Search

Rivers provide crucial ecosystem services in water-stressed drylands. Australian dryland rivers are geomorphologically diverse, ranging from through-going, single channels to discontinuous, multi-channelled systems, yet we have limited understanding of their sensitivity to future hydroclimatic changes. Here, we characterise for the first time the geomorphology of 29 dryland rivers with catchments across a humid to arid gradient covering1,800,000 km

Rivers provide crucial ecosystem services in water-stressed drylands. Australian dryland rivers are geomorphologically diverse, ranging from through-going, single channels to discontinuous, multi-channelled systems, yet we have limited understanding of their sensitivity to future hydroclimatic changes. Here, we characterise for the first time the geomorphology of 29 dryland rivers with catchments across a humid to arid gradient covering >1,800,000 km2 of continental eastern and central Australia. Statistical separation of five specific dominantly alluvial river types and quantification of their present-day catchment hydroclimates enables identification of potential thresholds of change. Projected aridity increases across eastern Australia by 2070 (RCP4.5) will result in ~80% of the dryland rivers crossing a threshold from one type to another, manifesting in major geomorphological changes. Dramatic cases will see currently through-going rivers (e.g. Murrumbidgee, Macintyre) experience step changes towards greater discontinuity, characterised by pronounced downstream declines in channel size and local termination. Expanding our approach to include other river styles (e.g. mixed bedrock-alluvial) would allow similar analyses of dryland rivers globally where hydroclimate is an important driver of change. Early identification of dryland river responses to future hydroclimatic change has far-reaching implications for the ~2 billion people that live in drylands and rely on riverine ecosystem services.

This study derives a new function describing the relationship of channel bankfull discharge (Qbf) to channel width in modern rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB) of southeastern Australia and applies this to dated palaeochannels of seven rivers to quantify late Quaternary discharge history in this important basin. All rivers show high MIS3 and MIS2 Qbf, declining in the Holocene. The Qbf of modern MDB rivers is correlated with total catchment precipitation but comparison with palaeochannel Qbf estimates shows that while enhanced runoff efficiency is necessary to account for much larger late Pleistocene palaeochannels, either lower or higher precipitation rates could have prevailed. A strong association between relative palaeo- Qbf enhancement and temperature suggests a temperature-mediated mechanism controlling river discharge, such as the fraction of precipitation stored as snow and thawing in spring, the enhancement of orographic rainfall, or CO2 feedbacks with vegetation cover. Significantly enhanced MIS3 Qbf requires an additional mechanism, such as increased rainfall. These findings are consistent with others that increased moisture availability was associated with past colder climates, although this was not necessarily the result of enhanced precipitation.

Palaeochannels of lowland rivers provide a means of investigating the sensitivity of river response to climate-driven hydrologic change. About 80 palaeochannels of the lower Macquarie River of southeastern Australia record the evolution of this distributive fluvial system. Six Macquarie palaeochannels were dated by single-grain optically stimulated luminescence. The largest of the palaeochannels (Quombothoo, median age 54 ka) was on average 284 m wide, 12 times wider than the modern river (24 m) and with 21 times greater meander wavelength. Palaeo-discharge then declined, resulting in a younger, narrower, group of palaeochannels, Bibbijibbery (125 m wide, 34 ka), Billybingbone (92 m, 20 ka), Milmiland (112 m, 22 ka), and Mundadoo (86 m, 5.6 ka). Yet these channels were still much larger than the modern river and were continuous downstream to the confluence with the Barwon-Darling River. At 5.5 ka, a further decrease in river discharge led to the formation of the narrow modern river, the ecologically important Macquarie Marshes, and Marra Creek palaeochannel (31 m, 2.1 ka) and diminished sediment delivery to the Barwon-Darling River as palaeo-discharge fell further. The hydrologic changes suggest precipitation was a driving forcing on catchment discharge in addition to a temperature-driven runoff response.

Avulsion (relocation of a river course to a new position) typically is assumed to occur more frequently in rivers with faster sedimentation rates, yet supporting field data are limited and the influence of sedimentation rate on avulsion style remains unclear. Using analysis of historical aerial photographs, optically stimulated luminescence dating of fluvial sediments, and field observations, we document three avulsions that have occurred in the last 650 years along the lower reaches of the semiarid Tshwane River in northern South Africa. Study of the modern river and abandoned reaches reveals that a downstream decrease in discharge and stream power leads to reduced channel size and declining sediment transport capacity. Bank erosion drives an increase in channel sinuosity, leading to a decline in local channel slope, and to a further decrease in discharge and sediment transport. Local sedimentation rates > 10 mm a − 1 occur within and adjacent to the channel, so over time levees and an alluvial ridge develop. The resulting increase in cross-floodplain gradient primes a reach for avulsion by promoting erosion of a new channel on the floodplain, which enlarges and extends by knickpoint retreat during periods of overbank flow. Ultimately, the new channel diverts the discharge and bedload sediment from the older, topographically higher channel, which is then abandoned. Our findings support the assumption that avulsion frequency and sedimentation rate are positively correlated, and we demonstrate that incisional avulsions can occur in settings with relatively rapid net vertical aggradation. The late Holocene avulsions on the semiarid Tshwane River have been driven by intrinsic (autogenic) processes during meander belt development, but comparison with the avulsion chronology along a river in subhumid South Africa highlights the need for additional investigations into the influence of hydroclimatic setting on the propensity for avulsion.

Controls on the characteristics of floodplain wetlands in drylands are diverse and may include extrinsic factors such as tectonic activity, lithology and climate, and intrinsic thresholds of channel change. Correct analysis of the interplay between these controls is important for assessing possible channel-floodplain responses to changing environmental conditions. Using analysis of aerial imagery, geological maps and field data, this paper investigates floodplain wetland characteristics in the Tshwane and Pienaars catchments, northern South Africa, and combines the findings with previous research to develop a new conceptual model highlighting the influence of variations in aridity on flow, sediment transport, and channel-floodplain morphology. The Tshwane-Pienaars floodplain wetlands have formed in response to a complex interplay between climatic, lithological, and intrinsic controls. In this semiarid setting, net aggradation (alluvium >5 m thick) in the wetlands is promoted by marked downstream declines in discharge and stream power that are related to transmission losses and declining downstream gradients. Consideration of the Tshwane-Pienaars wetlands in their broader catchment and regional context highlights the key influence of climate, and demonstrates how floodplain wetland characteristics vary along a subhumid to semiarid climatic gradient. Increasing aridity tends to be associated with a reduction in the ability of rivers to maintain through-going channels and an increase in the propensity for channel breakdown and floodout formation. Understanding the interplay between climate, hydrology and geomorphology may help to anticipate and manage pathways of floodplain wetland development under future drier, more variable climates, both in South African and other drylands. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

In dryland river catchments, palaeochannels provide some of the key records for understanding the changes in river character and behaviour that can occur in response to different extrinsic and intrinsic controls. Here, we combine modern hydroclimatic datasets, satellite imagery, field surveys, and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating of palaeochannels to investigate the response of the ~850 km long Warrego River, located in central eastern Australia, to Holocene hydroclimatic change. The modern Warrego is an intermittent to ephemeral, low energy river (unit stream power, ω, ≤4 W m−2), and is characterised by low sinuosity (‘straight’), narrow (