This is a partially developed activity description. It is included in the collection because it contains ideas useful for teaching even though it is incomplete.

Initial Publication Date: November 22, 2010

Channel Planform Adjustment

Devon Burr, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Tennessee Knoxville

Topic: fluvial geomorphology
Course type: Upper level undergraduate course

Description

The exercise I have in mind would model how a river adjusts its channel planform to changes in slope, sediment size, discharge, and sediment cohesion.

Learning Goals or Outcomes

1) An appreciation of how various parameters affect channel planform
2) An understanding of how selected parameters combine to create specific planform patterns

How would you assess whether those goals have been met?

1) whether the output from the model -- eg., plots of variation in each parameter vs. channel planform, and then plots of multiple variable vs channel planform -- are correct
2) whether the student can answer questions about this topic on a subsequent exam

References

Knighton 1998 "Fluvial Forms and Processes"

Anderson and Anderson 2010 "Geomorphology: The Mechanics and Chemistry of Landscapes"