Extra session on data processing methods, Clapp 11 (computer lab), 8:10-9. Bring your data and questions!

Projects / assignments
In-class assessment: Fluid mechanics; 2/8/08

Homework 1: Fluid mechanics; due 2/15/08

Homework 2: Bedload transport; due 3/14/08

Homework 3: Analysis of USGS gage data, due 4/2/08

Homework 4: Process domains, due 4/16/08

Readings:
Text: Fluvial Forms and Processes, David Knighton (1998)

Supplemental text:
E-book by Gary Parker, 1D Sediment Transport Morphodynamics with Application to Rivers and Turbidity Currents (free download)

Supplemental readings TBA

Journal papers: link to UM Eres site for pdf’s

Full citations for journal papers:
Week 2:
Nelson, J.M., Bennett, J.P., and Wiele, S.M., 2003, Flow and sediment-transport modeling, in Kondolf, G.M., and Piegay, H., eds., Tools in fluvial geomorphology: England, Wiley, p. 539-576. (not all required)

Beltaos, S. and B.C. Burrell (2003), Climatic change and river ice breakup. Can. J. Civ. Eng. 30: 145-155.

Week 3: no paper

Week 4:
Buffington, J. M., and D. R. Montgomery (1999a), Effects of hydraulic roughness on surface textures of gravel-bed rivers. Water Resources Research 35:3507-3521.

Week 5:
Wilcock, P.R. (2004), Sediment Transport in the Restoration of Gravel-bed Rivers, Invited paper, Proceedings, ASCE Environmental and Water Resources Institute Annual Congress, Salt Lake City.

Week 6:
Buffington, J. M., and D. R. Montgomery (1999), Effects of sediment supply on surface textures of gravel-bed rivers, Water Resources Research, 35(11), 3523-3530.

Week 7:
Church, M. (2006), Bed material transport and the morphology of alluvial river channels. Annual Review of Earth and Planetary Sciences 34: 325-354.

Week 8:
Walter, R.C. and D.J. Merritts (2008), Natural streams and the legacy of water-powered mills. Science 319:299-304.
Montgomery, D. R. (2008), Dreams of natural streams, Science, 319(5861), 291-292.

Week 9:
Goodwin, P. (2004) Analytical solutions for estimating effective discharge. J. Hydraulic Engineering 130: 729-738.

Week 10:
Montgomery, D.R. and J.M. Buffington (1997). Channel reach morphology in mountain drainage basins. GSA Bulletin 109: 596-611.

Week 11.
Montgomery, D. 1999. Process domains and the river continuum. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 35:397-410.
Montgomery, D. R., B. D. Collins, J. M. Buffington, and T. B. Abbe (2003), Geomorphic effects of wood in rivers, in The Ecology and Management of Wood in World Rivers, edited by S. V. Gregory, et al., pp. 21-47, American Fisheries Society, Bethesda, MD.

Week 12:
Wohl E., P. L. Angermeier, B. Bledsoe, G. M. Kondolf, L. MacDonnell, D. M. Merritt, M. A. Palmer, N. L. Poff, D. Tarboton (2005), River restoration, Water Resour. Res., 41, W10301, doi:10.1029/2005WR003985.

Week 13:
Crosby, B. T., and K. X. Whipple (2006), Knickpoint initiation and distribution within fluvial networks: 236 waterfalls in the Waipaoa River, North Island, New Zealand, Geomorphology, 82(1-2), 16-38.

Week 14:
Sklar, L.S. et al. in prep, Translation and dispersion of sediment pulses in flume experiments simulating gravel augmentation below dams. (read for class)
Sklar, L. S., and W. E. Dietrich (2001), Sediment and rock strength controls on river incision into bedrock, Geology. (read for seminar)