Fluvial typologies in the brazilian drylands:

a study on the application of the methodological proposal of river styles

Resumo

In light of the increasing demand for methodological frameworks that underpin the conservation of landscape diversity, particularly within physiographic contexts that have been historically undervalued, such as tropical drylands, the River Styles methodology emerges as a significant approach. This methodology aims to generate a comprehensive set of spatialized information that addresses the systemic interplay of regional and local controls in shaping processual and morphological responses across drainage systems. Furthermore, it facilitates a deeper understanding of the functionality, maintenance, preservation, and sustainable management of fluvial environments. This study applies the River Styles methodology to a semi-arid basin in Northeastern Brazil, where the relationships between channel patterns and the formation of aggradation landforms is still poorly explored by the geomorphological literature. Seven distinct fluvial typologies were identified, grounded in the predominant physiographical, environmental, and processual characteristics of the area. The river styles delineated herein can serve as a valuable reference for the assessment and classification of other basins within the Brazilian semi-arid domain, as well as for comparative analysis with other semi-arid tropical regions situated in similar passive continental margin contexts.