Spatial variability in the timing, nature and extent of channel response to typical human disturbance along the Upper Hunter River, New South Wales, Australia.

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Author(s)
Hoyle, J
Brooks, A
Brierley, G
Fryirs, K
Lander, J
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2008
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Prior to European settlement the Upper Hunter River near Muswellbrook, New South Wales was a passively meandering gravel-bed river of moderate sinuosity and relatively uniform channel width. Analyses of floodplain sedimentology, archival records, parish maps and aerial photographs document marked spatial variability in the pattern of channel change since European settlement in the 1820s. Different types, rates and extents of change are reported for seven zones of adjustment along an 8 km study reach. This variable adjustment reflects imposed antecedent controls (buried terrace material and bedrock), which have significantly ...
View more >Prior to European settlement the Upper Hunter River near Muswellbrook, New South Wales was a passively meandering gravel-bed river of moderate sinuosity and relatively uniform channel width. Analyses of floodplain sedimentology, archival records, parish maps and aerial photographs document marked spatial variability in the pattern of channel change since European settlement in the 1820s. Different types, rates and extents of change are reported for seven zones of adjustment along an 8 km study reach. This variable adjustment reflects imposed antecedent controls (buried terrace material and bedrock), which have significantly influenced local variability in river sensitivity to change, as well as contemporary morphodynamics and geomorphic complexity. Local variability in system responses to disturbance has important implications for future river management and rehabilitation.
View less >
View more >Prior to European settlement the Upper Hunter River near Muswellbrook, New South Wales was a passively meandering gravel-bed river of moderate sinuosity and relatively uniform channel width. Analyses of floodplain sedimentology, archival records, parish maps and aerial photographs document marked spatial variability in the pattern of channel change since European settlement in the 1820s. Different types, rates and extents of change are reported for seven zones of adjustment along an 8 km study reach. This variable adjustment reflects imposed antecedent controls (buried terrace material and bedrock), which have significantly influenced local variability in river sensitivity to change, as well as contemporary morphodynamics and geomorphic complexity. Local variability in system responses to disturbance has important implications for future river management and rehabilitation.
View less >
Journal Title
Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
Volume
33
Issue
6
Copyright Statement
© 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.. This is the pre-peer reviewed version of the following article: Spatial variability in the timing, nature and extent of channel response to typical human disturbance along the Upper Hunter River, New South Wales, Australia, Earth Surface Processes and Landforms Vol. 33(6), 2008, pp. 868-889, which has been published in final form at http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/esp.1580.
Subject
Geology
Physical geography and environmental geoscience