Experimental Study on Neck Cutoff in Meandering River under Variable Discharges

Abstract

Neck cutoff is a sudden phenomenon that occurs during the evolution of meandering rivers, but its process and mechanism remain unclear. In this investigation, the neck-narrowing process before cutoff, the formation of a new river, and the appropriate conditions for cutoff under constant and variable discharges were studied using experimental methods in a laboratory flume. The results indicated that bank erosion upstream and downstream of the neck was the main factor that triggered cutoff, regardless of whether the discharge changed. The sinuosity of the model river was approximately 7, the ratio of the neck width to the average river width reached approximately 0.43, and the experimental material was nonuniform natural sand. Under the conditions that the unit width discharge ranged from 0.0039 to 0.0069 m2/s and the longitudinal gradient was 1‰, neck cutoff could occur after sufficient bank erosion. When neck cutoff was imminent, the sinuosity of the channel increased and the channel rotated downstream. After neck cutoff, the formation of a new river experienced three stages, namely, the short-term longitudinal scouring stage, the long-term horizontal widening stage, and the long-term transverse widening and normal slow development stage. The discharge resulting in neck scouring was the effective discharge contributing to the cutoff, and this discharge directly affected the cutoff time and position. We attempted to explain the factors leading to neck cutoff from an energy consumption perspective. Neck cutoff was a sudden phenomenon that occurred when the energy consumption of a meandering river increased to its maximum value upon entry to the recession stage from the relative equilibrium stage. To a certain extent, this study is significant in understanding river evolution and neck cutoff.