The dynamics of river confluences and their effects on the ecology of aquatic environment: A review

• Published in: Journal of hydrodynamics. Series B Vol. 34; no. 1; pp. 1 - 14
• Main Authors: Yuan, Sai-yu, Xu, Lei, Tang, Hong-wu, Xiao, Yang, Gualtieri, Carlo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Singapore 01.02.2022
• Subjects: Engineering; Engineering Fluid Dynamics; Hydrology/Water Resources; Numerical and Computational Physics; Review Article; Simulation; morpho dynamics; water ecology; hydrodynamics; sediment transport; water environment; River confluence
• ISSN: 1001-6058; 1878-0342
• DOI: 10.1007/s42241-022-0001-z

Confluences act as critical nodes in a river system. They affect hydrodynamics, sediment transport, bed morphology, and eco-hydraulics of the river system. Convergence of streams produces the complex mechanism of flow momentum and mass mixing which may affect the aquatic environment locally and even lasting for a long distance downstream. The confluence creates a hotspot for the river system’s ecological change, which usually leads to changes in water temperature, suspended-sediment load, bed material, nutrient concentrations, water chemistry, and organic-matter content. Hence, the dynamics of river confluences are very complex and have critical effects on river system’s water environment and ecology. For this reason, a review summarizing turbulent flow, sediment transport, morphological-dynamics, mixing processes, and their effects on the ecology of the aquatic environment at river confluences is in order. A future research agenda and opportunities pertinent to river confluence are vitally emphasized as a multidisciplinary research topic.