Lithologic control of bedrock meander dimensions in the Appalachian Valley and Ridge province

Abstract Marked differences in bedrock meander dimensions in the Appalachian Valley and Ridge province, at times in adjacent reaches of a single stream, are related to differences in relative erodability of the bedrock. Meanders cut in thick‐bedded to massive lithologies, typically carbonates, are distinctly smaller overall than meanders cut into shaly lithologies. Other factors that could affect bedrock meander dimensions were considered and none appeared to offer any help in explaining the dimensional differences observed above. In plateau regions underlain by essentially horizontal strata, the meander form characteristic of one lithology may become superimposed upon another as incision progresses, producing anomalous relationships between bedrock meander dimensions and lithology. Empirical relations developed from meander geometry measurements and estimated bedrock erodability for 78 bedrock meander reaches, containing a total of 1089 individual meander loops, show that meanders cut in shaly lithologies (ML = 105 Q0.50f, where ML = meander length and Qf = most probable annual flood) are about twice the length of meanders cut in non‐shaly lithologies (ML = 39.30.56f). The valley floor width of the meanders cut in shaly bedrock (VF = 28 Q0.43f) is two to three times wider than the valley floor width of the meanders cut in the more resistant non‐shaly bedrock (VF = 8 Q0.43f). The mean and median meander length values for individual reaches typically differ by less than 10 per cent.