A simple model is proposed to improve the sediment concentration monitoring in the large rivers of the Peruvian Amazon from an index concentration sampled in the flow. This powerful tool for optimizing the concentration sampling allows for detailed uncertainty analysis on the sediment fluxes. It can be coupled with remote sensing and hydrological modeling to serve as a step toward the development of an integrated approach for assessing sediment fluxes in poorly monitored basins.

Typically we think of a shoreline growing with a smooth line separating the land and the water. If the growth is unstable, however, the land/water front would exhibit a roughness that grows with time. Here we ask, Can the growth of deltaic shorelines be unstable? Through mathematical analysis we show that growth is unstable when the shoreline is building on to an adverse slope. The length scale of the unstable signal in such a case, however, might be obscured by other geomorphic processes.

Soil erosion, especially in vulnerable conditions such as post-fire landscapes or tilled agricultural soils, is greatly affected by the occurrence of burst of intense rainfall. These are often set within longer periods of less intense rain. This paper documents the nature of the intensity bursts at two Australian locations, and shows that high-resolution rainfall records are required in order to make estimates of the intensity. Hourly rainfall data are not suitable for this task.

Representing the surface of the earth on an equally spaced grid leads to errors and uncertainties in derived slope and aspect. Using synthetic data, we develop a quality metric that can be used to compare the uncertainties in different datasets. We then apply this method to a real-world lidar dataset, and find that one-meter data has larger error bounds than lower resolution data. The highest data resolution is not always the best choice – it is important to consider the quality of the data.

We applied a numerical model to simulate a large lowland braided river with suspended sediment transport, and analyzed the morphologic changes at confluences and their controlling factors. The confluences exhibit some dynamic processes and geometric characteristics similar to those observed in individual confluences arising from two tributaries, but they also show some unique characteristics resulting from the influence of overall braided pattern and especially the neighboring upstream channels.

We performed seven physical experiments to explore terrace formation and sediment export from a braided alluvial river system that is perturbed by changes in water discharge, sediment supply or base-level. Each perturbation differently affects (1) the geometry of terraces and channels, (2) the timing of terrace formation, and (3) the transient response of sediment discharge. Our findings provide guidelines for interpreting fill terraces and sediment export from fluvial systems.

This research has been conducted to develop the use of Passive Acoustic Monitoring (PAM) for bedload monitoring in rivers. Monitored bedload acoustic signals depend on bedload characteristics (e.g. grain size distribution, fluxes) but are also affected by the environment in which the acoustic waves are propagated. This study focuses on the determination of propagation effects in rivers. An experimental approach has been conducted in several streams to estimate acoustic propagation laws.

We propose a new algorithm to solve the problem of flow routing across local depressions in the topography, one of the main computational bottlenecks in landscape evolution models. Our solution is more efficient than the state-of-the-art, with an optimal linear asymptotic complexity. The algorithm has been designed specifically to be used within landscape evolution models, and also suits more generally the efficient treatment of large digital elevation models.

The concentration of cosmogenic ¹⁰Be in river sediment is a widely used method to estimate catchment-average erosion rates. Measuring the ¹⁰Be concentration of a single grain size fraction, in catchments where the ¹⁰Be concentrations differ per grain size, could potentially result in biased erosion rates. In this study we investigated the causes of grain size-dependent ¹⁰Be concentrations and identified the type of catchments which are sensitive to biased catchment-average erosion rates.

Our findings show regional sea-level rise (SLR) impact predictions can be made using relatively coarse data. To predict the coastal response to SLR, detailed information on the landscape, including elevation, vegetation, and/or level of development are needed. However, we find the inherent relationship between elevation and land cover datasets (e.g. beaches tend to be low lying) is used to reduce error in a coastal response to SLR model, suggesting new applications for areas of limited data.

We studied uplifted marine terraces in the southern Iran that are part of the Makran subduction zone. Our results show that most terraces were formed in the last 35 000–250 000 years. Based on their altitude and the paleo sea-level, we derive surface uplift rates of 0.05–5 mm yr⁻¹. The results indicate that the region has been accumulating permanent deformation during the Late Quaternary, but we are currently uncertain whether this deformation occurs continuously or during large earthquakes.