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The sinuosity patterns of lowland meandering rivers on Earth and Mars

Two contrasting sinuosity patterns were identified in lowland rivers on Earth and Mars. The channel sinuosity either substantially increases or remains constant towards the coast. These bimodal patterns reflect the age of the channels and their lateral migration rates, which are associated with sediment supply and discharge variability.

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Fig. 1: The temporal evolution of modelled and measured river sinuosities.

References

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This is a summary of: Wu, C. et al. Lowland river sinuosity on Earth and Mars set by the pace of meandering and avulsion. Nat. Geosci. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01231-1 (2023).

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The sinuosity patterns of lowland meandering rivers on Earth and Mars. Nat. Geosci. 16, 667–668 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01233-z

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