Modelling fluvial landscapes

Eli Lazarus, Inci Güneralp

This session showcases emerging efforts to model fluvial landscapes in ways that grant physical insight into their fundamental mechanisms and dynamics. These modelling efforts might be numerical, physical, or analytical; toy or detailed; generic or spatially explicit; reductionist, universalist, or hierarchical; address interactions among grains or among drainage basins; and pertain to Earth or other planetary bodies. Such a wide variety of approaches and perspectives offers surprising intersections, commonalities, and divergences that may in turn galvanise new research directions.

Modelling of Deltaic and Estuarine landscapes

John B. Shaw

Models of river delta and estuarine landscapes have been essential for hypothesis testing, identifying key controls and sedimentological indicators, prediction, and management. Key couplings between disparate sedimentary processes (physical, biogeochemical, ecological, and human) continue to add detail to how these landscapes evolve. Complimentary modeling approaches yield further insight into the strengths and weaknesses of each model, encouraging prudent applications. We invite a broad spectrum of model-based research on river deltas and estuaries, including pertinent field data or experimental tests. We hope that this session can continue to advance the conceptual and quantitative understanding of coastal sedimentology and its application to broad positive societal outcomes.

Modelling physical and biological interaction

Anne Baar, Stijn Temmerman, Maarten Kleinhans

Fluvial and estuarine landscapes form and evolve through interactions between physical and biological processes. The colonization, growth and die-back of benthic algae, plants and animals strongly respond to hydrodynamics, sediment transport, and morphology along the fluvial – tidal transition. In turn, these physical processes, the sedimentology and morphology are actively modified by the biological activity. Such bio-physical feedbacks may show effects on different spatial scales (from detailed sedimentary structures to whole landscapes) and temporal scales (from individual flood events to millennia). Numerical models, in addition to field data and experiments, are increasingly used to elucidate how fluvial and tidal landscapes take shape and evolve through bio-physical feedbacks. In this session, we welcome contributions on numerical modelling and experimental studies of fluvial and/or tidal systems, revealing insights across and between the scales ranging from organism and outcrop, to entire landscapes.

Biogeomorphic feedbacks in rivers

Virginia Ruiz-Villanueva, Lina Polvi

River’s form and function can be substantially impacted by biota and plants, with broad implications on riparian and aquatic ecosystem functioning. Plants, both aquatic (i.e., macrophytes, algal mats and biofilms) and terrestrial (i.e., trees, shrubs, large wood), together with benthic macroinvertebrates and vertebrates (e.g., beavers) may alter the physical flow characteristics, for example reducing flow velocities and stabilizing sediment and thus changing fluvial dynamics and river landscapes. Significant advances have been made towards the recognition of these complex feedbacks and bidirectional interactions; yet, developing methods to quantify them remains challenging. In this session we welcome contributions addressing these challenges, including field based, computational, and laboratory approaches.

Martian fluvial sedimentology and stratigraphy

Francesco Salese, Gian Gabriele Ori

Robotic exploration and studies in Martian sedimentary geology have never been more active. Fluvial sedimentary processes have been widely identified on Mars, based on observations of geomorphic features and stratigraphy. Orbital imagery has revealed a vast, ancient fluvial stratigraphic record and rover missions have enabled detailed sedimentological studies combined with mineralogical and chemical analyses. In some instances, the stratigraphic record encoding details of that Mars’ history and the signature of potential habitability is clearly visible and accessible both from orbiter and rover. Considering ongoing and future exploration missions aim to find potentially habitable environments, fluvial sedimentary rock outcrops therefore make desirable targets. This session invites contribution towards Martian fluvial sedimentary geology. In addition to the classic contributions, we particularly welcome presentations that utilise appropriate Earth analogues, both modern and ancient and/or laboratory/numerical simulation. As ongoing and upcoming rover missions are providing increased opportunity to study extraterrestrial sedimentary strata, understanding directly accessible Earth analogues from which to base comparisons has never been more essential. We especially welcome contributions from early-career scientists and sedimentologists who are new to planetary science.