Publisher's Synopsis
Stream reconnaissance is a geomorphological technique intended to provide a structure for field observation, interpretation and recording of river channel form and sedimentary features. Geomorphology deals with linking landforms to the processes of erosion, sediment transport and deposition responsible for landscape formation and evolution. Identifying process–form linkages involves observation and interpretation: a process often termed ?reading? the river that has traditionally been the reserve of senior geomorphologists with a wealth of experience. Recently, the ?market? for landform interpretation and river classification has expanded radically due to increased recognition of the need to work with nature, rather than against it when undertaking engineering or river restoration projects. In particular, those charged with engineering, managing and restoring now accept the views long held by fluvial geomorphologists that the river is the only true model of itself and that it is better to prompt recovery and maintenance of natural forms and features of an alluvial stream than to try and impose solutions based on technological fixes and simplified analysis developed from laboratory flume studies or incomplete theory. Stream reconnaissance is a fundamental component of this new approach to river engineering, management and restoration because it provides the basis for a broad understanding of the relationships between channel form and flow and sedimentary regimes of the river, with the potential to establish this understanding within the context of the catchment and fluvial system. Widespread implementation of approaches based on minimising natural forms and prompting morphological recovery demand that large numbers of stream reconnaissance surveys be performed quickly and with limited resources, and there simply are not enough senior geomorphologists to go round. Hence this handbook is designed to assist less experienced individuals to perform this task accurately and reliably. To this end the methodological approach adopted in this book presents an objective and repeatable field technique for stream reconnaissance at a wide variety of scales and for a wide variety of purposes.
