FLUVIAL CHANNEL MORPHOLOGY IN WESTERN NORWAY AND RESILIENCE TO CHANGE

In Western Norway, settlements and infrastructure are often located in narrow glacial valleys; on flood planes, terraces and mixed fans of colluvium and alluvium. Steep gradients of rivers and terrain surface, makes erosion of river channels a potential threat to society, but different channel morphology may have different susceptibility to changes in discharge and sediment supply. In accordance with climate change predictions for Western Norway, this region is already experiencing an increase in the intensity and frequency of heavy rainstorms, and thus larger and more damaging floods. The presentation will focus on channel morphology of rivers in Western Norway with respect to their response and resilience to changes in discharge.