Sinuosity of Alluvial Rivers on the Great Plains

摘要

Data on the morphologic and sediment characteristics of stable alluvial rivers of the Great Plains were collected at 50 cross sections. The channel patterns of these rivers were classified into five types: tortuous, irregular, regular, transitional, and straight. Because no clear demarcation existed between each of the types, the pattern of the rivers was described by sinuosity, a ratio of channel length to valley length. The sinuosity ((P)) of these rivers is related to the shape of the channels expressed as a width-depth ratio (F) and to the percentage of silt and clay in the perimeter of the channel (M) as follows: