Sediment transport and sedimentation along the Amazon floodplain
Conference
·
· Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States)
OSTI ID:6877023
As the Amazon River leaves the Andean foothills and crosses the structural trough in its Brazilian segment, it receives a large increment of discharge, but a small increase in sediment load from the bounding cratons. The gradient of the river declines gradually from Iquitos, Peru, downstream to Coari, Brazil, before increasing downstream to the vicinity of Manaus as the river crosses a structural arch. Between Manaus and Obidos, the river slope declines sharply. The interplay of the variable gradient and increasing discharge creates a pattern of boundary shear stress and sediment transport which the authors have defined by measurement and calculation. The downstream divergence of suspended and bed load transport is responsible for the patterns of aggradation, channel behavior and floodplain morphology. Aggradation has been computed on the basis of three years of sediment transport measurements; floodplain morphology was documented from radar photography and navigation charts; and channel migration from these charts and from aerial and satellite photography. In the reach between the Peruvian border and Coari, the river deposits sand bars within and alongside the channel and shifts laterally at a relatively rapid rate, forming a scroll-bar floodplain topography with long, narrow lakes. In the middle, steeper reach no net aggradation was measured, sand-bar development and channel shifting are limited. Below Manaus, the rapid decline in gradient and the large influx of Andean sediment from the Rio Madeira result in deposition of almost the entire sand load and a portion of the silt.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Washington, Seattle (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 6877023
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-8510489-
- Conference Information:
- Journal Name: Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States) Journal Volume: 17
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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