H Vijith*, WS Lerry and D Dodge-Wan
Department of Applied Geology
Faculty of Engineering and Science
Curtin University of Technology
Sarawak Campus CDT 250
98009 Miri, Sarawak, Malaysia
Phone: +60 85 443 939
*Corresponding Author: vijith.hamza@curtin.edu.my
Abstract
Characterisation of a mountain river in the NE Borneo, which showed highly variable pattern in between segments were carried out in the present study through the analysis of sinuosity indexes and determine the factors responsible. Different segments in the Sungai Patah river in the Baram river basin were …show more content…
Analysis of characteristic patterns and behaviour of stream channels are a topic of research interest for quite long time (Leopold and Maddock, 1953; Schumm, 1963; Schumm and Khan, 1972; Schumm et al., 1972; Rosgen, 1994). Numerous researchers have studied different aspects related to stream channels at various levels and scales. Most works are considered as the extension of fluvial geomorphology, which deals with catchment scale analysis of stream characteristics to local, site specific analysis (Robertson-Rintoul and Richards, 1993; Ebisemiju, 1994; Winterbottom, 2000; Rinaldi, 2003; Uribelarrea, 2003; Rachana et al., 2004; Aswathy et al., 2008; Zámolyi, et al., 2010; Kamarudin et al., 2014; Barman, and Goswami, 2015; Clerici et al., 2015; Dhari et al., 2015; Ulloa et al., 2015). River channels show different patterns in its whole stretch of flow which directly correlates to the landform characteristics and varying from straight course typical of mountain streams, meandering in midland stretches and braided in the low land reaches (Leopold and Wolman, 1957). Variability in channel pattern can be attributed to variation in the landform characteristics and flow dynamics. These can be caused due to geological processes operating in the region, which might affect the sediment delivery, discharge and flow pattern by modifying the base level and finally