Single- and multithread rivers originate from (im)balance between lateral erosion and accretion

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Chadwick, Austin J.; Greenberg, Evan; Ganti, Vamsi
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Santa Barbara; University of California System; University of California Santa Barbara; Columbia University; National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA); NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL); California Institute of Technology
• 刊物名称: SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0036-10701
• DOI: 10.1126/science.ads6567
• 发表日期: 2025-07-10
• 页码: 146-150
• 关键词: channel; patterns; equilibrium; EVOLUTION; habitat; scales; width

摘要

Why river channels confine flow to a single pathway or divide flow into multiple interwoven pathways (threads) forms a long-standing fundamental question in river science, which to date remains poorly understood. In this study, we probed channel-pattern origins by mapping thread dynamics along 84 rivers from 36 years of global satellite imagery using particle image velocimetry. Results show that single-thread channels originate from a balance between lateral erosion and accretion, which enables a thread to migrate while maintaining equilibrium width. In contrast, multithread channels originate from imbalance-erosion outpaces accretion in individual threads, causing threads to repeatedly widen and split. Thread-width imbalance provides a mechanistic explanation for how multithread channels develop on Earth and other planets and, in application, can help lower the cost of nature-based river restoration projects.