Downstream channel adjustment in a low-relief, glacially conditioned watershed

•Variations in channel slope control variations in discharge and channel morphology.•Glacial deposits influence downstream grain size and Shields stress trends.•Excess Shields stress can be used to discriminate graded from non-graded reaches.

River management practices are often informed by theoretical expectations of downstream channel adjustment, which may not be valid in low relief, glacially conditioned watersheds such as those in the lower North American Great Lakes region. Downstream trends in channel morphology and bed material size within a low-relief, glacially conditioned watershed are explored here and compared to a theoretical watershed model where slope and grain size are expected to decline exponentially. The observed channel morphology is then tested against a theoretical concept of reach-scale channel grade. The downstream hydraulic geometry relations wbf ∝ Qbf0.51S− 0.02 and dbf ∝ Qbf0.32S− 0.21 were found to best describe downstream changes in channel morphology and are consistent with some prior studies. Bed material size varies irregularly down the channel. Slope-controlled downstream fining trends are evident where inputs from glacial materials and tributaries are negligible but are masked by cobble/boulder lag deposits where the channel is cut into these glacial deposits. The asynchronous variability in slope and grain size produces downstream variations in graded and nongraded, understeepened conditions separated at τ*ex = 0. Graded reaches exist where τ*ex > 0, but an upper boundary with nongraded, oversteepened reaches is less clear. The results emphasize the geomorphic legacy of inherited slopes and sediment sources in dictating the modern downstream patterns of fluvial characteristics and morphologies in glacially conditioned, and similarly complex, watersheds.