KNICKPOINTS IN TRIBUTARIES OF THE SOUTH FORK EEL RIVER, NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

Multiple knickpoints are present in two tributary basins of the South Fork Eel River. These tributaries are downstream from a major knickpoint on the South Fork Eel River, which may be a transient knickpoint propagating base-level fall throughout the basin. Knickpoints are identified from longitudinal profiles extracted from LiDAR-derived DEMs. Knickpoints and knickzones, knickzones being the immediate downstream reach of higher gradient, are present throughout the two basins. Many of the knickpoints display correlative elevations between the two basins. Knickpoints are most common on first-order streams, and knickpoint frequency decreases with increasing stream order. Major knickzones were found throughout the basins, but the largest knickzone reaches were found closest to the basin outlets. Although only the lowest major knickpoints on each tributary likely correlate with the major knickpoint on the South Fork, it does appear that knickpoints in these tributary basins could be the result of multiple instances of base-level lowering on the South Fork Eel River.