Opposite hysteresis of sand and gravel transport upstream and downstream of a bifurcation during a flood in the River Rhine, the Netherlands

Abstract At river bifurcations water and sediment is divided among the downstream branches. Prediction of the sediment transport rate and division thereof at bifurcations is of utmost importance for understanding the evolution of the bifurcates for short-term management purposes and for long-term fluvial plain development. However, measured sediment transports in rivers rarely show a uniquely determined relation with hydrodynamic parameters. Commonly a hysteresis is observed of transport rate as a function of discharge or shear stress which cannot be explained with the standard sediment transp... Mehr ...