STATISTICAL INEVITABILITY OF HORTON LAWS AND THE APPARENT RANDOMNESS OF STREAM CHANNEL NETWORKS

The remarkably regular geometric relations observed in stream networks have been widely interpreted as evidence of a distinctive structure t hat reflects particular geomorphic processes. These relations have als o been interpreted as evidence that stream networks are topologically random, formed by the laws of chance. Neither of these inferences is j ustified. The oft-cited geometric properties are not specific to parti cular kinds of stream networks or to topologically random networks; in stead, they describe virtually all possible networks. They therefore c ompel no particular conclusion about the origin or structure of stream networks.