NCED 2003 Annual Report

Abstract

Our research effort is organized into four Focus Areas: (1) Landscape and seascape evolution; (2) Depositional Basins; (3) Biogeomorphology/Ecological fluid dynamics; (4) Integration of morphodynamic processes across environments and scales. The overall goals of each focus area, the first year research accomplishments, and how they relate to the overall mission of NCED are detailed in the relevant Focus Area reports. Highlights of the research include: • Design and fabrication of new experimental equipment for studying debris flows, fluvial sedimentation, and river-vegetation interaction. 7 • New algorithms for “geomorphic transport laws” applicable to long-time scales and natural landform evolution. • New results showing scaling in vegetation of drainage basins and in hydraulic geometry. • Emerging collaborations. o Porté-Agel, Foufoula-Georgiou, Voller and Paola on applications of scaling and turbulence theory to morphodynamic modeling o Mohrig and Banfield on microbiological controls on bed evolution o Dietrich, Parker and Mohrig on terrestrial and submarine debris flow mechanics and channel formation o Hondzo and Power on fluid-flow effects on nutrient dynamics o Porté-Agel and Parker on large-eddy simulation (LES) modeling of turbidity currents o Perg and Parker on how cosmogenic isotopes record landscape variability • Progress toward choosing a common NCED research field site. Angelo Coast Reserve/Eel River system, California is the leading candidate. • Syntheses of particulate flux laws specifically adapted for morphodynamic applications (landscape evolution and fluvial transport so far, submarine transport and sedimentary basins to come this summer). • Development, with major NCED participation, of a blueprint for a large-scale community surfacedynamics modeling system to which NCED research will contribute.