The equilibrium alluvial river under variable flow and its channel‐forming discharge

When the water discharge, sediment supply, and base level vary around stable values, an alluvial river evolves toward a mean equilibrium or graded state with small fluctuations around this mean state (i.e., a dynamic or statistical equilibrium state). Here we present analytical relations describing the mean equilibrium geometry of an alluvial river under variable flow by linking channel slope, width, and bed surface texture. The solution holds in river normal flow zones (or outside both the hydrograph boundary layer and the backwater zone) and accounts for grain size selective transport and particle abrasion. We consider the variable flow rate as a series of continuously changing yet steady water discharges (here termed an alternating steady discharge). The analysis also provides a solution to the channel‐forming water discharge, which is here defined as the steady water discharge that, given the mean sediment supply, provides the same equilibrium channel slope as the natural long‐term hydrograph. The channel‐forming water discharge for the gravel load is larger than the one associated with the sand load. The analysis illustrates how the load is distributed over the range of water discharge in the river normal flow zone, which we term the “normal flow load distribution”. The fact that the distribution of the (imposed) sediment supply spatially adapts to this normal flow load distribution is the origin of the hydrograph boundary layer. The results quantify the findings by Wolman and Miller (1960) regarding the relevance of both magnitude and frequency of the flow rate with respect to channel geometry. Key Points We derive two relations linking the equilibrium channel slope, width, and surface texture under variable flow in river normal flow zones We define the channel‐forming discharge as the steady discharge providing the same equilibrium channel slope as the long‐term hydrograph The hydrograph boundary layer originates from the adaptation of the sediment supply toward its “normal flow load distribution”