An integral approach to bedrock river profile analysis

• Published in: Earth surface processes and landforms Vol. 38; no. 6; pp. 570 - 576
• Main Authors: Perron, J. Taylor, Royden, Leigh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.05.2013; Wiley; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Bedrock; bedrock river; Bgi / Prodig; Fluvial forms and processes; Freshwater; Geomorphology; longitudinal profile; Mathematical analysis; Physical geography; Rivers; slope-area; Straight lines; stream power; Transformations; Tributaries; Virginia; United States of America; California; Stream flow; Stream; Longitudinal section; Fluvial erosion; Slope gradient; Research technique
• ISSN: 0197-9337; 1096-9837
• DOI: 10.1002/esp.3302

ABSTRACT Bedrock river profiles are often interpreted with the aid of slope–area analysis, but noisy topographic data make such interpretations challenging. We present an alternative approach based on an integration of the steady‐state form of the stream power equation. The main component of this approach is a transformation of the horizontal coordinate that converts a steady‐state river profile into a straight line with a slope that is simply related to the ratio of the uplift rate to the erodibility. The transformed profiles, called chi plots, have other useful properties, including co‐linearity of steady‐state tributaries with their main stem and the ease of identifying transient erosional signals. We illustrate these applications with analyses of river profiles extracted from digital topographic datasets. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.