According to the change of stream power/resisting power relationship due to the crustal movement or the climatic change, most channel landforms which reflect the equilibrium state of fluvial system are eroded and a part of them is remained as a river ...
According to the change of stream power/resisting power relationship due to the crustal movement or the climatic change, most channel landforms which reflect the equilibrium state of fluvial system are eroded and a part of them is remained as a river terrace. In many rivers in Korea are extensively distributed the relatively younger low river terraces. But their accurate formation mechanism is not known. In this paper, the formation processes and the dating of low river terraces distributed in Nakdong River basin will be investigated. Stream power of the downward erosion was revived because the sea level fell down. So stream power was superior to the resisting power under the cool-wet climatic condition during the last glacial period. Thus the river bed was excavated deeply, so that low river terraces were built up. And many incised meander loops were cut during this period. But, when fluvial system did not have equilibrium over all reaches, the last glacial period ended and the sea level initiated to rise rapidly. The headward erosion from the fall of sea level during the last glacial period had kept up to Hagye Fall because of the cutting of incised meander loops. Deeply excavated valleys and abandoned channel of cut-meander in lower reaches of a stream were filled with sediments. Thus the longitudinal profile of the uppermost reaches reflect the last interglacial, the upper reaches the last glacial, and the middle/lower reaches recent fluvial system. Therefore low river terraces have been formed since the last glacial period.