Utrecht University

Fluvial morphology and hydrological processes

The Physical Geography department of Utrecht University has many years of experience in river studies. Research themes focus on fluvial morphology and hydrological processes at different spatial and temporal scales.

Age of the Holocene Channel belts in the Rhine-Meuse delta, The Netherlands

At the scale of the river delta the focus is on the dynamics of sedimentation. Using a database containing detailed information from 200,000 boreholes, a reconstruction of the Holocene paleogeograohy of the Rhine-Meuse delta has been established. Research on contemporary processes includes sediment transport within the river channel, channel morphology, overbank sedimentation and the deposition of pollutants on the floodplain.

GIS-embedded models

At the river basin scale, the discharge of water, sediment, nutritients and pollutants, and the boundary conditions controlling these processes are studied using GIS-embedded models. The River Rhine functions as a laboratory river for research, but other rivers in Europe and in various other parts of the world are studied as well.