Coarse Bed Sediments in a Headwater Channel as Indicators of Fluvial Processes and Slope-Channel Coupling: A Case Study from the Carpathian Mountains (Czech Republic)

The character of riverbed sediments usually reflects fluvial processes and the dynamics of sediment transport in fluvial systems. The approach in this study was based on the measurement of the largest boulders located within a bankfull channel, and on the observation of changes in their size in the longitudinal profile of a headwater stream in the Moravian-Silesian Beskids Mountains. The resulting trends in a particle-size index reflect the character of sediment delivery into channel segments and the recent channel-forming processes. The largest boulders were observed in channel sections with a strong interaction of slope and fluvial processes, and a slight coarsening of sediments was recorded in the incised downstream sections of the longitudinal stream profile. In contrast, the refining of bed sediments was typical of the transitional zone between slope-channel coupled reaches and an alluvial cone characterised by a tendency to material aggradation.