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  4. The geomorphometry of endorheic drainage basins: implications for interpreting and modelling their evolution
 
research article

The geomorphometry of endorheic drainage basins: implications for interpreting and modelling their evolution

Dorsaz, Jean-Marc
•
Gironas, Jorge
•
Escauriaza, Cristian
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2013
Earth Surface Processes And Landforms

Endorheic basins are catchments with no hydrological connection with marine environments. They cover 20% of the Earth's surface, and are mostly located in arid regions. Their drainage networks converge to lakes, salt flats or alluvial plains, whose dynamics are strongly driven by precipitation, evapotranspiration and groundwater discharge, among other factors. Integrated surface drainage and the creation of whole drainage systems typical of open basins are commonly restricted in these regions. Interestingly, the fluvial basin morphology of endorheic basins has not been extensively studied, and a variety of quantitative morphological descriptors used in open basins have not been utilized in the geomorphic analysis of endorheic basins. The objective of this study is to better understand the basin morphology of endorheic river basins by using well-known geomorphological properties and their variations across scales. For three basins in northern Chile we computed the following descriptors and the corresponding relevant scales: the cumulative distribution of contributing area, the horizontal shape of the basins (i.e. Hack's law, normalized Euclidean length, and sinuosity of the streams), slope-area relationship, Horton's ratios and drainage density. We detected several properties typically found in open basins, but certain features which seem to be unique to closed basins were also identified. In particular, we found that horizontal and vertical geomorphic features seem to be linked, which suggests that an independent treatment of these features may not be appropriate for closed basins. Similar results were found regardless of the basin area, which illustrates the relevant effects of features that are specific to these particular regions. It is expected that our findings will improve both the geomorphic assessment of these basins and hydrological modelling of surface water and groundwater. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  • Details
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Type
research article
DOI
10.1002/esp.3475
Web of Science ID

WOS:000327608400009

Author(s)
Dorsaz, Jean-Marc
Gironas, Jorge
Escauriaza, Cristian
Rinaldo, Andrea  
Date Issued

2013

Publisher

Wiley-Blackwell

Published in
Earth Surface Processes And Landforms
Volume

38

Issue

15

Start page

1881

End page

1896

Subjects

endorheic basins

•

basin geomorphology

•

scaling

•

drainage density

•

arid regions

•

Chile

Note

This is the spinoff of the Master Thesis of Mr Dorsatz, a graduate of SIEwho spent a semester in Chile. Quite a remarkable outcome, if I may AR

Editorial or Peer reviewed

REVIEWED

Written at

OTHER

EPFL units
ECHO  
Available on Infoscience
January 9, 2014
Use this identifier to reference this record
https://infoscience.epfl.ch/handle/20.500.14299/99255
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