1. Current research direction/inclination in Fluvial Geomorphology

Over the last one and half century, the prime interest area of fluvial geomorphology has meandered from global system and local process [1]. Returning to the discipline's critical role in regional-to-local scale problem solving [2], fluvial geomorphology has experienced awesome progress in understanding of the trends and patterns of riverine landscape dynamics [3, 4]. However, it is necessary to understand the current research interests of the fluvial geomorphologists amid the global challenges. In this direction, all regular research articles allied to fluvial geomorphology in one of the leading geomorphological journals, Geomorphology (ISSN: 0169-555X), are scrutinized for 2018. Among all the 329 regular articles published in 24 volumes (300–323) during 2018, 112 (34%) are within the discipline of fluvial geomorphology. Afterward, the subject matters of the selected articles are grouped into 10 broad themes (Table 1 and Figure 1). As this review work considers one single globally recognized journal and takes a single year as sample therefore, the result may not necessarily highlight all the current research progresses but obviously could detect the directions in which the subject is developing/inclining.

While going through the title and abstracts of the 112 sampled research papers, we have grouped them quite readily into 10 broad themes (Figure 1) which are addressed further in turn by the focal words (Table 1). The theme 'Fluvial sediment environment' had the greatest number of papers counting 25 (22%); 20 (18%) fall within 'Holocene Fluvial Chronology (Historical Channel change, Stratigraphy, Paleo Hydrology)', 18 (16%) in 'Modelling fluvial environment and application of advanced techniques', and 11 (10%) in 'Anthropogenic Controls'. 'Fluvial morphology (Processes and forms)' and 'fluvial hydraulics' include 7 (6%) articles each, while 6 (5%) fall under '(Neo)tectonics', and 'Gully and hill slope erosion'. Apart from these, 5 articles (4%) addressed Riverine ecology and 7 (6%) fall within 'crosscutting fields' (i.e. fluvial geomorphology in association with other branches of geomorphology). It is interesting to note that there is no article pertaining to 'river management and restoration' which is one of the focal themes in present research frontiers of fluvial geomorphology [5].

In consideration of the popular remark 'Geomorphology is largely an intellectual child of the Twentieth Century' [6], the review results show that fluvial geomorphology is continuously refocusing on process and forms and thereby making interface with other disciplines like sedimentology. Moreover, much of the research articles we have revisited for the present assessment are basically geomorphological


Broad

3

(Neo) tectonics

Fluvial

(Holocene)

Fluvial erosion

Fluvial sediment

Fluvial

Modeling fluvial

River ecology

Anthropogenic

controls (11)

environment,

(5)

advanced

techniques

spaceborne

ground-based

SAR data (1)

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89687

 and

 (18)

hydraulics

 (7)

environment

(25)

river-floodplain

sediment

exchange (1),

sedimentary

response (1),

catchment scale

weathering

fluxes (1)

(6)

fluvial

morphology

(processes

forms) (7)

 and

chronology

fluvial style change (1),

fluvial terrace

deposits (1),

temporal patterns

of (1), chronology of alluvial terrace

sediment

accumulation

luminescence

dating (1), flood

history (1)

> Crosscutting

Th10

Fluvio-karst

channel evolution (1), debris flows over low gradient channels (1),

 landscape evolution (1), fluvial and

wave-driven

 erosion (1), ice sheet meltwater routing (1),

geomorphology

 published from the journal

Geomorphology

 [ISSN:

0169-555X]

 in 24 volumes (300–323)

river-damming

 and

late-Quaternary

 rockslides (1)

debris-charged

 flood hazard (1), submarine

Introductory Chapter: Current Practice in Fluvial Geomorphology: Research Frontiers, Issues…

(7)

Table 1. The distribution

during 2018.

 of broad themes and focusing words of research articles related to fluvial

 (1),

sedimentation

 (20)

theme

(6)


during 2018.

Introductory Chapter: Current Practice in Fluvial Geomorphology: Research Frontiers, Issues… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89687

Broad

2

(Neo) tectonics

Fluvial

(Holocene)

Fluvial erosion

Fluvial sediment

Fluvial

Modeling fluvial

River ecology

Anthropogenic

controls (11)

environment,

(5)

advanced

techniques

 (18)

hydraulics

 (7)

environment

(25)

(6)

fluvial

morphology

(processes

forms) (7)

Focusing

Th1

Th2

Th3

Th4

Th5

Th6

Th7

Th8

Th9

words

Morphotectonic

Channel form and

Channel

Gully erosion (1),

Sediment yield

Flow behaviour

Simulation model

Deltaic

River engineering

ecosystems

habitat along the

embanked

floodplain (1),

gravel mining

(1), human

impact (1),

Current Practice in Fluvial Geomorphology - Dynamics and Diversity

impacts of dam

(1), impacts of

dams and levees

niche

construction

within riparian

corridors (1),

channel bed disturbancebenthic

(1), historical

metal mines (1),

 (1),

(1), regulated

river (1), human

influence (1),

(1), multivariate

and mobility (1),

hydrodynamic

geostatistical

modeling (1),

models for

behaviour (1),

threedimensional

 flow

sediment yield

> structure (1),

(1), modelling

sediment

movement (1),

discriminant

method (1), climate-scale

modeling (1),

chlorophyll

influence of

and instream

> spawning fish on

> mining (1),

intensified

human activities (1), reaction and

relaxation (1)

river profile (1)

 (1),

hydropeaking

coupled threelayer model (1),

evolution model

(1), model

solutions (1),

integrated

cascading model

(1),

computerized

approach (1),

flume

experiments

experimental

study (1),

factorial kriging

(1), DEM (3),

 (1),

flow resistance (1), magnitude

and frequency (1), water storage

and discharge (1), scaling of

urban surface

water (1)

(3), sediment

load (2), river

load (1), suspended

sediment (3),

sediment

transport (2), fluvial fluxes (1), bedload flux (1), bedload transport

(1), mixed-size

sediment

transport (1),

sediment

accumulation

(1), sediment

routing (1),

sediment

recovery(1),

water and sediment balance

(1), sediment

continuity (1),

sediment

connectivity

sediment

magnetic

properties (1),

 (1),

gully trajectories

(1), badass

evolution (1),

drainage

development

evolution of a

 (1),

gullies (1),

eroding gully

complex (1),

gully-affected

processes (1),

channel bed resiliency (1),

bedrock

morphology

river morphology

(1), bedform

migration (1),

meander

hydromorphology

changes (1),

temporal patterns

(1), drainage

system evolution

(1), escarpment

evolution (1),

terrace formation

and evolution (1), landscape

change (1),

evolution of a colluvial hollow (1), late Pliocene

exorheic drainage

(1), Holocene

and historical floods (1), paleo-

dam (1), stratigraphy

 and

(1), morphology

and spacing (1)

 (1),

natural river (1),

drainage

geomorphic

areas (1), soil

erosion and

sediment

transport (1)

evolution (1), geomorphologic

(4), geological

controls (1), active tectonics

(1)

 and

chronology

 (20)

theme

(6)

• How do landscapes influence and record climate and tectonics?

shape landscapes from local to global scales?

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.89687

• How do ecosystems and landscapes coevolve?

• What controls landscape resilience to change?

further research.

geomorphology:

reach scale

5

their adjustment with time

processes (at the reach scale)

• How will Earth's surface evolve in the 'anthropocene'?

2.2 Current research frontiers in Fluvial Geomorphology

• Interacting landscapes and climate

• The convolution of ecosystems and landscapes

• The future of landscapes in the 'anthropocene'

2.3 Reading a fluvial landscape: issues and concerns

• How does the biogeochemical reactor of the Earth's surface respond to and

Introductory Chapter: Current Practice in Fluvial Geomorphology: Research Frontiers, Issues…

• What are the transport laws that govern the evolution of the Earth's surface?

• How can Earth surface science contribute toward a sustainable Earth surface?

These key research questions may be taken effectively by the Earth scientists for

In view of the aforementioned challenges in contemporary Earth surface process discourse, NRC [8] has focused on four major research frontiers, relevant for fluvial

Reading of a fluvial landscape could proceed through four consequent steps [9, 10]:

• Step 1: Identification and interpretations of fluvial landscapes and their process-form relations that resolve the respective process regime

• Step 2: Assessment of the assemblage of riverine landscape elements at the

• Step 3: Explanations of the controls at the reach scale and understanding of

• Step 4: Integrated understanding of the catchment scale control on channel

Indeed, comprehensive appraisal of a fluvial landscape requires understanding of the landscape form, function and evolution [11]. However, instead of viewing the regional landscape (area/polygonal approach) as a whole, reference site (i.e. place/ location) based studies (location/point approach) are in practice these days [12]. This often results misleading outcomes [13]. Another threat in contemporary

• Quantitative reconstruction of landscape dynamics across time scales

Figure 1. Number of research articles pertaining to 10 broad themes derived from examining 24 volumes of the journal Geomorphology in 2018. Note: Th 1,Th2 … indicates the broad themes as mentioned in Table 1.

but did not inevitably come within fluvial geomorphology largely due to the opening out of techniques and wider interest of the contemporary practitioners of other fields toward riverine landscape. Therefore, although fluvial research, including the cross-cutting fields, comprised 34% of the current geomorphological research, in the upcoming days via technical advances (modeling and GIS) and data acquisition (e.g. remote sensing), the discipline will serve to initiate new arena of research which will be more interdisciplinary. Optimistically, the discipline fluvial geomorphology is going through renaissance in quest of elucidating the genesis, dynamicity and diversity of fluvial landscape [7].
