Presenters-0726
From CSDMS
CSDMS 2026: Modeling Landscapes in Motion
Alluvial Cover Effects in Mixed Bedrock-Alluvial Channels: Model Reconciliation, Improvement, and Best Practices
Abstract
Sediment importantly influences river incision into bedrock. Even in rapidly incising streams, a thin, patchy to continuous alluvial sediment cover is typically present and can importantly inhibit river incision into rock and influence channel slope (the so-called cover effect). In this presentation we the systematically compare and contrast the suite of related models (the linear decline, ξ−q, SPACE, and Shared Stream Power (SSPM) models) developed to capture the cover effect in order to highlight similarities as well as both conceptual and mathematical differences. Weaknesses revealed in this review motivate the development of an enhanced version of the SSPM (eSSPM) that incorporates the important advances in the SPACE model. We develop new analytical relationships that quantify fundamental model behavior and provide additional insight into the controls on model behavior and their similarities and differences, revealing previously unrecognized complications. We evaluate the relative strengths and weaknesses of these models, including the new eSSPM presented here, and develop guidelines for best practices for using these models.
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