Applied geomorphology and arid regions
475
Figure 19.13. Pipe in a field of cereals. Azlor, Province of Huesca, Ebro Basin, Spain.
Changes in channel type are relatively frequent, and have been recorded on several
rivers of the western USA (Table 19.1), where meandering channels have become braided
(Graft, 1988).
One of the most surprising examples is the metamorphosis of the Cimarron River in
Kansas, which was analysed by Schumm and Lichty (1963). This fiver was a deeply cut
Table 19.1. Changes in channel width in rivers of the western USA (Graf, 1988).
River
Change
Period
Canadian River, Oklahoma
Rfo Salado, New Mexico
Red River, Texas-Oklahoma
Red River, Texas-Oklahoma
Cimarron River, Kansas
Cimarron River, Kansas
Platte River, Nebraska
S. Platte River, Colorado
N. Platte River, Wyoming
Gila River, Arizona
Salt River, Arizona
Fremont River, Utah
0.8- 3.2 km
1906 flood
15-168 m
1882-1918
No change
1874-1937
1.2-0.8 km
1937-1953
15- 366 m
1874-1942
366-168 m
1942-1954
1161-111 m
1860-1979
790-60 m
1897-1959
1200-60 m
1890-1977
45-90 m
1875-1903
90-610 m
1903-1917
610-61 m
1917-1964
No change
1868-1980
30-400 m
1896 flood