Geomorphic Effects of the Extreme Rainfall Event of 20–21 July, 2004 in the Latnjavagge Catchment, Northern Swedish Lapland

Mass transfers triggered by a rare rainfall event on 20–21 July, 2004, with 58.4 mm of rain within 24 h and 71.7 mm of rain within 48 h in the Latnjavagge catchment (9 km² , 950–1440 m a.s.l.; 68°20'N, 18°30'E) in the higher Abisko mountain region (Swedish Lapland), are quantified and analysed in direct comparison with mean annual mass transfers in this drainage basin. In years without rare rainfall events the Latnjavagge catchment is characterized by restricted sediment availability resulting in low mechanical denudation and mass transfers. During the rare rainfall event of 20–21 July, 2004, major stability thresholds on the slope systems (triggering debris flows and slides) and in the channel systems (break‐up of channel debris pavements and step–pool systems) in the Latnjavagge catchment were passed and mass transfers by debris flows, slides and fluvial debris transport in creeks and channels were several times higher than the mean annual mass transfers in Latnjavagge. In the calculation of longer‐term mass transfers and sediment budgets, rare events like the 20–21 July, 2004 rainfall event have to be considered as essential components. A reliable estimation of the recurrence intervals of such rare events is especially problematic. The general problem of defining an adequate length of process monitoring programmes is pointed out.     

岔巴沟流域次暴雨产沙统计模型

流域综合治理规划、防治土壤侵蚀、合理利用水沙资源 ,无不需要掌握流域产沙情况。流域产沙统计模型结构简单 ,计算方便 ,是现有产沙预报的强有力工具。本文以陕西省岔巴沟流域及其支流实测降雨水文资料为基础 ,系统地分析了流域产沙的降雨、径流、地貌因子在流域产沙中的作用 ,进而将影响产沙的因素概括为径流深、洪峰流量、流域面积、流域沟道密度 ,并作为产沙预报的指标 ,建立了岔巴沟流域次暴雨产沙的统计模型。经检验 ,该预报公式具有一定的精度。     

山区河流准三维水沙输运与河床演变模拟

在渠道水力学和河流动力学研究的基础上，对不规则河流形态下的纵向流速分布和弯道水流进行了讨论，并分析了任意断面和垂线位置的流场计算公式。在综合各种泥沙动力学研究成果基础之上，探讨了在天然河流中的悬移质输沙能力与沉积条件，分析了河床质起动的控制性因素及推移质输沙方程。提出了受冲淤影响的河床质粒径组成和动态递推公式。结合这些流场与泥沙计算方法及河床形态调整技术，作者提出一个准三维河流动力学模型。该模型只需要河流几何形状、人流条件以及泥沙级配参数，能够模拟出不规则几何形态的河道断面流速分布及平面流场分布，并且对于弯道水流特征与泥沙输送一沉积特征也能得到较好的表现。该模型是对有关河流演变理论和实验成果的综合应用，为研究山区高含沙水流下的河床变形以及洪水演进提供了强有力的工具。     

Periglacial and Fluvial Factors Controlling the Sedimentation of Pleistocene Breccia in NW Poland

Breccias were investigated on the terrace of the Toruń‐Eberswalde ice‐marginal valley at Rozwarzyn (NW Poland). Breccia layers include soft‐sediment clasts with diameters between 2 and 256 mm and soft‐sediment megaclasts with diameters from 256 mm to 7 m. The shape of the soft‐sediment clasts and megaclasts (derived from frozen sediments) in the breccia is diverse: from angular and irregular in the case of debris‐flow breccias to slightly rounded and tabular in fluvial breccias. These two types of breccias were developed during the Late Weichselian when the periglacial climate favored extensive lateral erosion by currents of frozen braided channels in the ice‐marginal valley. The dual presence of breccias of fluvial and debris‐flow origin in channel deposits is unique for Quaternary sediments. Zones of breccias existed in the channels where scours and obstacle marks related to megaclasts developed. The study of breccias shed new light on the fluvial processes in ice‐marginal valleys during the Pleistocene and can be considered as diagnostic for fluvio‐periglacial conditions.     

黄河内蒙古段异源水沙输移特性

河流悬移质泥沙的输移方式按照水沙来源可以分为水沙同源与水沙异源两大类。黄河内蒙古段水沙来自不同的区域,冲泻质泥沙主要来源于陇西黄土高原区,而径流则主要来自唐乃亥以上的山区,呈现异源特性。通过分析内蒙古河段石嘴山与巴彦高勒水文站1951-2003年的水文数据,发现期间共发生了13次大流量和29次高含沙事件且大流量、高含沙量同时出现现象很少,多呈现大流量、低含沙量,或者小流量、高含沙量的态式。同时,通过改变传统流量-含沙量幂函数公式C_i=aQ^b(C_i为悬移质浓度,Q为流量)的参数项,建立了2种水沙异源情况下流量-含沙量的公式。     

Interactions between aeolian and fluvial systems in dryland environments

Historically, fluvial and aeolian processes in dryland environments have been viewed as mutually exclusive. However, recent research indicates that in many regions dryland aeolian and fluvial systems do not operate independently. There are interactions between the two systems that have important implications for the geomorphology of the landscape. This paper reviews the factors controlling the transfer of sediments between aeolian and fluvial systems, focusing on moisture availability, sediment supply and the magnitude/frequency characteristics of fluvial and aeolian events. We conclude by highlighting areas of future research that will contribute greatly to our understanding of aeolian–fluvial relationships in dryland areas.     

Hyperconcentrated Flows in the Slope-Channel Systems in Gullied Hilly Areas on the Loess Plateau, China

This study is based on the data from Zizhou and Wangjiagou experimental stations on the Loess Plateau in the major sediment‐producing areas of the middle Yellow River drainage basin. It deals with characteristics of hyperconcentrated flows in the slope‐channel systems in the gullied hilly areas on the Loess Plateau. The results show that the formation of hyperconcentrated flows is closely related to the vertical differentiation of landforms. Based on data from 21 rainfall events in the period 1963–1970, event‐averaged suspended sediment concentration for hilltop, upper hillslope, lower hillslope and gully slope was calculated as 36 kg/m³, 89 kg/m³, 304 kg/m³ and 505 kg/m³, and the frequency of hyperconcentrated flows was 0.0, 0.17, 0.74 and 1.0, respectively. Thus, hyperconcentrated flows form on the lower part of hillslopes and on the gully slopes, and develope well in gully channels of various orders. There exists a sediment storing‐releasing mechanism, resulting from different behaviours of sediment transport by non‐hyperconcentrated and hyperconcentrated flows. When water flows are nonhyperconcentrated, the relatively coarse fractions of sediment from the slopes are deposited in the channel. When hyperconcentrated flows occur, the previously deposited coarse sediment may be eroded and released from the channel. A close relationship is found between rainstorms and the formation of hyperconcentrated flows, and some thresholds of rainfall and runoff for the occurrence of hyperconcentrated flows have been identified.     

怒江流域悬移质输沙时空分布特征及变化趋势

利用怒江-萨尔温江上游地区怒江流域5 个水文站长序列日悬移质输沙与径流观测记录,运用Mann-Kendall 检验和R/S 分析等方法,分析了50 多年来(1956-2011) 怒江干流和支流南汀河输沙时空格局和变化特征及其与径流的关系.结果表明：(1) 怒江干流平均含沙量和输沙模数远小于支流南汀河,流域悬移质输沙率年际变异系数随控制面积增大而减小;(2) 怒江干流木城站悬移质输沙率小于其上游道街坝站,部分泥沙淤积在区间河床可能是其原因之一;(3) 怒江流域悬移质输沙年内分配极不均匀,干流悬移质输沙集中程度在月以上时间尺度高于支流南汀河,而在日时间尺度则低于支流南汀河;(4) 怒江干流和支流南汀河悬移质输沙率均呈明显上升趋势,且未来仍将延续上升趋势,二者的突变分别始于1987 年和1980 年;(5) 怒江干流中上游悬移质输沙与径流的相关性不显著,中下游、下游以及支流南汀河悬移质输沙与径流的相关性均显著.     

Erosion rates in badland areas recorded by collectors,erosion pins and profilometer techniques (Ebro Basin,NE-Spain)

In badland areas of the Ebro Basin, in a semiarid climate, two erosion plots (257 m²; 5° slope and 128 m²; 23° slope) on exposed Tertiary clays were monitored over two years (Nov. 1991–Nov. 1993). This material is characterized by high sodium absorption ratios which lead to high soil dispersivity. The dominant erosion processes in both plots are rilling and sheet erosion. Rainfall intensity was recorded at a weather station, connected to a data-logger, sediment production for single events was collected in tanks, and ground lowering was measured every six months by erosion pins and microtopographic profile gauge techniques. Significant runoff was produced only by rainfall events above 5 mm. Another threshold at 20 mm rain was noted. For rainfalls higher than 20 mm, the 23° slope plot shows a greater runoff response than the 5° one. Rainfall events exceeding this threshold showed a higher sediment production for the steeper slope. In the relationship between precipitation and sediment concentration, an envelope curve can be drawn indicating that any rainfall event of a given amount and intensity has a maximum sediment concentration which we speculate to be a function of the runoff sediment transport capacity. Runoff response and sediment yield in the studied plots are controlled by the rainfall and soil characteristics and their seasonal variations. In both plots, the erosion pins show that erosion rates in rill areas are 25–50% higher than in the interrill areas. Sediment yield recorded by collector devices was higher than the rates measured by erosion pins. The erosion rates based on rill cross-sections by profilometers were higher than the ones recorded by collectors.     

Holocene Brahmaputra River path selection and variable sediment bypass as indicators of fluctuating hydrologic and climate conditions in Sylhet Basin,Bangladesh

The Holocene stratigraphy of Sylhet basin, a tectonically influenced sub‐basin within the Ganges‐Brahmaputra‐Meghna delta (GMBD), provides evidence for autogenic and allogenic controls on fluvial system behaviour. Using Holocene lithology and stratigraphic architecture from a dense borehole network, patterns of bypass‐dominated and extraction‐enhanced modes of sediment transport and deposition have been reconstructed. During a ~3‐kyr mid‐Holocene occupation of Sylhet basin by the Brahmaputra River, water and sediment were initially (~7.5–6.0 ka) routed along the basin's western margin, where limited downstream facies changes reflect minimal mass extraction and bypass‐dominated transport to the basin outlet. Sediment‐dispersal patterns became increasingly depositional ~6.0–5.5 ka with the activation of a large (~2250 km²) splay that prograded towards the basin centre while maintaining continued bypass along the western pathway. Beginning ~5.0 ka, a second splay system constructed an even larger (~3800 km²) lobe into the most distal portions of the basin along the Shillong foredeep. This evolution from a bypass‐dominated system to one of enhanced mass extraction is well reflected in (i) the rapid downstream fining of deposited sand and (ii) a change in facies from amalgamated channel deposits to mixed sands and muds within discrete depositional lobes. The persistence of sediment bypass suggests that seasonal flooding of the basin by local runoff exerts a hydrologic barrier to overbank flow and is thus a principal control on river path selection. This control is evidenced by (i) repeated, long‐term preference for occupying a course along the basin margin rather than a steeper path to the basin centre and (ii) the persistence of an under‐filled, topographically low basin despite sediment load sufficient to fill the basin within a few hundred years. The progradation of two 10–20‐m thick, sandy mega‐splays into the basin interior reflects an alternative mode of sediment dispersal that appears to have operated only in the mid‐Holocene (~6.0–4.0 ka) during a regional weakening of the summer monsoon. The reduced water budget at that time would have lowered seasonal water levels in the basin, temporarily lessening the hydrologic barrier effect and facilitating splay development into the basin interior. Overall, these results place basin hydrology as a first‐order control on fluvial system behaviour, strongly modifying the perceived dominance of tectonic subsidence. Such coupling of subsidence, fluvial dynamics and local hydrology have been explored through tank experiments and modelling; this field study demonstrates that complex, emergent behaviours can also scale to the world's largest fluvial system.     

Water chemistry and its diversity in relation to local factors in the Latnjavagge drainage basin, arctic–oceanic Swedish Lapland

The chemistry of precipitation, snow pack and surface water has been analysed on 205 samples collected during the 2001 field season at 25 selected sites within the Latnjavagge drainage basin in arctic–oceanic northern Swedish Lapland. Additionally, daily discharge and yield of dissolved solids have been calculated for several subcatchments and the entire Latnjavagge catchment during the years 2000, 2001 and 2002. Chemical water analysis included the components Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, K⁺, Fe²⁺, Mn²⁺, Cl⁻, NO₃⁻, SO₄²⁻ and PO₄³⁻, with SO₄²⁻ and Ca²⁺ being the dominant ones in the surface water. Solute concentrations and chemical denudation were low, but showed significant differences within the basin. In areas of shade, longer snow cover, frozen ground and thin regolith, concentrations over the summer were perceptible but so low that solutes brought into the basin from precipitation could be detected in the surface water. In one locality, it was even found that lake water could reflect snowmelt to such an extent that the solute concentration was less than that of summer precipitation. The highest concentrations were found at a radiation-exposed, W-facing, vegetated, moderately steep slope with relatively thick regolith that was thawed at the time of snowmelt in early June. In such well-drained sites with continuous subsurface water flow, a maximum of contact between water and mineral particles could take place. The concentration values revealed differences in the rate of thawing of frozen ground between shaded areas and/or areas at higher altitude on the one hand and radiation-exposed areas on the other. A comparison with published results from Kärkevagge a few kilometres to the northwest as well as from other periglacial locations indicates that the chemical denudation values from Latnjavagge are more representative of periglacial oceanic environments than the values from the Kärkevagge catchment, which shows especially high chemical denudation rates. The investigation in Latnjavagge stresses the importance of spatial variability within even small catchments of homogeneous lithology as it demonstrates that solute concentrations from different subbasins can differ substantially dependent on exposure to radiation, duration of snow cover and frozen ground conditions, regolith thickness and possibly also to vegetation cover and slope angle as factors steering water turbulence and retention of drainage.     

黄河中游降雨特性对泥沙粒径的影响

以黄河中游36个有泥沙粒径资料的水文测站流域为样本，在不同自然地理类型流域划分的基础上，建立了流域泥沙粒径特片与降雨特性的关系。结果表明，在不同类型流域，流域泥沙的粗细与降雨季节性变率和年际变率之间存在着相当好的线性正相关关系；而与年降雨量和降雨不均匀系数之间呈明显的非线性关系。流域地面物质、植被和地貌发育程序等下垫面环境因素对泥沙粒径特性与降雨特性之间关系起着十分重要的控制作用。不同类型流域曲线的斜率各不相同，在图中所处的位置也不相同。     

Grain size characteristics and environmental indication of the sediments around Great Wall Station,Antarctica

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无定河流域不同地貌区水沙过程对比

为了查明人为影响程度较低时期无定河流域内不同地貌区的水沙过程及其变化规律,选取1970年以前一段时期该流域内风沙区和黄土丘陵沟壑区河流的有关水文站的水文泥沙实测数据进行对比分析。结果表明,风沙区河流的流量变率较黄土丘陵沟壑区的小;风沙区河流的含沙量远小于黄土丘陵沟壑区河流的含沙量。黄土丘陵沟壑区河流具有极高的输沙率,而风沙区河流的输沙率微不足道。风沙区和黄土丘陵沟壑区河流的产流模数基本相近,但产沙模数非常悬殊,前者的产沙模数很小,为118.58~725.38t /km² · a,而后者的达到1879.36~25112.15t /km² · a。显然,无定河流域黄土丘陵沟壑区的河流是侵蚀产沙的主要来源区,因而是水土保持工作的重点区域。     

Straight from the source's mouth: Controls on field-constrained sediment export across the entire active Corinth Rift,central Greece

The volume and grain-size of sediment supplied from catchments fundamentally control basin stratigraphy. Despite their importance, few studies have constrained sediment budgets and grain-size exported into an active rift at the basin scale. Here, we used the Corinth Rift as a natural laboratory to quantify the controls on sediment export within an active rift. In the field, we measured the hydraulic geometries, surface grain-sizes of channel bars and full-weighted grain-size distributions of river sediment at the mouths of 47 catchments draining the rift (constituting 83% of the areal extent). Results show that the sediment grain-size increases westward along the southern coast of the Gulf of Corinth, with the coarse-fraction grain-sizes (84^th percentile of weighted grain-size distribution) ranging from approximately 19 to 91 mm. We find that the median and coarse-fraction of the sieved grain-size distribution are primarily controlled by bedrock lithology, with late Quaternary uplift rates exerting a secondary control. Our results indicate that grain-size export is primarily controlled by the input grain-size within the catchment and subsequent abrasion during fluvial transport, both quantities that are sensitive to catchment lithology. We also demonstrate that the median and coarse-fraction of the grain-size distribution are predominantly transported in bedload; however, typical sand-grade particles are transported as suspended load at bankfull conditions, suggesting disparate source-to-sink transit timescales for sand and gravel. Finally, we derive both a full Holocene sediment budget and a grain-size-specific bedload discharged into the Gulf of Corinth using the grain-size measurements and previously published estimates of sediment fluxes and volumes. Results show that the bedload sediment budget is primarily comprised (~79%) of pebble to cobble grade (0.475–16 cm). Our results suggest that the grain-size of sediment export at the rift scale is particularly sensitive to catchment lithology and fluvial mophodynamics, which complicates our ability to make direct inferences of tectonic and palaeoenvironmental forcing from local stratigraphic characteristics.     

Fallout radionuclide tracers identify a switch in sediment sources and transport-limited sediment yield following wildfire in a eucalypt forest

Fire can alter sediment sources and transport rates in river basins, changing landforms and aquatic habitats and degrading downstream water quality. Variability in the response between environments, between fires, and with time since fire makes predicting the catchment-scale effect of individual fires difficult. This study applies the fallout radionuclides ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb_xs to trace the sources and transport of fine sediment through a river network following a wildfire of moderate to extreme severity in the 629-km² eucalypt-forested Nattai River water-supply catchment near Sydney, Australia. The tracer analysis showed that post-fire erosion caused a switch in fine (< 10 µm) sediment sources from 80% subsoil derived from gully and river bank erosion to 86% topsoil derived from hillslope surface erosion. The fine sediment phosphorus content increased 4–10 fold over pre-fire levels. Annual post-fire sediment yields estimated from suspended solids rating curves were 109–250 times higher than they would have been without fire. A large additional amount of sediment remained stored within the river network for at least four years, particularly in lower-gradient reaches. Analysis of a sediment core showed that surface erosion following a previous fire had supplied at least 29% of total catchment sediment yield over the past 36 years. It is concluded that wildfire can alter catchment sediment budgets in two ways. Firstly, a spatially-diffuse pulse of elevated erosion is associated with moderate or intense rainfall events in post-fire years. Secondly, pulses of elevated catchment sediment yield are driven by the timing and river sediment transport capacity of runoff events. Severe post-fire erosion and high interannual hydrologic variability can result in large sediment stores persisting within the river network for many years. Fallout radionuclide tracers are shown to be useful in quantifying fine sediment sources and transport dynamics following wildfire, and the contribution of wildfire to catchment sediment yield.     

Characteristics of freshly deposited sand and finer sediments along an island-braided, gravel-bed river: The roles of water, wind and trees

Over the past two decades there has been a growing interest in the geomorphological mosaic along large floodplain rivers where channel dynamics are seen to drive habitat-patch creation and turnover and to contribute to high biological diversity. This has required a new perspective on fluvial geomorphology that focuses on biological scales of space and time. This study examines the spatial pattern of surface fine sediment accumulations along a reach of a large gravel-bed river, the Tagliamento River in NE Italy; an area with a moist Mediterranean climate and seasonal flow regime. The study investigates changes in sediment characteristics during the summer low-flow period between April and September. Focussing on five areas representing a gradient from open, bar-braided to wooded island-braided morphologies, the paper demonstrates the importance of riparian vegetation and aeolian–fluvial interactions.Significant contrasts in particle size distributions and organic content of freshly deposited sand and finer sediments were found between sampling areas, geomorphological settings, and sampling dates. In particular, wooded floodplain and established islands supported consistently finer sediment deposits than both open bar surfaces and the lee of pioneer islands, and in September significantly finer sediments were also found in deposits located in the lee of pioneer islands than on open bar surfaces. Overall, the September samples had a greater variability in particle size characteristics than those obtained from the same sites in April, with a general coarsening of the D₅ (φ) (i.e., the coarse tail of the particle size distribution). Also in September, crusts of fine sediment (30 μm < D₅₀ < 64 μm) had formed on the surface of some of the open bar and pioneer island deposits within the more open sampling areas along the study reach. These crusts possessed similar particle size characteristics to aeolian crusts found in more arid environments. They were significantly finer than April samples and September subcrust samples obtained from the same sites and had similar particle size characteristics to some samples taken from wooded floodplain, established island surfaces and the lee of pioneer islands that were not crusted.Local climatological and river level data confirm significant wind and rainfall events during a period of consistently low river levels between the April and September sampling periods. These support deflation, deposition and rain wash of finer sediment during the summer, with windblown sediments being deposited on bar surfaces and in the lee of pioneer islands where wood and young trees provide foci for accelerated sedimentation and island growth as well as on marginal floodplains and established islands. We conclude that along braided rivers in moist settings but with a distinct dry season, aeolian reworking of sediment deposits may have a more important role in driving habitat dynamics than previously considered.     

Climatic influences on streamflow and sediment flux into Lake C2, northern Ellesmere Island, Canada

Streamflow, suspended sediment transport and meteorological variables at two elevations were measured through the 1990–1992 field seasons at Lake C2, Northern Ellesmere Island, as part of the Taconite Inlet Lakes Project. The objectives were to determine the extent to which suspended sediment flux responded to climatic variability, and to ascertain which meteorological variable was most strongly associated with daily discharge and sediment load. This study provided a partial test of our hypothesis that the annually-laminated sediments of Lake C2 contain a paleoclimate signal. Streamflow to the lake was almost exclusively the result of snowmelt, in response to inputs of atmospheric energy as measured by air temperature at the median watershed elevation (520 m). Sea-level air temperature, global solar and net all-wave irradiance were less clearly associated with discharge. Fluctuations of discharge and suspended sediment concentration were nearly synchronous, and non-linearly related. Daily sediment discharge was therefore linked by streamflow, with a time lag, to the energy available for snowmelt. Mean daily air temperature and cumulative degree-days above 0 °C, at 520 m elevation, were successfully used to predict the daily and seasonal discharge of runoff and sediment to the lake.This is the third in a series of papers published in this issue on the Taconite Inlet Lakes Project. These papers were collected by Dr R. S. Bradley.     

Interplay between lithospheric flexure and river transport in foreland basins

ABSTRACT Foreland basins form by lithospheric flexure under orogenic loading and are filled by surface transport of sediment. This work readdresses the interplay between these processes by integrating in a 3D numerical model: the mechanisms of thrust stacking, elastic flexural subsidence and sediment transport along the drainage network. The experiments show that both crustal tectonic deformation and vertical movements related to lithospheric flexure control and organise the basin-scale drainage pattern, competing with the nonlinear, unpredictable intrinsic nature of river network evolution. Drainage pattern characteristics are predicted that match those observed in many foreland basins, such as the axial drainage, the distal location of the main river within the basin, and the formation of large, long-lasting lacustrine systems. In areas where the river network is not well developed before the formation of the basin, these lithospheric flexural effects on drainage patterns may be enhanced by the role of the forebulge uplift as drainage divide. Inversely, fluvial transport modifies the flexural vertical movements differently than simpler transport models (e.g. diffusion): Rivers can drive erosion products far from a filled basin, amplifying the erosional rebound of both orogen and basin. The evolution of the sediment budget between orogen and basin is strongly dependent on this coupling between flexure and fluvial transport: Maximum sediment accumulations on the foreland are predicted for a narrow range of lithospheric elastic thickness between 15 and 40 km, coinciding with the T _e values most commonly reported for foreland basins.     

THE UTILITY OF THE SEDIMENT BUDGET CONCEPT IN SEDIMENT POLLUTION CONTROL∗

Soil conservation programs and management of sediment pollution in streams are both concerned with land conservation and water quality, but specific management goals are usually governed by separate considerations. Geomorphic concepts, especially the fluvial sediment budget, can be used to examine the relationship between upland soil erosion and sediment pollution in waterways. An example of such an application is given for the upper Tar River basin of North Carolina, showing that achieving soil loss goals will not prevent continuing high stream sediment concentrations and water quality deterioration. The budget concept can also be used to determine whether direct control of sediment input to waterways is needed in addition to on-site erosion control. Usually such applications require assumptions of a constant qualitative character of the sediment budget.