Science Article - Restless Rivers
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URL: http://www.professorpaddle.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=13880
Printed Date: 01 Oct 2026 at 8:17am
Topic: Science Article - Restless Rivers
Posted By: AdamG
Subject: Science Article - Restless Rivers
Date Posted: 24 Mar 2014 at 9:03am
We're constantly and sometimes even fatally reminded here in the Northwest, our landscape and rivers are very dynamic systems. For anyone interested, there was a recent article published in Science Magazine discussing the dynamic reorganization of river basins and methods for assessing the equilibrium of drainages. It's a really fascinating article that reminds us that everything changes with time. Anyways, if you're interested, check it out:
http://web.mit.edu/site/spotlight/3952
https://www.dropbox.com/s/oudpifurzsi71zy/WillettMcCoyPerron_Science2014_RiverBasinDynamics.pdf
This paper was co-authored by a good friend of mine, Scott McCoy, an avid boater and adventurer.
And, this in no way is intended to undermine the significance and loss of the last few days.
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Replies:
Posted By: jP
Date Posted: 25 Mar 2014 at 3:23pm
That was a cool article. I didn't download the pdf tho- am I missing something good?
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🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋🐋
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Posted By: chipmaney
Date Posted: 25 Mar 2014 at 3:53pm
nobody cares what geologists have to say, see... (sarcasm)
No really, see?
http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2023218573_mudslidewarningsxml.html
but yeah, interesting article, adam. i did download the .pdf. Pretty dense reading, unless your into partial derivatives. pretty cool stuff. wonder what your friend would have to stay about the sauk, which alternatively avulses in the nf stilly and skagit (or at least it use to before, you know, people built out the stilly-sauk confluence floodplain).
There is also an ecological equilibrium that rivers reach. The concept is called dynamic equilibrium, with the river constantly changing conditions seasonally and annually but with essentially unchanged average condition. At least until land use causes the system to reach a "tipping point" beyond which disturbance leads to the establishment of a new equilibrium, the old equilibrium not being restorable. Geology could affect the dynamic ecological equilibrium, but this concept is generally viewed in terms of human impacts. Climate, which generally occurs on geologic time frames is now changing quickly enough that it could be applicable.
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sitting all alone on a mountain by a river that has no end
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