Large Rivers: Geomorphology and Management explores an important topic in geomorphology and sedimentology: the form and function of major rivers. Our knowledge of the big rivers of the world is limited. It is currently difficult to recognise large rivers of the past from relict sedimentary deposits or to structure management policies for long international rivers. This exciting book brings together a set of papers on large rivers of the world, as a unique introduction to a demanding subject. The book includes thirty chapters and is organised into three sections. The first part is on the environmental requirements for creating and maintaining a major river system. The second is a collection of case studies on 14 large rivers from different continents, covering a range of physical environments. The third section includes chapters on the measurement and management of large rivers. * First book to offer in a single volume state-of-the-art knowledge on management and geomorphology of large rivers of the world* A pioneering study, pushing the boundaries of our knowledge related to big rivers* Includes comprehensive case studies covering the major large rivers of the world including Amazon, Mississippi, Nile, Congo, Indus, and Mekong* Written by a leading team of distinguished, international contributorsLarge Rivers: Geomorphology and Management is essential reading for postgraduate students and researchers in fluvial geomorphology, hydrology, sedimentary geology, and river management. It is also of relevance to engineers and environmental consultants in the private and public sectors working on major rivers of the world.

Table of Contents:
Preface. List of Contributors. 1 Introduction (Avijit Gupta). 1.1 A Book on Large Rivers. 1.2 What is a Large River? 1.3 The Book and its Content. PART I: BACKGROUND. 2 Geology of Large River Systems (Sampat K. Tandon and Rajiv Sinha). 2.1 Introduction. 2.2 Tectonic Settings of Large River Systems. 2.3 Complexity of Drainage Types. 2.4 Large Rivers - Climatic Settings and Climatic Variability. 2.5 Modern Large Rivers - Hydrology and Sediment Dispersal. 2.6 Variability in the Alluvial Architecture of Large River Systems. 2.7 Growth and Development of Large River Systems. 2.8 Duration of Large River Systems and the Rock Record. 2.9 Sea Level, Tectonic and Climatic Controls on the Large River Systems. 2.10 Concluding Remarks. 3 Hydrology and Discharge (Ellen E. Wohl). 3.1 Hydrology of Large River Basins. 3.2 Large Rivers of the Equatorial Regions. 3.3 Large Rivers of the Drylands. 3.4 Rivers of the Mid-latitudes. 3.5 Rivers Draining South from the Himalaya. 3.6 Rivers of East and Southeast Asia. 3.7 High-latitude Rivers. 3.8 Summary. 4 Transcontinental Moving and Storage: The Orinoco and Amazon Rivers Transfer the Andes to the Atlantic (Robert H. Meade). 4.1 Introduction. 4.2 Andean Sources and Alluvial Storage. 4.3 Orinoco. 4.4 Amazon. 4.5 The Amazon Goes to Sea. 4.6 Coda. 5 Greatest Floods and Largest Rivers (Victor R. Baker). 5.1 Introduction. 5.2 Historical Background. 5.3 Terrestrial Glacial Megafl oods. 5.4 Extraterrestrial Megafl oods and Megarivers. 5.5 Conclusion. 6 Classifi cation, Architecture, and Evolution of Large-River Deltas (Kazuaki Hori and Yoshiki Saito). 6.1 Introduction. 6.2 Defi nition of a Delta and Delta Components. 6.3 Classifi cation of Deltas. 6.4 Morphology and Sediment. 6.5 Delta Evolution. 6.6 Problems of Sediment Supply. 6.7 Concluding Remarks. 7 Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of Large River Deposits: Recognition in the Ancient Record, and Distinction from 'Incised Valley Fills' (Christopher R. Fielding). 7.1 Introduction. 7.2 Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of Modern Big Rivers. 7.3 Sedimentology and Stratigraphy of Ancient Big Rivers. 7.4 Discussion: Ancient Big River Deposits vs 'Incised Valley Fills'. 7.5 Conclusion. PART II: CASE STUDIES. 8 Effects of Tectonism, Climate Change, and Sea-level Change on the Form and Behaviour of the Modern Amazon River and its Floodplain (Leal A.K. Mertes and Thomas Dunne). 8.1 Background. 8.2 Amazon Basin Characteristics. 8.3 Lithologic and Tectonic Infl uences on the Modern Amazon. 8.4 Infl uence of Climate Change on the Amazon River. 8.5 Infl uence of Sea-Level Changes on the Amazon River and Floodplain. 8.6 Conclusion. 9 The Mississippi River System (James C. Knox). 9.1 Introduction. 9.2 Cenozoic Drainage Evolution. 9.3 Infl uence of Quaternary Glaciations. 9.4 Proglacial Lakes and Extreme Floods. 9.5 Response of the Lower Mississippi Valley to Upper Valley Glaciation and Flooding. 9.6 The Mississippi River System during the Holocene. 9.7 Morphology of the Mississippi River. 9.8 Modern Hydrology. 9.9 The Mississippi River System: Summary and Outlook. 10 The Colorado River (John C. Schmidt). 10.1 Introduction. 10.2 Physiography. 10.3 Age of the River. 10.4 Gradient, Valley Width, and Channel Form in the Colorado Plateau. 10.5 Hydrology: Pre-dam. 10.6 Hydrology: Post-dam. 10.7 Pre-Dam and Post-Dam Sediment Yield and Sediment Transport. 10.8 Channel Adjustment and Change During the Twentieth Century. 10.8.4 The River System within the Colorado Plateau. 10.9 Implications of Hydrology, Sediment Transport, Channel Change, and Temperature to the Endemic Fishery. 10.10 Environmental Management of the Modern River. 10.11 The Future. 10.12 Conclusion. 11 The Lena River: Hydromorphodynamic Features in a Deep Permafrost Zone (Francois Costard and Emmanuele Gautier). 11.1 Introduction. 11.2 Description of the Lena Drainage Basin. 11.3 A Periglacial Environment. 11.4 Floodplain, Delta and Periglacial Landforms. 11.5 Fluvial Dynamics and Landforms. 11.6 Thermal Erosion and its Impact on the Fluvial Forms. 11.7 Impact of Climatic Change on the Hydrosystem. 11.8 Conclusion. 12 The Danube: Morphology, Evolution and Environmental Issues (Denes Loczy). 12.1 Introduction. 12.2 Water and Sediment. 12.3 Headwaters of the Danube. 12.4 The Danube: a Description. 12.5 The Danube Delta. 12.6 The Evolution of the Valley of the Danube. 12.7 Human Impacts. 13 The Nile: Evolution, Quaternary River Environments and Material Fluxes (Jamie C. Woodward, Mark G. Macklin, Michael D. Krom and Martin A. J. Williams). 13.1 Introduction. 13.2 Nile Basin River Environments. 13.3 Early Origins and the Late Miocene and Pliocene Nile. 13.4 The Late Pleistocene and Holocene Nile. 13.5 Records of Nile River Behaviour in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. 13.6 The Modern Nile: Hydrology and Geomorphology. 13.7 The Suspended Sediment Budget. 13.8 The Nile Delta and the Eastern Mediterranean. 13.9 River Basin Management and Global Change. 14 The Congo River, Central Africa (Jurgen Runge). 14.1 Introduction. 14.2 The Course of the Congo River. 14.3 Geology and Geomorphology of the Congo Basin. 14.4 Evolution of the Congo River. 14.5 The Flow Regime of the Congo. 14.6 Solid, Suspended, and Dissolved Load. 14.7 The Congo Mouth and the Submarine Canyon. 14.8 The Congo River and its Economic Importance. 14.9 Conclusion. 15 The Zambezi River (Andy E. Moore, Fenton P.D. (Woody) Cotterill, Mike P.L. Main and Hugh B. Williams). 15.1 Introduction. 15.2 The Zambezi River System. 15.3 Hydrology. 15.4 Ecological Impact of Major Dams. 15.5 Evolution of the Zambezi River System. 15.6 Drainage Evolution and Speciation. 15.7 Cultural and Economic Aspects. 15.8 Conclusion. 16 The Geographic, Geological and Oceanographic Setting of the Indus River (Asif Inam, Peter D. Clift, Liviu Giosan, Ali Rashid Tabrez, Muhammad Tahir, Muhammad Moazam Rabbani and Muhammad Danish). 16.1 Introduction. 16.2 The Drainage Basin. 16.3 The River. 16.4 Evolution of the Indus River. 16.5 The Indus Delta. 16.6 Submarine Indus System. 16.7 Water Management. 16.8 The Indus Dolphins. 16.9 Environmental Changes. 16.10 Human-Induced Changes in the Indus Delta. 16.11 Conclusion. 17 The Ganga River (Indra B. Singh). 17.1 Introduction. 17.2 Hydrology. 17.3 Water Quality. 17.4 Sediment Transfer in the Ganga. 17.5 Mineralogy and Geochemistry of Sediments. 17.6 Heavy Metals and Pollutants in the Sediment. 17.7 The Plain and the River. 17.8 The Delta. 17.9 A Summary of Current Geomorphic Processes. 17.10 Quaternary Evolution of the Ganga. 17.11 Utilization of the River and Associated Problems. 18 Erosion and Weathering in the Brahmaputra River System (Sunil K. Singh). 18.1 Introduction. 18.2 The Brahmaputra River System. 18.3 Geology of the Basin. 18.4 Hydrology. 18.5 Floods in the Brahmaputra. 18.6 Characteristics of the Brahmaputra Channel. 18.7 Erosion and Weathering. 18.8 Sediment Yield or Erosion Rates in the Various Zones. 18.9 Chemical Weathering and Erosion. 18.10 Bed Load and Weathering Intensity. 18.11 Control of Physical and Chemical Erosion in the Brahmaputra Basin. 18.12 Conclusion. 19 The Brahmaputra-Jamuna River, Bangladesh (James L. Best, Philip J. Ashworth, Maminul H. Sarker and Julie E. Roden). 19.1 Background. 19.2 Channel Scale Morphology and Historical Changes in the Course of the Brahmaputra-Jamuna River. 19.3 Bedform Types and Dynamics. 19.4 Bifurcations, Offtakes and Confl uences. 19.5 Floodplain Sedimentation. 19.6 Sedimentology of the Jamuna River. 19.7 Applied Geomorphology and Engineering in the Jamuna River. 19.8 Summary. 20 The Mekong River: Morphology, Evolution, Management (Avijit Gupta). 20.1 Introduction. 20.2 The Mekong Basin. 20.3 The River. 20.4 The Mekong Over Time: The Geomorphic History. 20.5 Erosion and Sediment Transfer. 20.6 The Mekong and its Basin: Resource and Management. 20.7 Conclusion. 21 Dynamic Hydrology and Geomorphology of the Yangtze River (Zhongyuan Chen, Kaiqin Xu and Masataka Watanabe). 21.1 Basin Geology and Landforms. 21.2 River Morphology. 21.3 Storage and Transfer of Water and Sediment. 21.4 Large-scale River Management - Three Gorges Dam and the Planned Water Transfer. PART III: MEASUREMENT AND MANAGEMENT. 22 The Nile River: Geology, Hydrology, Hydraulic Society (M. Gordon Wolman and Robert F. Giegengack). 22.1 Introduction. 22.2 Physiography. 22.3 Geologic History. 22.4 Climate and Climate Change. 22.4.1 Introduction. 22.5 Hydrology. 22.6 A Unique Record. 22.7 The Nile and Hydraulic Civilizations. 23 Patterns and Controls on Historical Channel Change in the Willamette River, Oregon, USA (Jennifer Rose Wallick, Gordon E. Grant, Stephen T. Lancaster, John P. Bolte and Roger P. Denlinger). 23.1 Introduction. 23.2 An Approach for Interpreting Multiple Impacts on Large Rivers. 23.3 Geologic Setting, Human and Flood History of the Willamette. 23.4 Data and Methods for Measuring Historical Channel Change. 23.5 Results: Patterns and Controls on Historical Channel Changes. 23.6 Discussion, Narrative of Historical Channel Change. 23.7 Conclusion. 24 Rivers And Humans - Unintended Consequences (Stanley A. Schumm). 24.1 Introduction. 24.2 Armour. 24.3 Hydrology. 24.4 Conclusion. 25 Large Rivers from Space (Leal A.K. Mertes and T. Tamuka Magadzire). 25.1 Introduction. 25.2 Basin Characteristics. 25.3 Valley Confi guration. 25.4 Geomorphology. 25.5 Water-Surface Elevation, Gradient and Discharge. 25.6 Water Extent and Inundation Mapping. 25.7 Mapping Sediment Concentration. 25.8 Zambezi River - Water Type Mapping on Floodplains. 25.9 Thermal Properties. 25.10 Change Detection. 26 Channel Geometry Analysis Technique for the Lower Mississippi River (Philip J. Soar, Colin R. Thorne, Oliver P. Harmar, David S. Biedenharn and C. Fred Pinkard). 26.1 Introduction. 26.2 Context. 26.3 Data Acquisition and Pre-Processing. 26.4 Analytical Approach and Methodology. 26.5 Results. 26.6 Interpretation and Commentary. 26.7 Conclusion. 27 The Management of Large Rivers: Technical and Political Challenges (Ian C. Campbell). 27.1 Introduction. 27.2 The Challenges of River Management. 27.3 Management of Rivers in Developing Countries. 27.4 Conclusion. 28 The Physical Diversity and Assessment of a Large River System: The Murray-Darling Basin, Australia (Martin C. Thoms, Scott C. Rayburg and Melissa R. Neave). 28.1 Introduction. 28.2 The Murray-Darling Basin. 28.3 The Science Challenge for Assessing Rivers in the Murray-Darling Basin. 28.4 Assessing the Physical Condition of Rivers at the Catchment Scale. 28.5 The Physical Condition of Rivers in the Murray-Darling Basin. 28.6 The Geography of Disturbance. 28.7 Conclusion. 29 Climatic and Anthropogenic Impacts on Water and Sediment Discharges from the Yangtze River (Changjiang), 1950-2005 (Kehui Xu, John D. Milliman, Zuosheng Yang and Hui Xu). 29.1 Introduction. 29.2 Physical Setting. 29.3 Data and Methods. 29.4 Spatial Variations of Water and Sediment. 29.5 Temporal Variations of Water and Sediment. 29.6 Discussion - Climatic and Anthropogenic Impacts. 29.7 Future Change and Coastal Responses. 29.8 Climatic and Anthropogenic Impacts on Other Global Rivers - The Mississippi Example. 29.9 Conclusion. 30 Large River Systems and Climate Change (Michael D. Blum). 30.1 Introduction. 30.2 A Brief History of Ideas. 30.3 Fluvial Response to Climate Change: Some General Concepts. 30.4 Fluvial Response to Past Climate Change: Contrasting Examples. 30.5 Epilogue: Large Rivers and Climate Change, Past to Future. Index.