Investigation of the lateral channel migration: A case study of the South Morava River (Serbia)

Abstract

The morphological evolution of the fluvial relief in the lowland areas is determined by the dynamic of the lateral channel migration process. River meandering and lateral channel migration represent continuous, dynamic and complex processes, which intensity modifies alluvial plains. Accordingly, it is a current topic observed from the domain of various scientific disciplines and practices, including the geographical aspect of the study. Directly or indirectly, variations of natural and anthropogenic processes affect changes in the lateral migration intensity, which is later manifested through permanent consequences for the environment. The aim of this paper is to investigate the process of lateral channel migration, through the review and interpretation of theoretical and methodological concepts and results of contemporary scientific literature. In this paper, on specific sections of the South Morava River (Serbia), the values of maximum lateral migration over different time periods are determined. Three representative river sectors were singled out, spatial and temporal dynamic was determined, while the process of lateral channel migration was presented quantitatively and graphically. Based on the obtained data, a comparative analysis showed significant riverbank changes for the observed meanders, within the period 1924-2020. Special emphasis is on the analysis of the lateral channel migration in the last decade of the mentioned period. The obtained results can be further used in order to develop and implement plans of water and land management, environmental protection and socio-economic development strategies. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. 176017]

Assessment of the soil loss caused by riverbank erosion in Serbia

“…Morava River (2006-2020) and M 3 Zapadna Morava River (2004-2020 The results in this study are in accordance with the results of other scientific and practical studies that deal the topic of riverbank erosion on the examples of individual rivers in Serbia. Roksandic et al (2011) studied the consequences of the riverbank erosion in the Lower Kolubara Region and determined that the total soil loss along the banks of the Kolubara River were 67.3 ha for a period of 43 years (1967-2010) which had a significant economic consequence for the Obrenovac Municipality.…”

“…Dragicevic et al (2017a) using topographical maps, remote sensing, GIS, and field measurements, determined the land loss along the six most characteristic meanders of the Kolubara River (on the most downstream active meander they calculated the total land loss of 9.5 ha for the period 1930-2010). Langović (2020) pointed to an intensified process of bank erosion in the downstream part of the Južna Morava River, with maximum values of lateral channel migration of over 500 m in the period 1924-2019.…”

“…Lateral channel migration and bank erosion are the most important geomorphological processes of the alluvial plains in the southern part of the Pannonian Basin and its southern rim (Blanka & Kiss 2011;Zaharia et al, 2011;Floriou, 2011;Roksandić et al, 2011;Dragićević et al, 2012Dragićević et al, , 2013Dragićević et al, , 2015Tošić et al, 2014;Lovrić & Tošić, 2016;Bertalan et al, 2019). In accordance, on the territory of Serbia, bank erosion is singled out as a very dynamic and intensive fluvial process, which has a significant impact on the various aspects of society, economy, and environment (Langović, 2020). Determination of the riverbank erosion rates and their impact on the surrounding area does not have a broad research past on the territory of Serbia.…”

“…In addition, lateral channel migration is responsible for extensive destruction of arable lands and usually threatens human environment, especially agricultural areas (Bertalan et al, 2018). In general, consequences, caused by the processes of lateral channel migration and riverbank erosion, can be categorized into four groups: socio-economic (land loss and land use changes, impact on population, settlements and economic activities), natural (changes of different hydrological indicators and vegetation cover), ecological (impact on habitats) (Langović, 2020), geopolitical (when the meandering river represents the state border) (Dragićević et al, 2013;Palmer et al, 2014). Land loss due riverbank erosion is permanent, so the effect of this process is more significant (Yousefi et al, 2017).…”

“…Therefore, the consequences of this process have not been studied for the entire territory of Serbia. However, it is possible to single out scientific papers (Roksandic et al, 2011;Dragićević et al, , 2017aLangović, 2020) that manage the mentioned issue on the examples of certain rivers.…”