Correlation between a bar morphology and flow in active rivers in the geological record

• Grant number: 17/26658-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: May 01, 2018
• End date: April 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Geosciences - Geology
• Principal Investigator: Renato Paes de Almeida
• Grantee: João Pedro Ribeiro de Melo
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências (IGC). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Large rivers are the most important sediment transport agents. Although some methods have been proposed to recognize them in the geological record, examples of this type of depositional system in active rivers are scarce in the bibliography. Large river channels function as biogeographic barriers and the understanding of their evolution is fundamental to understanding biodiversity and the distribution of species in a given region. Over the last decades, several studies have shown a significant correlation between the morphometric parameters of active fluvial channels, such as radius of curvature and wavelength, with their respective flows. The research group to which this author belongs applied in the Amazonian rivers an innovative methodology of correlation of the curvature arcs preserved in scroll bars in the active plains with the flow of the respective rivers. The aim of this project is to expand the results obtained in the Amazonian context and to test the correlation approach of flow bars with other flows of tectonic, climatic, slope and sediment conditions in transported suspension with the purpose of later comparing the results obtained with surveys of old fluvial deposits, which may also present preservation of "scroll bars". (AU)