Outline & rubric

Introduction:

Part (iii) of Practical 2 will explore aspects of the fluvial geomorphology of the Grand River valley near Brantford, Southern Ontario, c.60km southwest of Mississauga (Fig. 1 below). This will use topographic maps produced by Natural Resources Canada and photographic imagery from Google Maps (Streetview) and Google Earth Pro.

Resources (see Quercus Files/Practical Materials/Practical 2 folder)

•    Natural Resources Canada Topographic Map 40 P/1 (Brantford): 1:50,000 scale - available as a pdf file (NRCan_40_P_1.pdf).

•   Google Earth and Google Maps (including Streetview imagery)

•   Ontario Digital Terrain Model (Lidar-Derived):

https://www.arcgis.com/apps/mapviewer/index.html

•    Practical 2(iii) slides

•   Trenhaile (2016) Chapter 11, p.364-369.

•   Charlton, R. (2008) Fundamentals of Fluvial Geomorphology. Routledge. (available in electronic version via the library catalogue) Chapter 8, p.137-145.

•    Hooke, J.M. (2013) River meandering. In: Shroder, J. (ed) Treatise on Geomorphology, Academic Press. (Vol 9.16).

•   Summerfield, M. (1991) Global Geomorphology. Longman. (available in electronic version via the library catalogue) Chapter 9, p.212-215 (Meandering channels).

Instructions

Take the time to explore the study area using the maps and satellite images. You should also review the material in the Practical 2(iii) slides and the associated readings. Complete each task as detailed below.

Section 5: River channel planforms and channel sinuosity

The first part of this section focuses on two study reaches:

Reach 1: The Grand River between Newport (A) and LaFortune Conservation Area (B)

Reach 2: Fairchild Creek between Highway 403 (C) and the confluence with Grand River at Onondaga (D)

(i)   Calculate the channel Sinuosity Index in each of the study reaches (see instructions in the Practical 2iii slideset) and complete Table 1 below (4 marks):

(ii)  Write a short description of the respective study reaches in terms of their channel planform characteristics (including SI, typical channel width, etc). Make comparisons and contrasts as appropriate and ensure you refer to examples of meander classifications in the literature.

Illustrate your description with images of the channel environment obtained from the maps and(or) Google Earth, Streetview, etc. Include at least two images for each reach and provide captions and location details. Label these as Figures 5a, b, etc. (Max 200 words, 9 marks).

(iii) How do the channel planform characteristics of the Grand River between Newport and Paris differ from those in the A-B study reach? Illustrate your answer with maps and(or) images (continue the Figure labelling sequence from above). (Max 100 words, 5 marks).

Section 6: Palaeochannels of the Fairchild Creek

The valley floor of Fairchild Creek between Colbourne St. E and Onondaga (see Practical 2iii slides) features examples of channel meanders that have been cut-off and abandoned leaving distinctive ox-bow lakes and palaeochannels. Explore this reach using the maps and aerial images to identify at least two examples of the former course of Fairchild Creek.