Abstract
Among the most enchanting of the sculpting processes on earth (and apparently also at an earlier time on Mars) is water flow. The large-scale interactions among lithosphere, hydrosphere, and atmosphere are modeled in this chapter, on the basis of very few assumptions and only a few physical principles. Despite the mathematical detail, readers not mathematically inclined should be able to follow the thematic development that reveals rivers to be self-organizing, dynamic systems; complex, but analyzable. Rivers show the richness of near-equilibrium operations, the effects of scale, and the results of competition between coupled forces and processes. In this presentation about rivers is a hint that rivers are an appropriate metaphor for the stream of life.
The physical model of river systems has to take into account precipitation, evaporation, groundwater flow, river volume flow, and the changing course of rivers, from cascades to meanders. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of the bed load carrying capacity of the river. —The Editor
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© 1987 Plenum Press, New York
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Iberall, A.S. (1987). On Rivers. In: Yates, F.E., Garfinkel, A., Walter, D.O., Yates, G.B. (eds) Self-Organizing Systems. Life Science Monographs. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0883-6_3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0883-6_3
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