Fluvial Geomorphology

Spring 2022 Syllabus

WATS 5150 - Spring 2022 Syllabus

Schedule

Spring 2022 WATS 5150/6150

Fluvial Geomorphology - 12811 - WATS 5150 - 001

Class Time Days Where Dates Instructors
Discussion, Workshop and/or Field Trips 1:30 pm - 5:00 pm Monday Distance Education 105 Jan 10 - Apr 25, 2022 Joseph Michael Wheaton
Lecture /Discussion 1:30 pm - 2:30 pm Wednesday Distance Education 105 Jan 10 - Apr 25, 2022 Joseph Michael Wheaton

This is a face to face delivery class, and we plan to meet in person at at Distance Education 105 most every Monday and Wednesday (unless a field trip is scheduled for Monday by prior arrangement) if permissible. However, we are in the midst of a pandemic (see student guidelines). Stay home if you’re sick, have symptoms or have been exposed. I will turn on Zoom each time we meet in person to make it easy for you to participate if you are in self-isolation, or quarantine and would like to participate. If you are too sick to participate during class, please let me know ahead of time and I can record our class session. We may also sometimes opt to meet virtually as a class and in such instances we will be using the same Zoom Link.

Zoom Meeting Link
By Arrangement
  • Add Monday to your Google Calendar (with Zoom link):
  • Add Wednesday to your Google Calendar (with Zoom link):

Course Schedule / Outline

See Spring 2022 Canvas
For Latest Schedule

Rough Plan:

Week M/W Date Module Topic Book Chapter
1 Mon 1/10 1 Geomorphic Analysis - Reading the Landscape Chapter 1: Geomorphic analysis of river systems: an approach to reading the landscape
1 Wed 1/12 2 Key Concepts in Fluvial Geomorphology Chapter 2: Key concepts in river geomorphology
2 Mon MLK Holiday Monday 1/17      
2 Wed 1/19 3 Catchment-Scale Controls on River Geomorphology Chapter 3: Catchment-scale controls on river geomorphology
3 Mon 1/24 4 Catchment Hydrology Chapter 4: Catchment hydrology
3 Wed 1/26 4 Catchment Hydrology Chapter 4: Catchment hydrology
4 Mon 1/31 5 Hydraulics Chapter 5: Impelling and resisting forces in river systems
4 Wed 2/2 5 Hydraulics Chapter 5: Impelling and resisting forces in river systems
5 Mon 2/7 6 Fluvial Geomorphic Processes Chapter 6: Sediment movement and deposition in river systems
5 Wed 2/9 6 Fluvial Geomorphic Processes Chapter 6: Sediment movement and deposition in river systems
6 Mon 2/14 7 Channel Geometry Chapter 7: Channel geometry
6 Wed 2/16 8 Instream Forms Chapter 8: Instream geomorphic units
7 Mon Presidents Day Monday 2/21; No Class      
7 Wed 2/23 8 Instream Forms Chapter 8
8 Mon 2/28 9 Floodplain Forms & Processes Chapter 9: Floodplain forms and processes
8 Wed 3/2 9 Floodplain Forms & Processes Chapter 9
  Mon - Fri Sring Break; No Class 3/7 to 3/11 Optional Field Trip TBD  
9 Mon 3/14 10 River Diversity Chapter 10: River diversity
9 Wed 3/16 10 River Diversity Chapter 10
10 Mon 3/21 11 River Behavior Chapter 11: River behaviour
10 Wed 3/23 11 River Behavior Chapter 11
11 Mon 3/28 12 River Evolution Chapter 12: River evolution
11 Wed 3/30 12 River Evolution Chapter 12
12 Mon 4/4 13 Human Impacts on River Systems Chapter 13: Human impacts on river systems
12 Wed 4/6 13 Human Impacts on River Systems Chapter 13
13 Mon 4/11 14 Sediment Flux at Catchment Scale Chapter 14: Sediment flux at the catchment scale: source-to-sink relationships
13 Wed 4/13 14 Sediment Flux at Catchment Scale Chapter 14
14 Mon 4/18 15 Applications of Fluvial Geomorphology Chapter 15: The usefulness of river geomorphology: reading the landscape in practice
14 Wed 4/20 15 Applications of Fluvial Geomorphology Chapter 15
15 Mon 4/25   Projects  
15 Tue 4/26     Last Day of Classes 4/26/22


Instructor

Joseph Wheaton1,2

Professor of Riverscapes
Instructor
Office Hour: Wednesday, 12:00 to 13:00 - Zoom Drop-In or By Appointment
1.

2.

To get in touch with instructor(s), please use Canvas for communication. Please use Office Hours (Wednesday 12:00 - 13:00 via Zoom


Course Resources

Slides & Handouts

Spring 2022 Canvas
WATS 6900 - Intro to LTPBR Course Assignments
Modules
Slides , Recorded Lectures and Exercises

Course Textbook

Mandatory Text - A hard copy of the required text book is strongly suggested. You can view the text digitally through the library’s Ebook Central.

Fyirs & Brierley (2013)

Fryirs KA, Brierley GA. 2013. Geomorphic Analysis of River Systems: An Approach to Reading the Landscape, First Edition. Blackwell Publishing Ltd.: Chichester, U.K.

To view through the library by Chapter:

See also the Student Companion website for the book.

Brierley & Fryirs (2005) - Optional

This is the so-called “River-Styles” text book and is a helpful follow up reference (not required)



The Students and Their Work

2022 Cohort

Their hard work is showcased in some of their course websites below.

Student Student Status and Department Course Website
Gretchen Dana Undergrad in Environmental Studies Gretchen
Diane Wagner Graduate in WATS Diane
Steph Aristizabal Undergrad in MRAE Steph
Megan Conley Graduate in CEE Megan
Julia Bennion Undergrad in WATS Julia

Great examples from the 2022 class

Julia had some excellently annotated images from our field trip to Spring Hollow that explain some fundamental hydraulic processes.

| Julia hydraulics2 | Julia hydraulics3 | | ———————————————————— | ———————————————————— |

Megan created a couple of clean, informative field sketches, also from her Spring Hollow site visit.

Megan hydraulics

Here she very clearly outlines some hydraulic processes from a photo we took with the drone:

Megan hydraulics2

Steph did a great job of explaining a hydraulic jump in this video.

Gretchen has been painting beautifully informative field sketches for her various assignments:

Gretchen fieldobs