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Bed forms were studied in Goodwin Creek and a laboratory flume channel. The bed sediment of the field site and flume had median diameters of 8AE3 (modes of 0AE4, 22AE6 mm) and 1AE82 mm (modes of 0AE5, 5AE6 mm), respectively. The laboratory andfieldchannelshadsimilarvaluesofbimodalparameters,ratiosofflowdepth to median bed material diameter, and ratios of shear stress to critical shear stress and were judged to be comparable in the transport of bed load sediment and the resulting bed forms. Three groupings of bed forms from the laboratory flume experiments (ripple-like bed forms, bed load sheets, low-relief bed waves) were identified using the height and period of the bed forms. For the range of flow depths and discharges investigated in the flume, bed forms became higher and longer with increasing bed shear stress. Bed forms from Goodwin Creek were similar to those from theflume with comparable ratios between bed form length, height, and flow depth. The bed forms in the flume provide a positive link between rate and size fluctuations measured in the field and the bed forms. The smaller bed forms identified were sediment starved and are not considered to be dunes, while the largest bed forms in which all of the bed material sizes were mobilized in the field and laboratory were judged to be dunes.

Sediment transport in sand-bedded alluvial channels is strongly conditioned by bedforms, the planimetric morphology of which can be either two- or threedimensional. Experiments were undertaken to examine the processes that transform the bed configuration from two-dimensional (2D) dunes to threedimensional (3D) dunes. A narrowly graded, 500 lm size sand was subjected to a 0AE15 m deep, non-varying mean flow ranging from 0AE30 to 0AE55 m sec )1 in a 1 m wide flume. Changes in the planimetric configuration of the bed were monitored using a high-resolution video camera that produced a series of 10 sec time-lapsed digital images. Image analysis was used to define a critical value of the non-dimensional span (sinuosity) of the bedform crestlines that divides 2D forms from 3D forms. Significant variation in the non-dimensional span is observed that cannot be linked to properties of the flow or bedforms and thus appears random. Images also reveal that, once 2D bedforms are established, minor, transient excesses or deficiencies of sand are passed from one bedform to another. The bedform field appears capable of absorbing a small number of such defects but, as the number grows with time, the resulting morphological perturbations produce a transition in bed state to 3D forms that continue to evolve, but are pattern-stable. The 3D pattern is maintained by the constant rearrangement of crestlines through lobe extension and starving downstream bedforms of sediment, which leads to bifurcation. The experiments demonstrate that 2D bedforms are not stable in this calibre sand and call into question the reliability of bedform phase diagrams that use crestline shape as a discriminator.

Detailed measurements of flow velocity and its turbulent fluctuation were obtained over fixed, two-dimensional dunes in a laboratory channel. Laser Doppler anemometry was used to measure the downstream and vertical components of velocity at more than 1800 points over one dune wavelength. The density of the sampling grid allowed construction of a unique set of contour maps for all mean flow and turbulence parameters, which are assessed using higher moment measures and quadrant analysis. These flow field maps illustrate that: (1) the time-averaged downstream and vertical velocities agree well with previous studies of quasi-equilibrium flow over fixed and mobile bedforms and show a remarkable symmetry from crest to crest; (2) the maximum root-mean-square (RMS) of the downstream velocity values occur at and just downstream of flow reattachment and within the flow separation cell; (3) the maximum vertical RMS values occur within and above the zone of flow separation along the shear layer and this zone advects and diffuses downstream, extending almost to the next crest; (4) positive downstream skewness values occur within the separation cell, whereas positive vertical skewness values are restricted to the shear layer; (5) the highest Reynolds stresses are located within the zone of flow separation and along the shear layer; (6) high-magnitude, high-frequency quadrant-2 events (‘ejections’) are concentrated along the shear layer (Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities) and dominate the contribution to the local Reynolds stress; and (7) high-magnitude, high-frequency quadrant-4 events occur bounding the separation zone, near reattachment and close to the dune crest, and are significant contributors to the local Reynolds stress at each location. These data demonstrate that the turbulence structure associated with dunes is controlled intrinsically by the formation, magnitude and downstream extent of the flow separation zone and resultant shear layer. Furthermore, the origin of dune-related macroturbulence lies in the dynamics of the shear layer rather than classical turbulent boundary layer bursting. The fluid dynamic distinction between dunes and ripples is reasoned to be linked to the velocity differential across the shear layer and hence the magnitude of the Kelvin-Helmholtz instabilities, which are both greater for dunes than ripples. These instabilities control the local flow and turbulence structure and dictate the modes of sediment entrainment and their transport rates.

The nature of flow, sediment transport and bed texture and topography was studied in a laboratory flume using a mixed size-density sediment under equilibrium and non-equilibrium (aggradational, degradational) conditions and compared with theoretical models. During each experiment, water depth, bed and water surface elevation, flow velocity, bed shear stress, bedload transport and bed state were continuously monitored. Equilibrium, uniform flow was established with a discharge of about 0.05 m3 s−1, a flow depth of about 0.01 m, a flow velocity of about 0.81–0.88 m s−1, a spatially averaged bed shear stress of about 1.7–2.2 Pa and a sediment transport rate of about 0.005–0.013 kg m−1 s−1 (i.e. close to the threshold of sediment transport). Such equilibrium flow conditions were established prior to and at the end of each aggradation or degradation experiment. Pebble clusters, bedload sheets and low-lying bars were ubiquitous in the experiments. Heavy minerals were relatively immobile and occurred locally in high concentrations on the bed surface as lag deposits. Aggradation was induced by (1) increasing the downstream flow depth (flume tilting) and (2) sediment overloading. Tilt-induced aggradation resulted in rapid deposition in the downstream half of the flume of a cross-stratified deposit with downstream dipping pebbles (pseudo-imbricated). and caused a slight decrease in the equilibrium mean water surface slope and total bedload transport rate. These differences between pre- and post-aggradation equilibrium flow conditions are due to a decrease in the local grain roughness of the bed. Sediment overloading produced a downstream fining and thinning wedge of sediment with upstream dipping pebbles (imbricated), whereas the equilibrium flow and sediment transport conditions remained relatively unchanged. Degradation was induced by (1) decreasing the downstream flow depth (flume tilting) and (2) cutting off the sediment feed. Tilt-induced degradation produced rapid downstream erosion and upstream deposition due to flow convergence with little change to the equilibrium flow and sediment transport conditions. The cessation of sediment feed produced degradation and armour development, a reduction in the mean water surface slope and flow velocity, an increase in flow depth, and an exponential decrease in bedload transport rate as erosion proceeded. A bedload transport model predicted total and fractional transport rates extremely well when the coarse-grained (or bedform trough) areas of the bed are used to define the sediment available to be transported. A sediment routing model, MIDAS, also reproduced the equilibrium and non-equilibrium flow conditions, total and fractional bedload transport rates and changes in bed topography and texture very well.