| Abstract: | Large storage reservoirs have a significant effect on the landscape of river valleys. A rise of the base level, caused by dam construction, together with the resulting changes in the stream regime set off a sequence of interrelated geomorphic processes. Upstream from the edge of the backwater produced by the dam, regressive aggradation gradually spreads upriver, resulting both in a rise in the valley floor and a rise in water level. Within the reservoir itself, waves, longshore currents, seasonal changes in water level and gravitational processes on shoreline slopes combine to produce a distinctive shoreline relief, characterized by large areas of recurrent inundation, lagoon closed off by baymouth bars, and high cliffs retreating under the impact of wave abrasion. Downstream from the dam, heavy downcutting of the river channel gives rise to a stream terrace, whose relative height declines from the vicinity of the dam toward the mouth. Downcutting of the channel in the main stream in turn tends to lower the base level in the lower reaches of tributaries. |
