Optional Reading - Fryirs et al. (2015) & Wheaton et al. (2015)

Unlike the Lecture and Exercises in preparation for Friday's Class, these are follow up readings and optional.   Fryirs et al. (2015) and Wheaton et al. (2015) will help familiarize you with nomenclature we will use to describe the geomorphology of riverscapes (also covered in lecture). 

Start with a quick skim of Fyris et al (2015). Focus on just understanding the definition of confinement as a way to differentiate valley setting (pp. 703-707).  Study Figures 2 and 3.

1. 2015. Fryirs K, Wheaton JM, and Brierley G. An approach for measuring confinement and assessing the influence of valley setting on river forms and processes Links to an external site.. Earth Surface Processes & Landforms. DOI: 10.1002/esp.3893 Links to an external site.

Next, read through Wheaton et al. (2015), but don't get too bogged down in the details. Make sure you read §1 and the start of §2 (on mapping; i.e. pp 273-276). At a high level, make sure you understand the differences between margins (see Figures 1 & 2), structural elements  (see Figure 3), and Geomorphic Units. Don't get lost in the tables, but recognize they are a way to systematically and objectively differentiate fluvial landforms. Don't lose site of the fact that these clearer definitions, help us more consistently draw useful maps (e.g. Figs 10, 12 and 13) that make comparison across different reach types and valley setting simpler. 

1. 2015. Wheaton JM, Fryirs K, Brierley G, Bangen S, Bouwes N, and O’Brien G. Geomorphic Mapping and Taxonomy of Fluvial Landforms Links to an external site.. Geomorphology. 248: 273-295. DOI: 10.1016/j.geomorph.2015.07.010 Links to an external site.