AUC GEOGRAPHICA

The processes of erosion, transport, and accumulation of river sediments are determined by the balance between the natural fluvial processes and the anthropic pressure. Evaluation of the degree of river channel stability is one of the ways to establish the pressure of human activity that could be directly reflected in the volume of eroded or accumulated sediments in a river. The research here proposed is focused on the last natural section of the Brda River (Poland), which represents a natural hotspot in a deeply anthropized fluvial system. To evaluate the human pressure on the natural river section, we developed a methodology that integrates hydrological and sedimentological studies as well as remotely sensed data. In particular, we applied: (i) the Indicators of Hydrologic Alteration (IHA) method, based on hydrological data; (ii) the erosion coefficient, based on suspended sediment balance; and (iii) spatial analyses of riverbed centerline migration of the Brda River in the section from Woziwoda to Płaskosz (northern Poland) to gain a comprehensive understanding of the fluvial dynamics in the area over a period of 60 years. A significant peculiarity of this research refers to the year 2001 when the operational regime of the Mylof Reservoir was changed from hydropeaking to run-of-river. The results obtained indicate a minor river regime transformation and sediment transport continuum disturbance. Finally, the link between the stability of the Brda riverbed, and the intensification of bank erosion (meandering) resulting from the balance of sediment supply, has been demonstrated. The results presented reflect the climate change trends (on the macro-scale) and human activity in the catchment (on the micro-scale) on the fluvial processes.

1. Abad, J. D., Garcia, M. H. (2008): Bed morphology in Kinoshita meandering channels: experiments and numerical simulations. In: 5th IAHR Symposium on River, Coastal and Estuarine Morphodynamics (ed. C. J. Dohmen-Janssen, S. J. Hulscher), Enschede, NL, 17-21 September 2007; 869-875; Taylor and Francis, London, UK. CrossRef

2. Ahmed, J., Constantine, J. A., Dunne, T. (2019): The role of sediment supply in the adjustment of channel sinuosity across the Amazon Basin. Geology 47(9), 807-810. CrossRef

3. Allen, P. (1997): Earth Surface Processes; Blackwell Science. CrossRef

4. Belletti, B., Garcia de Leaniz, C., Jones, J., et al. (2020): More than one million barriers fragment Europe's rivers. Nature 588, 436-441. CrossRef

5. Bosino, A., Mandarino, A., De Amicis, M., Cazzini F. F., El Khair, D. A., Flores, P. (2024): Assessment of piping-sinkhole development in a fluvial-terrace scarp retreat environment: A multi-temporal analysis on the lower Ticino River (Italy). Geomorphology 450: 109082. CrossRef

6. Brown, A. G., Tooth, S., Bullard, J. E., Thomas, D. S. G., Chiverrell, R. C., Plater, A. J., Murton, J., Thorndycraft, V. R., Tarolli, P., Rose, J., Wainwright, J., Downs, P., Aalto, R. (2017): The geomorphology of the Anthropocene: emergence, status and implications. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 42(1), 71-90. CrossRef

7. Central Register of Nature Protection Forms. The General Directorate for Environmental Protection. Available online: https://crfop.gdos.gov.pl (accessed on 18. 12. 2024).

8. Conrad, O., Bechtel, B., Bock, M., Bock, M., Dietrich, H., Fischer, E., Gerlitz, L., Wehberg, J., Wichmann, V., Böhner, J. (2015): System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses (SAGA) v. 2.1.4. Geoscientific Model Development 8(7), 1991-2007. CrossRef

9. Digital Elevation Model (2020): Head Office of Geodesy and Cartography. Available online: https://www.geoportal.gov.pl (accessed on 8. 10. 2022).

10. Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000 Establishing a Framework for Community Action in the Field of Water Policy (2000): Available online: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2000/60/oj (accessed on 21. 10. 2019).

11. European Environment Agency (2018): Corine Land Cover. Available online: https://land.copernicus.eu/pan-european/corine-land-cover/clc2018 (accessed on 10. 2. 2020).

12. Florsheim, J. L., Mount, J. F., Chin, A. (2008): Bank Erosion as a Desirable Attribute of Rivers. BioScience 58(6), 519-529. CrossRef

13. Garzón, G., Alonso, A. (2002): Comparison of the flood response of a braided and a meandering river, conditioned by anthropogenic and climatic changes. Flood and Megaflood Processes and Deposits: Recent and Ancient Examples, 233-249. CrossRef

14. Gierszewski, P., Habel, M., Szmańda, J., Luc, M. (2020): Evaluating effects of dam operation on flow regimes and riverbed adaptation to those changes. Science of The Total Environment 710: 136202. CrossRef

15. Graf, W. L. (2006): Downstream hydrologic and geomorphic effects of large dams on American rivers. Geomorphology 79(3-4), 336-360. CrossRef

16. Gregory, K. J., Walling, D. E. (1973): Drainage Basin. Form and Process: A Geomorphological Approach. Edward Arnold, London.

17. Habel, M. (2013): Dynamics of the Vistula River channel deformations downstream of Włocławek Reservoir; Kazimierz Wielki Univ Press, Bydgoszcz, Poland.

18. Horowitz, A. J. (2003): An evaluation of sediment rating curves for estimating suspended sediment concentrations for subsequent flux calculations. Hydrological Processes 17(17). CrossRef

19. Ikeda, S., Parker, G. (1989): River Meandering; Water Resources Monograph AGU, Washington, United States. CrossRef

20. Juez, C., Hassan, M. A., Franca, M. J. (2018): The Origin of Fine Sediment Determines the Observations of Suspended Sediment Fluxes Under Unsteady Flow Conditions. Water Resources Research 54(8), 5654-5669. CrossRef

21. Kingsford, R.T. (2000): Ecological impacts of dams, water diversions and river management on floodplain wetlands in Australia. Austral Ecology 25(2), 109-127. CrossRef

22. Kleinhans, M. G., McMahon, W. J., Davies, N. S. (2024): What even is a meandering river? A philosophy-enhanced synthesis of multilevel causes and systemic interactions contributing to river meandering. Geological Society, London, Special Publications 540(1), SP540-2022. CrossRef

23. Knighton, D. (1998): Fluvial Forms and Processes: A New Perspective. Don Mills, Ontario, Oxford University Press. CrossRef

24. Konsoer, K. M., Rhoads, B. L., Langendoen, E. J., Best, J., Ursic, M. E., Abad, J. D., Garcia, M. H. (2016): Spatial variability in bank resistance to erosion on a large meandering, mixed bedrock-alluvial river. Geomorphology 252, 80-97. CrossRef

25. Larsen, E. W. (1995): Mechanics and Modeling of River Meander Migration. PhD Thesis, University of California, US. Available online: https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/mechanics-modeling-river-meander-migration/docview/304181401/se-2 (accessed on 7. 11. 2023).

26. Leopold, L. B., Wolman, M. G., Miller, J. P. (1992): Fluvial Processes in Geomorphology. Dover Publications, Inc., New York. Available online: https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70185663 (accessed on 7. 11. 2023).

27. Li, Q., Yu, M., Lu, G., Cai, T., Bai, X., Xia, Z. (2011): Impacts of the Gezhouba and the Three Gorges reservoirs on the sediment regime in the Yangtze River, China. Journal of Hydrology 403(3-4), 224-233. CrossRef

28. Liaghat, A., Adib, A., Gafouri, H. R. (2017): Evaluating the effects of dam construction on the morphological changes of downstream meandering rivers (Case study: Karkheh River). Engineering, Technology & Applied Science Research 7(2), 1515-1522. CrossRef

29. Mandarino, A. (2022): Morphological adjustments of the lower Orba River (NW Italy) since the mid-nineteenth century. Geomorphology 410: 108280. CrossRef

30. Map of the Polish Hydrographic Division (2007): Department of Hydrography and Morphology of River Channels Institute of Meteorology and Water Management. Available online: http://mapa.kzgw.gov.pl/ (accessed on 10. 12. 2016).

31. Marren, P. M., Grove, J. R., Webb, J. A., Stewardson, M. J. (2014): The potential for dams to impact lowland meandering river floodplain geomorphology. The Scientific World Journal 2014(1): 309673. CrossRef

32. Marszalewski, W., Piasecki, A. (2014): Analysis of the development of wastewater infrastructure in Poland in ecological and economical aspects. Journals of the WULS 11(60), 127-137. Available online: http://sj.wne.sggw.pl/pdf/PEFIM_2014_n60.pdf (accessed on 15. 5. 2024). CrossRef

33. Meakin, P., Sun, T., JøSsang, T., Schwarz, K. (1996): A simulation model for meandering rivers and their associated sedimentary environments. Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications 233(3-4), 606-618. CrossRef

34. Micheli, E. R., Kirchner, J. W., Larsen, E. W. (2004): Quantifying the effect of riparian forest versus agricultural vegetation on river meander migration rates, central Sacramento River, California, USA. River Research and Applications 20(5), 537-548. CrossRef

35. Monegaglia, F., Zolezzi, G., Güneralp, I., Henshaw, A. J., Tubino, M. (2018): Automated extraction of meandering river morphodynamics from multitemporal remotely sensed data. Environmental Modelling & Software 105, 171-186. CrossRef

36. Monegaglia, F., Tubino, M. (2019): The hydraulic geometry of evolving meandering rivers. Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface 124(1), 2723-2748. CrossRef

37. Montgomery, D. R., Buffington, J. M. (1997): Channel-reach morphology in mountain drainage basins. GSA Bulletin 109(5), 596-611. CrossRef

38. Muñoz Sabater, J. (2019): ERA5-Land hourly data from 1950 to present. Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) Climate Data Store (CDS). CrossRef

39. Müller, G., Förstner, U. (1968): General Relationship between Suspended Sediment Concentration and Water Discharge in the Alpenrhein and some other Rivers. Nature 217, 244-245. CrossRef

40. Nyberg, B., Buckley, S. J., Howell, J. A., Nanson, R. A. (2015): Geometric attribute and shape characterization of modern depositional elements: A quantitative GIS method for empirical analysis. Computers & Geosciences 82, 191-204. CrossRef

41. Obodovskyi, О., Lukianets, O. (2017): Patterns and Forecast of Long-term Cyclical Fluctuations of the Water Runoff of Ukrainian Carpathians Rivers. Environmental Research, Engineering & Management 73(1), 33-47. CrossRef

42. Oglęcki, P., Ostrowski, P. S., Utratna-Żukowska, M. (2021): Natural and geomorphological response of the small lowland river valley for anthropogenic transformation. Resources 10(10): 97. CrossRef

43. Okoniewska, M., Szumińska, D. (2020): Changes in Potential Evaporation in the Years 1952-2018 in North-Western Poland in Terms of the Impact of Climatic Changes on Hydrological and Hydrochemical Conditions. Water 12(3): 877. CrossRef

44. Pikies, R. (2009): Objaśnienia do szczegółowej mapy geologicznej Polski, arkusz Tuchola; Państwowy Instytut Geologiczny PIB, Warszawa, Poland (in Polish).

45. Poff, N. L., Zimmerman, J. K. H. (2010): Ecological responses to altered flow regimes: a literature review to inform the science and management of environmental flows. Freshwater Biology 55(1), 194-205. CrossRef

46. Richter, B. D., Baumgartner, J. V., Braun, D. P., Powell, J. (1998): A spatial assessment of hydrologic alternation within a river network. Regulated Rivers: Research & Management 14(4), 329-340. CrossRef

47. Richter, B. D., Baumgartner, J. V., Powell, J., Braun, D. P. (1996): A Method for Assessing Hydrologic Alternation within Ecosystems. Conservation Biology 10(4), 1163-1174. https://www.jstor.org/stable/2387152. CrossRef

48. Richter, B. D., Baumgartner, J. V., Wigington, R., Braun,D. (1997): How much water does a river need? Freshwater Biology 37(1), 231-249. CrossRef

49. Rust, B. R. (1996): A Classification of Alluvial Channel Systems. Fluvial Sedimentology 5, 187-198.

50. Schuurman, F. (2015): Bar and channel evolution in meandering and braiding rivers using physics-based modeling; Dissertation, Utrecht University, Nederland. Available online: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/277020641_Bar_and_channel_evolution_in_meandering_and_braiding_rivers_using_physics-based_modeling (accessed on 4. 11. 2023).

51. Shields, F. D., Abt, S. R. (1989): Sediment deposition in cutoff meander bends and implications for effective management. Regulated Rivers: Research & Management 4(4), 381-396. CrossRef

52. Słowik, M., Dezső, J., Kovács, J., Gałka, M. (2020): The formation of low-energy meanders in loess landscapes (Transdanubia, central Europe). Global and Planetary Change 184: 103071. CrossRef

53. Słowik, M. (2014): Holocene evolution of meander bends in lowland river valley formed in complex geological conditions (the Obra River, Poland). Geografiska Annaler: Series A, Physical Geography 96(1), 61-81. CrossRef

54. Słowik, M. (2013): Transformation of a lowland river from a meandering and multi-channel pattern into an artificial canal: retracing a path of river channel changes (the Middle Obra River, W Poland). Regional Environmental Change 13, 1287-1299. CrossRef

55. Somorowska, U. (2016): Changes in Drought Conditions in Poland over the Past 60 Years Evaluated by the Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index. Acta Geophysica 64, 2530-2549. CrossRef

56. Solon, J., Borzyszkowski, J., Bidłasik, M., et al. (2018): Physico-geographical mesoregions of Poland: Verification and adjustment of boundaries on the basis of contemporary spatial data. Geographia Polonica 91(2), 143-170. CrossRef

57. Sylvester, Z., Durkin, P., Covault, J. A. (2019): High curvatures drive river meandering. Geology 47(3), 263-266. CrossRef

58. Sylvester, Z., Durkin, P. R., Hubbard, S. M., Mohrig, D. (2021): Autogenic translation and counter point bar deposition in meandering rivers. GSA Bulletin 133(11-12), 2439-2456. CrossRef

59. Szatten, D., Habel, M. (2020): Effects of Land Cover Changes on Sediment and Nutrient Balance in the Catchment with Cascade-Dammed Waters. Remote Sensing 12(20): 3414. CrossRef

60. Szatten, D., Habel, M., Babiński, Z. (2021): Influence of Hydrologic Alternation on Sediment, Dissolved Load and Nutrient Downstream Transfer Continuity in a River: Example Lower Brda River Cascade Dams (Poland). Resources 10(7): 70. CrossRef

61. Szatten, D., Habel, M., Pellegrini, L., Maerker, M. (2018): Assessment of Siltation Processes of the Koronowski Reservoir in the Northern Polish Lowland Based on Bathymetry and Empirical Formulas. Water 10(11): 1681. CrossRef

62. Szatten, D., Brzezińska, M., Bosino, A. (2023): New sediment continuum measurements in the Brda River (Poland): the results of the functioning of the 50-year Koronowo dam. Journal of Soils and Sediments 23, 3219-3240. CrossRef

63. Tal, M., Paola, C. (2010): Effects of vegetation on channel morphodynamics: results and insights from laboratory experiments. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 35(9), 1014-1028. CrossRef

64. Walling, D. E. (2006): Human impact on land-ocean sediment transfer by the world's rivers. Geomorphology 79(3-4), 192-216. CrossRef

65. Ward, R. C., Robinson, M. (2000): Principles of Hydrology (4th ed.), McGraw-Hill.

66. Ward, J. V., Tockner, K., Arscott, D. B., Claret, C. (2002): Riverine landscape diversity. Freshwater Biology 47(4), 517-539. CrossRef

67. Wohlfart, C., Liu, G., Huang, C., Kuenzer, C. (2016): A River Basin over the course of time: Multi-temporal analyses of land surface dynamics in the Yellow River Basin (China) based on medium resolution remote sensing data. Remote Sensing 8(3): 186. CrossRef

68. Wood, P., Armitage, P. (1997): Biological Effects of Fine Sediment in the Lotic Environment. Environmental Management 21, 203-217. CrossRef

69. Xu, D., Bai, Y., Ma, J., Tan, Y. (2011): Numerical investigation of long-term planform dynamics and stability of river meandering on fluvial floodplains. Geomorphology 132(3-4), 195-207. CrossRef