Sediment routing visualization showing the simulated accumulation and transport of debris flow sediment parcels through the Clear Creek watershed, driven by the daily streamflow between July 8, 2011 and July 7, 2018 (hydrograph).

Recurrent sediment inputs organize and eventually achieve a quasi-steady state where the thickness of bed material is maintained. Due to the branching network structure, underlying characteristics of the basin, and process dynamics, high concentrations of sand are heterogeneously distributed on the network.

An instantaneous spatially uniform input of sand parcels, each representing a hillslope contribution, are organized by river network structure and process dynamics into a spatially heterogeneous distribution of clusters. These clusters correspond to observed hotspots (with high rates) of channel migration.