Welcome to the LSU Fluvial Geomorphology Lab Website!
I'm Dr. Kory Konsoer, an Associate Professor of Geography and Coastal Studies Institute Fellow at Louisiana State University. I am a process-based fluvial geomorphologist interested in how rivers reshape the physical landscape and how humans interact with river systems. My research has focused on various topics, including: spatial patterns and rates of bank erosion; patterns of sediment transport, deposition, and delivery to coastal margins; the influence of vegetation on river hydrodynamics; three-dimensional flow structure in meander bends; morphodynamics of neck cutoffs; and comparing hydraulic geometry relationships for rivers, submarine channels, and paleochannels on Mars.
What is fluvial geomorphology?
Fluvial geomorphology is the study of the formation and evolution of landscapes shaped by river processes. Riverine landscapes develop under processes associated with running water and operate across a wide range of physical scales, from the initiation of motion of sediment grains to the delivery of water, sediment, and nutrients to coastal environments and ocean basins. It is estimated that roughly 85% of global sediment transport to oceans is accomplished by rivers, making rivers a critical agent for eroding and sculpting Earth's surface. However, river systems are much more than simply conveyors of water and sediment, they are the lifelines of our continents providing a diverse range of aquatic and riparian habitats, exchanging nutrients with adjacent floodplains to increase soil fertility, and offering various economic, natural resource, and recreational benefits to society.
