Sediment continuity: historical development and misconceptions of a core concept of geomorphology
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59236/geomorphica.v2i2.57Keywords:
Sediment continuity, history of science, river, dredging, experimentsAbstract
Two core concepts of geomorphology are continuity of flow and sediment continuity. Notions of flow continuity already appeared in Da Vinci and Galileo (16th -17th centuries), while for sediment continuity we generally refer to Exner’s 1925 paper. This raises the question how conceptualizations of morphology developed between those times. This paper focuses on the historical theorization of riverbed erosion and sedimentation. While the principle of sediment continuity is applied in many geomorphic contexts, most relevant historical sources concern rivers. The dominant model of river flow in the 18th century held that rivers flow faster when deeper. Practitioners inferred that faster flow would lead to erosion and deepening, and overlooked the effect of upstream supply; an overgeneralization still made by undergraduate students. These misconceptions inspired river ‘normalization’, aimed to reduce ice dams and flooding and improve navigation, but inadvertently caused river incision and bifurcation instability. Sediment continuity started to develop in several forms through late-19th-century experiences in engineering and dredging, related to studies of river meandering and to the first scale models with moving sediment. Yet past river management based on misconceptions continue to have adverse effects on present-day rivers, as exemplified by the Anthropocene state of the river Rhine.
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Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
Grant numbers P21-13;15670 -
European Research Council
Grant numbers DEEPMED-101002330
