REGIME THEORY OF ALLUVIAL CHANNELS BASED UPON THE CONCEPTS OF STREAM POWER AND PROBABILITY

A new rational regime theory for stable alluvial channels is developed in this paper. Based on the concepts of stream power and fluvial proc ess probability, a basic regime equation with a modified aspect ratio relationship is analytically derived. Most existing explicit regime eq uations can be transformed into the format of the proposed basic regim e equation. A relationship for the basic regime coefficient is derived after introducing the concept of a 'fluvial processes index'. A suita ble resistance relationship and a sediment transport formula are then coupled with the basic regime equation to determine the depth, width a nd slope of the regime channel. The new regime theory is compared with existing regime equations and is also applied to field data and labor atory data. The predicted channel dimensions are in good agreement wit h observed values.