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Man's impact on the transformation of channel patterns (the Skawa River, southern Poland)
Author(s) -
Witkowski Karol
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
river research and applications
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.679
H-Index - 94
eISSN - 1535-1467
pISSN - 1535-1459
DOI - 10.1002/rra.3702
Subject(s) - channelized , tributary , period (music) , channel (broadcasting) , natural (archaeology) , geology , context (archaeology) , levee , hydrology (agriculture) , geography , paleontology , geotechnical engineering , cartography , telecommunications , physics , engineering , computer science , acoustics , electrical engineering
The research objective was to answer the question, how and why have the patterns of the channels of the lower course of the Skawa River changed over the past 200 years? This problem is important in the context of contemporary waterway construction plans in Poland. Overall, this study shows the effects of natural restoration in the event of the destruction of bank protections. The Skawa River is a mountain tributary of the Vistula River (southern Poland). In the first step, the channels were classified in the period from the 19th to the 21st centuries. In the second step, it was checked how channelization, water damming, gravel mining, embankment construction, changes in the forest area and channel incision, determined the change of the channel patterns. There were four periods in the functioning of the Skawa riverbed. In the first period (before 1901), the reaches of a natural riverbed were sinuous, braiding, or anabranching. In the second period (1901–1943), the riverbed was completely channelized. In the third period (1943–2003), the riverbed had artificial, braiding, and sinuous reaches. In the fourth period (after 2003), the riverbed had high energy anabranching and sinuous reaches. This study shows that man led to the transformation of the Skawa River channel due to the building of the network of navigable canals and rivers. This study shows how various factors can determine changes in the channel pattern, and that the destruction of bank protections enables natural restoration and forming the braided or anabranching channel pattern.