The barrier river reach identification and classification in the Middle Yangtze River

doi:10.1007/s11707-018-0689-9

Front. Earth Sci.

2019, Vol. 13

Issue (3) : 596-613 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-018-0689-9

RESEARCH ARTICLE

The barrier river reach identification and classification in the Middle Yangtze River

Jinwu TANG¹, Chunyan HU¹, Xingying YOU^2,³(

), Yunping YANG⁴, Xiaofeng ZHANG³, Jinyun DENG³, Meng CHEN²

¹. Changjiang Institute of Survey Planning Design and Research, Wuhan 430010, China
². Hubei Institute of Survey & Design for Water Resources & Water Power Engineering, Wuhan 430064, China
³. State Key Laboratory of Water Resource and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
⁴. Key Laboratory of Engineering Sediment, Tianjin Research Institute for Water Transport Engineering, Ministry of Transport, Tianjin 300456, China

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Abstract

Adjustments of upstream river regimes are one of the main factors affecting downstream fluvial processes. However, not all adjustments of river regimes will propagate downstream. There are some distinctive river reaches where upstream and downstream adjustments have no relevance. However, the irrelevance is neither caused by different river types nor by the different conditions of water and sediment; but rather, the channel boundaries and riverbed morphologies block the propagation effect. These are referred to here as the barrier river reach phenomena. The migration of the thalweg line is the essential reason for causing the propagation effect. Numerous influencing factors for thalweg migration exist, including 1) the average flow rate above the critical bankfull discharge, the average flow rate below the critical bankfull discharge, and their ratio, 2) the ratio of the duration of the aforementioned two periods, 3) the thalweg displacement at the entrance of the river reach, 4) the deflecting flow intensity of the node, 5) the ratio of the river width to water depth, 6) the relative width of the floodplain, and 7) the Shields number. In this study, the correlativity between the measured distances and the restricting indicators of thalweg migration in the Middle Yangtze River over the years was established. The barrier degree of 27 single-thread river reaches was subsequently assessed. These reaches included 4 barrier river reaches; 5 transitional reaches transforming from barrier to non-barrier; 10 transitional reaches transforming from non-barrier to barrier; and 8 non-barrier river reaches. Barrier river reaches were found to be important for maintaining the stability of the river regime and the transverse equilibrium of sediment transport in the downstream reaches. To some extent, the barrier river reaches may protect the natural dynamical properties from being destroyed by artificial river regulation works. Thus, they are of great significance for river management.

Keywords the barrier river reach Yangtze River channel adjustment thalweg migration identification and classification

Corresponding Author(s): Xingying YOU

Just Accepted Date: 15 March 2018 Online First Date: 01 April 2019 Issue Date: 15 October 2019

Cite this article:

Jinwu TANG,Chunyan HU,Xingying YOU, et al. The barrier river reach identification and classification in the Middle Yangtze River[J]. Front. Earth Sci., 2019, 13(3): 596-613.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/10.1007/s11707-018-0689-9
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/Y2019/V13/I3/596

Fig.1 Sketch map of river channel and hydrological situation. (a) Shashi–Chenglingji Reach; (b) Chenglingji–Wuhan Reach; (c) Wuhan–Hukou Reach; (d) Flow and sediment concentration and longitudinal profile .

Fig.2 Sketch map of the Barrier River Reach.

Fig.3 Diagram of the river regime propagations in the Baishazhou-Tianxingzhou Reach.

Fig.4 Diagram of the river regime barriers in the Daijiazhou–Guniusha Reach.

Fig.5 Diagram of the river regime barriers in the Nianziwan–Tiepu Reach.

Fig.6 The method framework of this research.

Fig.7 Analysis graphics of the node deflecting flow.

Fig.8 Calculation diagram of the ratio of river width to depth in each measured year. (a) Calculation frame diagram of relationship between the bankfull river width and the river width of "0 m" line, relationship the riverbed scour depth and the descending value of water level; (b) Relationship between the discharge and the water level at Hankou Station; (c) Relationship between the bankfull river width and the river width of "0 m" line of Shashi–Chenglingji Reach; (d) Relationship between the riverbed scour depth and the descending value of water level of Shashi–Chenglingji Reach; (e) Relationship between the bankfull river width and the river width of "0 m" line of Chenglingji–Wuhan Reach; (f) Relationship between the riverbed scour depth and the descending value of water level of Chenglingji–Wuhan Reach; (g) Relationship between the bankfull river width and the river width of "0 m" line of Wuhan–Hukou Reach; (h) Relationship between the riverbed scour depth and the descending value of water level of Wuhan–Hukou Reach.

Fig.9 Relationship between the suspended sediment concentration and the medium-sized diameter of bed sediment.

No.	Reach name	Reach length /km	Distance from Yichang/km	Typical cross-section	Measurement year of the thalweg	Migration index	Constraint index	Barrier or not
1	Douhudi	9.9	175	Jing59, Jing61, Jing63	1970,1975,1980	0.87	1.00	Yes
2	Shishou	8	234	Shi3+1, Jing95	1983,1991,1996,1997,1998,2003,2004,2005,2006	0.95	0.72	No
3	Nianziwan	15	242	Jing106, Shi4, Jing108	1999,2000,2005,2006,2007	0.92	0.66	No
4	Hekou	7	257	Jing111,Jing119	1973,1981,1995,1998,2002,2004,2006,2008,2009	0.88	0.79	No
5	Tiaoguan	13	264	Shi6,Jing122	1973,1981,1995,1998,2002,2004,2006,2008,2009	0.87	0.93	Yes
6	Laijiapu	12	277	Shi8,Guan39	1973,1981,1995,1998,2002,2004,2006,2008,2009	0.87	0.85	No
7	Tashiyi	14	289	Jing135, Jing137, Jing139	1980,1987,1993,1998,2002,2004,2006,2008	0.87	0.97	Yes
8	Damazhou	11	330	Jing147, Jing148, Jing149	1980,1987,1993,1998,2002,2004,2006,2008	1.00	0.50	No
9	Zhuanqiao	9	338	Shang7, Li3	1980,1987,1993,1998,2002,2004,2006,2008	0.84	0.91	Yes
10	Tiepu	12	347	Li4, Jing170, Jing171	1980,1987,1993,1998,2002,2004,2006,2008	0.96	0.59	No
11	Fanzui	6.5	356	Jing172, Jing173	1980,1987,1993,1998,2002,2004,2006,2008	0.84	0.89	Yes
12	Qigongling	7.8	380	Jing180, Li7, Jing181	1980,1987,1993,1998,2002,2004,2006,2008	0.89	0.80	No
13	Luoshan	11	419	cz06-1, luoshanzx6+1,cz07+3	1972,1977,1980,1984,1992,1997,2001,2003	1.00	0.52	No
14	Shitouguan	9	456	cz08+2, cz08-2+1	1995,1998,2000,2003,2005,2007,2008	0.92	0.81	No
15	Longkou	9.6	483	cz10-1+1,cz17+2,cz18+2	1959,1973,1985,1996	0.86	0.96	Yes
16	Hanjinguan	11	519	cz30-1+2,cz31+2	1977,1981,1986,1993,1996,2011	0.86	1.00	Yes
17	Paizhouwan	15	542	cz43-1+1,cz44+4	1977,1981,1986,1993,1996,2011	0.90	0.86	No
18	Zhuankou	12	610	hanliuz05+4, cz54-1+4,cz55-1+3	1981,1986,1993,1996,1998,2001,2006	0.93	0.72	No
19	Wuqiao	7	628	hanliuz07+4,hanliuz09,cz56	1981,1986,1993,1996,1998,2001,2006	0.94	0.63	No
20	Yangluo	15	658	hanliuz17-0+2,hanliuz17-2-1,cz57-1-2	1981,1986,1993,1996,1998,2001,2006	0.88	0.89	No
21	Huguang	10	679	cz60-1-3,cz60-2-1,cz61-1-2	1980,1992,2000,2003,2004,2005	0.95	0.66	No
22	Bahe	9.4	723	cz74-1-1,cz74-1+1,cz75-1	1963,1977,1980,1992,1995	0.98	0.56	No
23	Huangshi	20	753	cz83-1-1,cz84-1+1,cz86-1-1	1976,1980,1987,1992,2000,2003	0.87	0.94	Yes
24	Guniusha	17	773	cz87,cz87-1+1,cz87-1+5	1976,1980,1987,1992,2000,2003	0.93	0.70
25	Gepaiji	14	802	cz96-1+1,cz98-1+1,cz100-1-1	1998,2001,2008,2011	0.87	0.98	Yes
26	Wuxue	14	830	cz105-1-2,cz106-1-1,cz107-1-2	1997,1999,2001,2002	1.00	0.50	No
27	Jiujiang	22	853	cz118-1+2,cz119-1+1,cz119-1-2	1980,1984,1986,1989,1996	0.91	0.79	No

Tab.1 The migration and constraint indexes of the single-thread reaches in the MRYR

Fig.10 The division of the barrier degree for single-thread river reaches. District 1= barrier reaches; District 2= transitional reaches transforming from barrier to non-barrier; District 3= transitional reaches transforming from non-barrier to barrier; District 4= non-barrier reaches.

Fig.11 Classification for the barrier degree of single-thread river reaches in the MRYR.

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