Data for: Channel mobility and floodplain reworking across river planform morphologies

Source-to-sink transfer of sediment and organic carbon (OC) is regulated
by river mobility. Quantifying trends in river mobility is, however,
challenging due to diverse planform morphologies (e.g., meandering,
braided) and measurement methods. Here, we utilize a state-of-the-art
remote-sensing method applicable to all planform morphologies to quantify
the mobility timescales of 80 rivers worldwide. Results show that, across
the continuum from meandering to braided rivers, there is a systematic
reduction in timescale of channel mobility and—to a lesser extent—the
timescale of floodplain reworking. This leads to an overall decrease in
the efficiency at which braided river channels rework old floodplain
material compared to their meandering counterparts. Reduced reworking
efficiency of braided channels stems from their relatively smaller
channel-belt areas relative to their channel area. Results suggest that
river-mobility timescales can help us characterize sediment and OC storage
and transit times from remote sensing.