Sediment budget analysis of slope–channel coupling and in-channel sediment storage in an upland catchment, southeastern Australia

Slope–channel coupling and in-channel sediment storage can be important factors that influence sediment delivery through catchments. Sediment budgets offer an appropriate means to assess the role of these factors by quantifying the various components in the catchment sediment transfer system. In this study a fine (< 63 µm) sediment budget was developed for a 1.64-km² gullied upland catchment in southeastern Australia. A process-based approach was adopted that involved detailed monitoring of hillslope and bank erosion, channel change, and suspended sediment output in conjunction with USLE-based hillslope erosion estimation and sediment source tracing using ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb_ex. The sediment budget developed from these datasets indicated channel banks accounted for an estimated 80% of total sediment inputs. Valley floor and in-channel sediment storage accounted for 53% of inputs, with the remaining 47% being discharged from the catchment outlet. Estimated hillslope sediment input to channels was low (5.7 t) for the study period compared to channel bank input (41.6 t). However an estimated 56% of eroded hillslope sediment reached channels, suggesting a greater level of coupling between the two subsystems than was apparent from comparison of sediment source inputs. Evidently the interpretation of variability in catchment sediment yield is largely dependent on the dynamics of sediment supply and storage in channels in response to patterns of rainfall and discharge. This was reflected in the sediment delivery ratios (SDR) for individual measurement intervals, which ranged from 1 to 153%. Bank sediment supply during low rainfall periods was reduced but ongoing from subaerial processes delivering sediment to channels, resulting in net accumulation on the channel bed with insufficient flow to transport this material to the catchment outlet. Following the higher flow period in spring of the first year of monitoring, the sediment supplied to channels during this interval was removed as well as an estimated 72% of the sediment accumulated on the channel bed since the start of the study period. Given the seasonal and drought-dependent variability in storage and delivery, the period of monitoring may have an important influence on the overall SDR. On the basis of these findings, this study highlights the potential importance of sediment dynamics in channels for determining contemporary sediment yields from small gullied upland catchments in southeastern Australia.     

Recent Environmental Change and Atmospheric Contamination on Svalbard as Recorded in Lake Sediments – Synthesis and General Conclusions

The major patterns of biostratigraphical and geochemical change detected in a multidisciplinary study on recent environmental change and atmospheric contamination on Svalbard are summarised and synthesised. The patterns discussed are changes in sediment accumulation rates, organic matter accumulation rates, atmospheric contaminants, and biological assemblages (diatoms, chrysophyte cysts, chironomids). Possible environmental factors that may have influenced these patterns are discussed, in particular, the role of atmospheric contamination (including the deposition of nitrogen-compounds), local human impact, and recent climatic change. The major conclusions are (1) sediment accumulation rates show consistent temporal and geographical patterns with rates increasing towards the present-day and highest in the south, (2) sediment organic-matter accumulation rates increase markedly in the last 50–100 years, (3) atmospheric contamination is a combination of local and regional sources, (4) sediment inorganic geochemistry suggests catchment and lake responses to climate change in the last 30–50 years, (5) all lakes show a marked increase in the rate of biotic compositional changes in the last 50–100 years, and (6) Svalbard lakes appear to be highly dynamic and show considerable biotic and sedimentary changes in recent decades. The most likely cause of many of the observed changes is recent climatic change, with some local human activity at one site. Detailed interpretation of the observed changes is problematic given current limited knowledge about high Arctic limnology, biology, and catchment processes.     

The timing and magnitude of coarse sediment transport events within an upland,temperate gravel-bed river

This paper describes the application of a new instrument to continuously measure bedload transport, an impact sensor, to a 72 km² test catchment in the Yorkshire Dales, northern England. Data from a network of impact sensors are linked to repeat surveys of channel morphological response, to get a better understanding of the conditions that lead to sediment generation and transfer. Results suggest certain areas of the catchment act as key sediment sources at the annual time scale, with material being quickly delivered to the lower parts of the catchment along the steep bedrock channel. Sediment transfer within the tributaries occurs in significantly smaller magnitudes than within the main channel; but it moves more frequently and at different times of the year, with transfer rates being strongly conditioned by larger-scale valley geomorphology. The lower 5.6 km reach sees a significant reduction in gradient and a widening of the valley. This permits significant accumulation within the channel, which has persisted for many years. This lower reach is very sensitive to changes in sediment supply and there is good agreement between changes in bedload transport data and the surveyed channel response. These observations have major implications for how river management projects should be developed in upland environments, especially those where large-scale geomorphological controls have a major impact upon the sediment transfer process. Evidence suggests that where river management restricts lateral movement of the channel and transfer of sediment into floodplain storage, changes in sediment supply can lead to areas of severe accumulation, acceleration of bank erosion and exacerbated flood risk.     

Slope-gully erosion relationship in small catchments of the middle reaches of the Yellow River

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Catchment-scale (dis)connectivity in sediment flux in the upper Hunter catchment, New South Wales, Australia

(Dis)connectivity within and between landscape compartments affects the extent and rate of transfer of energy and matter through catchments. Various landforms may impede sediment conveyance in a river system, whether laterally to the channel (termed buffers) or longitudinally along the channel itself (termed barriers). A generic approach to analysis of landscape (dis)connectivity using slope threshold analysis in GIS, tied to air photograph interpretation and field mapping of buffers and barriers, is tested in the upper Hunter catchment, Australia. Under simulated conditions, effective catchment area, which is a measure of the proportion of a catchment that has the potential to contribute sediment to the channel network, varies from 73% to just 3% of the total catchment area for differing subcatchments in the upper Hunter. This variability can be explained by the spatial distribution and assemblage of buffers and barriers in each subcatchment. Multiple forms of disconnectivity are evident in some subcatchments, such that when one buffer or barrier is breached, other features still impede sediment transfer within the system. The importance of the position of buffers and barriers within any given subcatchment is emphasised. Spatial variability in valley width exerts a critical control on catchment connectivity, with more efficient sediment conveyance in narrow valleys relative to wider valleys characterised by piedmonts, terraces, fans and extensive floodplains in which conveyance is impeded. This variability reflects the landscape history and geological setting of each subcatchment. The framework developed in this paper can be used to assess the impact of natural or human-induced buffers and barriers on catchment-scale sediment flux in any landscape setting, providing a physical template atop which other biogeochemical fluxes could be examined.     

Morphological dynamics of upland headwater streams in the southern North Island of New Zealand

Short-term channel dynamics of mountain stream reaches in the southern North Island of New Zealand were assessed over two successive 3-month periods using morphological budgeting. Response to floods varies between reaches, even when the catchments were located close to each other and had similar characteristics. The reaches on the Central Volcanic Plateau experienced least morphological change, while streams with steep catchments and migrating planform in the Tararua and Ruahine Ranges showed frequent channel adjustments. Channel response is conditioned by intrinsic variables rendering reaches responsive or robust to the effects of floods, and this is likely to reflect the degree of connectivity between slopes and channels, and reaches.     

Controls on loss-on-ignition variation in cores from two shallow lakes in the northeastern United States

Loss-on-ignition analysis of Quaternary lake sediments provides an inexpensive and easy way to investigate past environmental changes. The mass loss on ignition at 550 °C (LOI) from lake sediment cores may vary because of temporal changes in: (1) sediment composition controlled by factors such as productivity, inorganic inputs, and decomposition; and (2) the patterns of sediment accumulation controlled by factors such as basin morphology and water level. Climatic changes can alter both. Here, modern surface samples and transects of sediment cores, collected across small (<10 ha), shallow (<4 m) lakes in the northeastern United States, show that LOI varies little (2–5%) across the deep portions of these small lakes at a given time. Large changes in LOI occur only at the transition into the littoral (shallow) zone. LOI variations in sediment cores that exceed 2–5%, therefore, appear to represent meaningful environmental changes. However, because of the many possible controls, changes in the LOI of a single core are often hard to interpret. Multiple cores increase the interpretability. At lakes studied here, similar LOI trends among several cores confirm that some LOI changes resulted from basin-wide shifts in sediment composition. Differences among cores, however, developed during the early- and mid-Holocene and indicate that the edge of the littoral zone moved towards the centers of the lakes during two periods of low lake levels, at ca. 11 000–8000 and ca. 5400–3000 cal yr B.P. The basin-wide balance of sediment sources controlled the LOI from deep-water sediments, but sedimentation patterns, which changed as lake levels changed, were also important. LOI differences among cores may therefore help identify past lake-level changes in other lakes.     

Sediment concentration changes in runoff pathways from a forest road network and the resultant spatial pattern of catchment connectivity

Hydrological connectivity is a term often used to describe the internal linkages between runoff and sediment generation in upper parts of catchments and the receiving waters. In this paper, we identify two types of connectivity: direct connectivity via new channels or gullies, and diffuse connectivity as surface runoff reaches the stream network via overland flow pathways. Using a forest road network as an example of a landscape element with a high runoff source strength, we demonstrate the spatial distribution of these two types of linkages in a 57 km² catchment in southeastern Australia. Field surveys and empirical modelling indicate that direct connectivity occurs primarily due to gully development at road culverts, where the average sediment transport distance is 89 m below the road outlet. The majority of road outlets were characterised by dispersive flow pathways where the maximum potential sediment transport distance is measured as the available hillslope length below the road outlet. This length has a mean value of 120 m for this catchment. Reductions in sediment concentration in runoff plumes from both pathways are modelled using an exponential decay function and data derived from large rainfall simulator experiments in the catchment. The concept of the volume to breakthrough is used to model the potential delivery of runoff from dispersive pathways. Of the surveyed road drains (n=218), only 11 are predicted to deliver runoff to a stream and the greatest contributor of runoff occurs at a stream crossing where a road segment discharges directly into the stream. The methodology described here can be used to assess the spatial distribution and likely impact of dispersive and gullied pathways on in-stream water quality.     

Holocene sediment budgets in two river catchments in the Southern Upper Rhine Valley, Germany

The Holocene sediments of two catchments in the southern Upper Rhine valley have been quantified as part of the German LUCIFS Programme (RheinLUCIFS), which aims to quantify sediment fluxes in the Rhine catchment since the onset of agriculture in the Neolithic about 7500 years ago.The spatial distribution of the alluvial and colluvial sediments was derived using geological maps, with information on the thickness of these sediments from various sources including auger profiles and data from excavations. The sediments were subdivided into characteristic sedimentary storage types according to the different types of landscapes. For each of the sedimentary storage types an average thickness was assessed so that an integral sediment balance for the Holocene could be derived.For the different types of landscapes in the study area, 32 Holocene sedimentary storage types were determined, 21 in the Elz catchment (1500 km²) and 11 in the Möhlin catchment (230 km²). By adding up the sediment volumes of all single sedimentary storage types the total Holocene sediment volumes for the two catchments were calculated. Erosion depths were determined by dividing the sediment volumes through the potential erosion areas (slope > 2%) and by assuming a sediment delivery ratio (SDR) between 0 and 0.4. The total erosion for the potential erosion areas during the Holocene was calculated as 31–61 cm in the Elz catchment and 44–79 cm in the Möhlin catchment.     

黄河中游小流域坡沟侵蚀关系研究

根据坡面水下沟时在沟坡（道）上“净产沙增量”的概念,探讨了沿程含沙水流侵蚀特性的变化和坡沟侵蚀关系及产沙机理,并采用成因分析法定量确定了典型小流域的泥沙来源。     

A paleoclimate record with tephrochronological age control for the last glacial-interglacial cycle from Lake Ohrid, Albania and Macedonia

Lake Ohrid is probably of Pliocene age, and the oldest extant lake in Europe. In this study climatic and environmental changes during the last glacial-interglacial cycle are reconstructed using lithological, sedimentological, geochemical and physical proxy analysis of a 15-m-long sediment succession from Lake Ohrid. A chronological framework is derived from tephrochronology and radiocarbon dating, which yields a basal age of ca. 136 ka. The succession is not continuous, however, with a hiatus between ca. 97.6 and 81.7 ka. Sediment accumulation in course of the last climatic cycle is controlled by the complex interaction of a variety of climate-controlled parameters and their impact on catchment dynamics, limnology, and hydrology of the lake. Warm interglacial and cold glacial climate conditions can be clearly distinguished from organic matter, calcite, clastic detritus and lithostratigraphic data. During interglacial periods, short-term fluctuations are recorded by abrupt variations in organic matter and calcite content, indicating climatically-induced changes in lake productivity and hydrology. During glacial periods, high variability in the contents of coarse silt to fine sand sized clastic matter is probably a function of climatically-induced changes in catchment dynamics and wind activity. In some instances tephra layers provide potential stratigraphic markers for short-lived climate perturbations. Given their widespread distribution in sites across the region, tephra analysis has the potential to provide insight into variation in the impact of climate and environmental change across the Mediterranean.     

9000 years of chironomid assemblage dynamics in an Alpine lake: long-term trends, sensitivity to disturbance, and resilience of the fauna

Subfossil chironomid analysis was applied to a sediment core from Sägistalsee, a small lake at present-day tree-line elevation in the Swiss Alps. During the whole 9000-year stratigraphy the chironomid fauna was dominated by taxa typical of alpine lakes. Major faunistic trends were caused by changes in accumulation rates of three taxa, namely Procladius, Stictochironomus, and Tanytarsus lugens-type. In the early Holocene Procladius was the dominant taxon. In younger samples, Stictochironomus tended to have as high or higher abundances and both taxa showed an increase in accumulation rates. A possible cause of this succession is the decrease of lake-water depth due to infilling of the lake basin and changes in associated limnological parameters. The immigration of Picea (spruce) at ca. 6500 cal. ¹⁴C yrs BP and the resulting denser woodlands in the lake's catchment may have promoted this trend. During three phases, from ca. 70–1450, 1900–2350, and 3500–3950 cal. BP, remains of Procladius, Stictochironomus, and Tanytarsus lugens-type are absent from the lake sediment, whereas other typical lake taxa and stream chironomids show no change in accumulation rate. Together with sediment chemistry data, this suggests that increased oxygen deficits in the lake's bottom water during these intervals caused the elimination of chironomids living in the deepest part of the lake. All three periods coincide with increased human activity in the catchment, as deduced from palaeobotanical evidence. Therefore, enhanced nutrient loading of the lake due to the presence of humans and their livestock in the catchment is the most likely cause of the increased anoxia. The chironomid fauna reacted the same way to intensive pasturing during the last ca. 1500 years as to Bronze Age clear-cutting and more moderate pasturing during the Bronze, Iron, and Roman Ages, suggesting that alpine lake ecosystems can be extremely sensitive to human activity in the catchment. On the other hand, the chironomid assemblages show a considerable amount of resilience to human disturbance, as the chironomid fauna reverted to the pre-impact stage after the first two periods of human activity. In recent years, even though pasturing decreased again, the chironomid fauna has only partly recovered. This is possibly due to other human-induced changes in the lake ecosystem, e.g., the stocking of the lake with fish. The chironomid stratigraphy is difficult to interpret climatologically as the strongest changes in chironomid-inferred temperatures coincide with periods of intensive human activity in the catchment.     

Interaction of ENSO-driven Flood Variability and Anthropogenic Changes in Driving Channel Evolution: Corryong/Nariel Creek,Australia

Understanding the relative contributions of climatic and anthropogenic drivers of channel change are important to inform river management, especially in the context of environmental change. This global debate is especially pertinent in Australia as catchments have been severely altered since recent European settlement, and there is also strong evidence of cyclical climate variability controlling environmental systems. Corryong/Nariel Creek is an ideal setting to further study the interaction between climate and anthropogenic changes on channel evolution as it has experienced both significant periods of flood and drought, controlled by the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and extensive anthropogenic changes. Since European settlement the floodplain has been completely cleared, the riparian zone almost entirely invaded by willows, and every reach of the channel has experienced some form of direct channel modification. Through the combined analysis of channel evolution, climate changes and anthropogenic history of the river it was found that both the ENSO-driven climate and anthropogenic drivers are significant, although at different scales of channel change. Significant straightening in response to land clearing in the early twentieth century occurred before any records of direct channel modifications. Following this, most river management works were in response to instabilities created in the clearing period, or to instabilities created by flooding triggering a new phase of instability in reaches which had already undergone stabilisation works. Overall, human activities triggered channel instability via land clearing, and management works since then generally exacerbated erosion during high flows that are driven by climate fluctuations. This research raises the interesting question of whether rivers in Australia have become more responsive to the ENSO cycle since the clearing of catchment and riparian vegetation, or whether the past response to climate variability was different.     

The late Quaternary evolution of the Negro River, Amazon, Brazil: Implications for island and floodplain formation in large anabranching tropical systems

The Rio Negro has responded significantly in the Late Pleistocene and Holocene to lagged environmental changes largely associated with activity during the last glacial in the Amazon basin. On the basis of geological structure, the Rio Negro can be divided into six distinct reaches that each reflects very marked differential processes and geomorphological styles. No deposits of the Upper Pleniglacial were recognized in the field. The oldest recognizable Late Pleistocene alluvial unit is the Upper Terrace of Middle Pleniglacial age (ca. 65–25 ka) (reach I), tentatively correlated with the oldest terrace identified on the left bank of reach III. At that time, the river was mainly an aggradational bed load system carrying abundant quartz sand, a product of more seasonal conditions in the upper catchment. The late glacial (14–10 ka) is represented by a lower finer-grained terrace along the upper basin (reach I), which was recognized in the Tiquié, Curicuriarí, and Vaupes rivers. At that time, the river carried abundant suspended load as a response to climatic changes associated with deglaciation.Since about 14 ka, the river has behaved as a progradational system, infilling in downstream series a sequence of structurally controlled sedimentary basins or ‘compartments,’ creating alluvial floodplains and associated anabranching channel systems. Reach II was the first to be filled, then reach III, both accumulating mainly sand. Fine deposits increase downstream in reach III and become predominant in some anabranch islands of the distal reach. The lowermost reaches of the Negro (V and VI) have been greatly affected by a rising base level and associated backwater effect from aggradation of the Amazon during late glacial and recent times. Reach V has acted almost entirely as a fine sediment trap. The remarkable Anavilhanas archipelago is the product of Holocene deposition in the upper part of this sedimentary basin; however, suspended sediment load declined about 1.5 ka, prior to the lower part of this basin becoming infilled.The progradational behavior of the Rio Negro, filling tectonic basins as successive sediment traps with sand in the upper basins and fines in the downstream ones, illustrates how a large river system responses to profound changes in Late Quaternary base level and sediment supply. The most stable equilibrium conditions have been achieved in the Holocene in reaches IIb and IIIa, where an anabranching channel and erosional–relictual island system relatively efficiently convey water and sediment downstream. Reaches IIIb and V never achieved equilibrium conditions during the Holocene, characterised as they are today with incomplete floodplains and open water.     

Catchment disturbance inferred from paleolimnological studies of three contrasted sub-humid environments in Morocco

Paleolimnological techniques for assessing recent drainage basin disturbance are evaluated in three Moroccan lakes with catchments contrasted in terms of land-use and vegetation. Rates of sediment accumulation in the two lakes with agricultural catchments were relatively high (>1.6 cm yr^-1) in the most recent past. Dilution effects prevented core dating by the ²¹⁰Pb method alone and post-1953 chronologies were constructed by combining ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs data. The recent sediment accumulation rate at the currently least disturbed site, where natural Cedrus forest is still abundant, was relatively low (<0.4 cm yr^-1) but has increased since the mid-19th century.Magnetic, geochemical, pollen, and diatom studies of all three lake sediment cores linked with modern field survey data show that soil erosion in the most vegetationally disturbed catchment (Dayat-er-Roumi) has been high throughout the recent past and that intensity peaks are probably associated with wetland drainage operations beginning in the 1940's. At the partially forested site (Dayat Affougah), pre-1950's woodland clearance and other land-use changes are the likely cause of past major soil erosion episodes. The site currently dominated by natural Cedrus forest (Lac Azigza) shows only minor disturbance during the past c. 150 years although a major soil erosion episode occrred in the 17th century.Paleolimnological analysis has clearly demonstrated that major landscape change has occurred at all three sites. However, only at the two sites with catchment cultivation do previously accelerated soil erosion and lake sediment accumulation rates persist to the present. Information essential for formulation of appropriate management plans is presented and the importance of paleolimnology in assessing man-induced lake-catchment disturbance is stressed.     

The Suitability of a South Pennine (UK) Reservoir as an Archive of Recent Environmental Change

The suitability of a south Pennine reservoir as an archive of recent industrial pollution (Pb deposition) and vegetation change was assessed by comparing the sediment record of Pb and pollen with a local blanket peat profile, and the modelled regional SO₂ deposition since 1840. The pollen-based record of vegetation change from the reservoir sediments was obscured by high inputs of eroded peat from the surrounding catchment. Total fluxes of Pb from the catchment into the reservoir varied between 0.05 and 2.67 kg km⁻² year⁻¹ during a 7 year period of increased peat erosion (1976–1984). The presence of concentration peaks in the Pb profile of the blanket peat may have been caused by changes in sulphide or redox chemistry within the peat profile. Large variations in influxes of Pb to the reservoir occurred during periods of increased peat erosion, suggesting the record of aerial pollution deposition has been obscured by terrestrial inputs. Extensive areas of blanket peat in the south Pennines have been subject to denudation, suggesting reservoirs in the region and other areas of high erosion and sediment flux are unsuitable for producing accurate records of the aerial deposition of pollen rain and Pb pollution. The ecological implications of highly variable fluxes of heavy metal contaminants from extensively eroded blanket bogs to ecosystems downstream are poorly understood.     

Human and climate impact on catchment development during the Holocene — Geul River, the Netherlands

Interest in the Holocene development of small to medium-sized river catchments in Western and Central Europe in relation to changes in land use and climate has increased over the past years. In this study we reconstruct the Holocene landscape development and fluvial dynamics of the Geul River (The Netherlands) and the main forcing mechanisms of environmental change. Field studies were carried out and we used OSL and ¹⁴C dating methods to reconstruct the Holocene valley development. Our study shows that 2 periods of deforestation (during the Roman Period and the High Middle Ages) led to severe soil erosion and increased floodplain sedimentation in the catchment of the Geul River, possibly combined with periods of increased wetness during the High Middle Ages. Alluvial fans have been active since the Roman deforestation phase. Our results show that the Geul catchment is highly sensitive to changes in land use.     

How does alluvial sedimentation at range fronts modify the erosional dynamics of mountain catchments?

At the geological time scale, the way in which the erosion of drainage catchments responds to tectonic uplift and climate changes depends on boundary conditions. In particular, sediment accumulation and erosion occurring at the edge of mountain ranges should influence the base level of mountain catchments, as well as sediment and water discharges. In this paper, we use a landform evolution model (LEM) to investigate how the presence of alluvial sedimentation at range fronts affects catchment responses to climatic or tectonic changes. This approach is applied to a 25 km × 50 km domain, in which the central part is uplifted progressively to simulate the growth of a small mountain range. The LEM includes different slope and river processes that can compete with each other. This competition leads to ‘transport‐limited’, ‘detachment‐limited’ or ‘mixed’ transport conditions in mountains at dynamic equilibrium. In addition, two end‐member algorithms (the channellized‐flow and the sheet‐flow regimes) have been included for the alluvial fan‐flow regime. The three transport conditions and the two flow algorithms represent six different models for which the responses to increase of rock uplift rate and/or cyclic variation of the precipitation rate are investigated. Our results indicate that addition of an alluvial apron increases the long‐term mountain denudation. In response to uplift, mountain rivers adapt their profile in two successive stages; first by propagation of an erosion wave and then by slowly increasing their channel gradients. During the second stage, the erosion rate is almost uniform across the catchment area at any one time, which suggests that dynamic equilibrium has been reached, although the balance between erosion and rock uplift rates has not yet been achieved. This second stage is initiated by the uplift of the mountain river outlets because of sedimentation aggradation at the mountain front. The response time depends on the type of water flow imposed on the alluvial fans domains (× by 1.5 for channelized flow regime and by 10 for the sheet flow one). Cyclic variations of precipitation rate generate cyclic incisions in the alluvial apron. These incision pulses create knick‐points in the river profile in the case of ‘detachment‐limited’ and ‘mixed’ river conditions, which could be mistaken for tectonically induced knick‐points. ‘Transport‐limited’ conditions do not create such knick‐points, but nevertheless trigger erosion in catchments. The feedbacks linked to sedimentation and erosion at range front can therefore control catchment incision or aggradation. In addition, random river captures in the range front trigger auto‐cyclic erosion pulses in the catchment, capable of generating incision–aggradation cycles.     

The effects of seasonal changes to in-stream vegetation cover on patterns of flow and accumulation of sediment

In-stream macrophytes are typically abundant in nutrient-rich chalk streams during the spring and summer months and modify the in-stream environment by altering river flows and trapping sediments. We present results from an inter-disciplinary study of two river reaches in the River Frome catchment, Dorset (UK). The investigation focused on how Ranunculus (water crowfoot), the dominant submerged macrophyte in the study reaches, modified patterns of flow and sediment deposition. Measurements were taken on a monthly basis throughout 2003 to determine seasonal patterns in macrophyte cover, associated changes in the distributions of flow velocities and the character and amount of accumulated fine sediment within stands of Ranunculus.Maximum in-stream cover of macrophytes exceeded 70% at both sites. Flow velocities were less than 0.1 m s^− 1 within the stands of Ranunculus and accelerated to 0.8 m s^− 1 outside the stands. During the early stages of the growth of Ranunculus, fine sediment mostly accumulated within the upstream section of the plant but the area of fine sediment accumulation extended into the downstream trailing section of the plant later in the growing season. The fine sediment accumulations were dominated by sand (63–1000 μm) with silts and clays (0.37–63 μm) comprising < 10% by volume. The content of organic matter in the accumulated sediments varied within stands, between reaches and through the growing season with values ranging between 9 and 105 mg g^− 1 dry weight. At the reach scale the two sites exhibited different growth forms of Ranunculus which created distinctive patterns of flow and fine sediment deposition.