Environmental Erosion Research Journal

The dimensions, shapes and the patterns of natural rivers change according to their dynamic properties. These unavoidable changes cause the rivers imbalance and a new balance will be formed.  The around lands will be affected by this dynamic and dangers such as instability of the bed. In this research we used chronological inference method to study Kashkan River morphology. Kashkan river is located in a region between Lorestan province and Gavmishan bridge in a reach of 25 kilometers. The aero photos of 1334, 1376, the sensing images of liss3 obtained from IRS P6 satellite in 1385 and the Geo Eye image of the land were digitized in Arc GIS software. In the second step geometrical parameters such as wave length, valley length, sinuosity, central angle and radius tangent on the river arch were calculated. Then these geometrical parameters were statistically analyzed and were compared in 4 stages. We Using HEC-RAS investigated flood zonation as an important factor in river bed changes. The results of this study and comparing these parameters during the 4 reaches showed that in the abovementioned year s kashkan river pattern was meandering in the reaches of 1, 4 and 5 and also it was developed meandering form in the reaches of 2 and 3. Those river’s arcs which had the most changes in those years were located in the reaches of 2 and 3. At the end it was concluded that the geology factor and the river’s flood in the reaches of 2 and 3 were the most important factors in forming the bed’s changes and bank erosion. Topography factor was the most important factor in causing the most changes in the reaches of 2 and 3 which were located in floodplain.