Quantifying Rock Strength from River Channel Morphology
Abstract
The strength of rocks underlying a landscape has important implications for developing army operation plans. This project will quantify how differences in rock strength result in changes in channel morphology of bedrock streams, providing a potential method to remotely map rock strength from observations of channel morphology. Although lithology is known to influence river and landform morphology, a quantitative framework linking rock strength to channel form is lacking. This work will fill that knowledge gap by testing the hypothesis that as a river flows over different rock types, changes in the morphology can be quantitatively related to material properties. To address this hypothesis, we focus our proposed work around three objectives for a natural system in central Arizona where streams flow over a wide range of rock types. The objectives are organized to systematically test this hypothesis and provide insight into why and how rock strength influences bedrock erosion processes and morphology. Measurements of channel morphology and characteristics (objective 1) will be compared to quantitative estimates of rock strength (objective 2) including tensile strength. Additionally, a series of contro11ed laboratory experiments (objective 3) will quantify the susceptibility of the different rock types to abrasion and damage accumulation/fatigue. The results of the proposed work wil1 result in quantitative relationships between channel morphology and rock strength. Moreover, because of the focus on understanding why and how rock strength influences channel morphology, we will develop a quantitative framework for predicting rock strength from channel morphology in locations beyond our field site.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Sep 11, 2018
- Source ID
- W911NF1710248
Entities
People
- Brian J Yanites
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- Indiana University
- United States Army