INITIAL MOTION AND BEDLOAD TRANSPORT DISTANCE DETERMINED BY PARTICLE TRACKING IN A LARGE REGULATED RIVER

Reservoir releases on large regulated rivers are increasingly being used to rejuvenate riverine habitat downstream of dams. Determining the effective flow level is complicated by the trade‐off between mobilizing bed particles and retaining coarse sediment in rivers with low sediment supply. This study determined mobilization and transport distance of bed particles using motion‐sensing radio transmitting particles that approximated the reach‐average D₈₄ grain size. The distribution of shear stress at initial motion varied substantially between flood events, and suggests that the sequence of flood events and the history of under‐threshold flows may be an important determinant of bed strength and thus particle mobility. In addition, particle activity was greatest on the rising limb of each flood and was maximized at near bankfull flow. Travel distances did not vary between floods when scaled by transport event duration, and a negative exponential distribution was a good fit to the data. Results of this study provide important insight into individual particle movement, which can be used to inform flow releases and understand the effects of flood magnitude on particle mobility and transport. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.