Formation and early history of Lakes Pepin and St. Croix of the upper Mississippi River

Study of Lake Pepin and Lake St. Croix began more than a century ago, but new information has permitted a closer look at the geologic history of these two riverine lakes located on the upper Mississippi River system. Drainages from large proglacial lakes Agassiz and Duluth at the end of the last glaciation helped shape the current valleys. As high-discharge outlet waters receded, tributary streams deposited fans of sediment in the incised river valleys. These tributary fans dammed the main river, forming riverine lakes. Lake Pepin was previously thought to be a single long continuous lake, extending for 80 km from its dam at the Chippewa River fan all the way up to St. Paul, with an arm extending up the St. Croix valley. Recent borings taken at bridge and dam locations show more than a single section of lake sediments, indicating a more complex history. The Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers did not always follow their current paths. Valleys cut into bedrock but now buried by glacial sediment indicate former river courses, with the most recent of these from the last interglacial period marked at the surface by chains of lakes. The morphology of the Mississippi valley bottom, and thus the morphology of Lake Pepin as it filled the valley, is reflect in part by the existence of these old valleys but also by the presence of glacial outwash terraces and the alluvial fans of tributary streams. A sediment core taken in Lake Pepin near Lake City had a piece of wood in gravels just below lake sediments that dated to 10.3 ka cal. BP, indicating that the lake formed as the Chippewa River fan grew shortly after the floodwaters of Lakes Agassiz and Duluth receded. Data from new borings indicate small lakes were dammed behind several tributary fans in the Mississippi River valley between the modern Lake Pepin and St. Paul. One tributary lake, here called Early Lake Vermillion, may have hydraulically dammed the St. Croix River, creating an incipient Lake St. Croix. The tributary fans from the Vermillion River, the Cannon River, and the Chippewa River all served to segment the main river valley into a series of riverine lakes. Later the growth of the Chippewa fan surpassed that of the Vermillion and Cannon fans to create a single large lake, here called late Lake Pepin, which extended upstream to St. Paul. Sediment cores taken from Lake Pepin did not have significant organic matter to develop a chronology from radiocarbon dating. Rather, magnetic features were matched with those from a Lake St. Croix core, which did have a known radiocarbon chronology. The Pepin delta migration rate was then estimated by projecting the elevations of the top of the buried lake sediments to the dated Lake Pepin core, using an estimated slope of 10 cm/km, the current slope of Lake Pepin sediment surface. By these approximations, the Lake Pepin delta prograded past Hastings 6.0 ka cal BP and Red Wing 1.4 ka cal BP. This is one of eight papers dedicated to the “Recent Environmental History of the Upper Mississippi River” published in this special issue of the Journal of Paleolimnology. D. R. Engstrom served as guest editor of the special issue.     

Historical changes in sediment and phosphorus loading to the upper Mississippi River: mass-balance reconstructions from the sediments of Lake Pepin

Long-term changes in sediment and phosphorus loading to the upper Mississippi River were quantified from an array of 25 sediment cores from Lake Pepin, a large natural impoundment downstream of the Minneapolis-St Paul metropolitan area. Cores were dated and stratigraphically correlated using ²¹⁰Pb, ¹³⁷Cs, ¹⁴C, magnetic susceptibility, pollen analysis, and loss-on-ignition. All cores show a dramatic increase in sediment accumulation beginning with European settlement in 1830. Accumulation rates are highest and show the greatest post-settlement increases in the upper end of the lake. Present-day sediment-phosphorus concentrations are roughly twice those of pre-settlement times, and the Fe/Al-bound fraction makes up a greater portion of the total. Diatom assemblages record a marked increase in nutrient availability over the last 200 years, changing from clear-water benthic forms and mesotrophic planktonic taxa in pre-settlement times to exclusively planktonic assemblages characteristic of highly eutrophic conditions today. Lake-water total-phosphorus concentrations, estimated by weighted averaging regression and calibration, increased from 50 to 200 μg l⁻¹ during this period. Sediment loading to Lake Pepin from the Mississippi River has increased by an order of magnitude since 1830. Modern fluxes are about 900,000 metric tons annually, and are more than 80% detrital mineral matter. About 17% of the lake’s volume in 1830 has been replaced by sediment, and at current accumulation rates the remainder will be filled in another 340 years. Phosphorus accumulation in Lake Pepin sediments has increased 15-fold since 1830, rising from 60 to 900 metric tons annually. This rise represents a sevenfold increase in phosphorus loading from the Mississippi River coupled with more efficient retention of phosphorus inflows by bottom sediments. More efficient trapping of phosphorus in Lake Pepin over the last century resulted from higher rates of sediment burial. The most dramatic changes in nutrient and sediment inputs to Lake Pepin have occurred since 1940, although gradual increases began shortly following European settlement. Sediment accumulation rates rose sharply between 1940 and 1970 and then leveled off, while phosphorus inflows record their largest increases after 1970. This is one of eight papers dedicated to the “Recent Environmental History of the Upper Mississippi River” published in this special issue of the Journal of Paleolimnology. D. R. Engstrom served as guest editor of the special issue.     

Sources of Sediment in Lake Pepin on the Upper Mississippi River in Response to Holocene Climatic Changes

Sediments from Lake Pepin on the Mississippi River, southeastern Minnesota, are used as provenance tracers to assess variations in hydrology and sediment-transport during the middle Holocene. Three rivers contribute sediment to Lake Pepin, and each catchment is characterized by a distinctly different geologic terrain. The geochemical fingerprint for each drainage basin was determined from the elemental composition of heavy minerals in the silt-sized fraction of modern sediment samples. Down-core elemental abundances were compared with these fingerprints by use of a chemical-mass-balance model that apportions sediment to the source areas. We observed a decreased contribution from the Minnesota River during the interval ~6700–5500 ¹⁴C yr BP, which we attribute to decreased discharge of the Minnesota River, likely controlled by a combination of precipitation, snow melt, and groundwater input to the river. This hydrologic condition coincides with the mid-Holocene prairie period recorded by fossil pollen data. The occurrence of this feature in a proxy record for hydrologic variations supports the hypothesis that the mid-Holocene prairie period reflects drier conditions than before or after in midwestern North America.     

Controls on overbank deposition in the Upper Mississippi River

Floodplains contain valuable stratigraphic records of past floods, but these records do not always represent flood magnitudes in a straightforward manner. The depositional record generally reflects the magnitude, frequency, and duration of floods, but is also subject to storm-scale hysteresis effects, flood sequencing effects, and decade-scale trends in sediment load. Many of these effects are evident in the recent stratigraphic record of overbank floods along the Upper Mississippi River (UMR), where the floodplain has been aggrading for several thousand years. On low-lying floodplain surfaces in Iowa and Wisconsin, ¹³⁷Cs profiles suggest average vertical accretion rates of about 10 mm/year since 1954. These rates are slightly less than rates that prevailed earlier in the 20th Century, when agricultural land disturbance was at a maximum, but they are still an order of magnitude greater than long-term average rates for the Holocene. As a result of soil conservation practices, accretion rates have decreased in recent decades despite an increase in the frequency of large floods.The stratigraphic record of the Upper Mississippi River floodplain is dominated by spring snowmelt events, because they are twice as frequent as rainfall floods, last almost twice as long, and are sometimes associated with very high sediment concentrations. The availability of sediment during floods is also influenced by a strong hysteresis effect. Peak sediment concentrations generally precede the peak discharges by 1–4 weeks, and concentrations are usually low (<50 mg/l) during the peak stages of most floods. The lag between peak concentration and peak discharge is especially large during spring floods, when much of the runoff is contributed by snowmelt in the far northern reaches of the valley.The great flood of 1993 on the Mississippi River focused attention on the geomorphic effectiveness and stratigraphic signature of large floods. At McGregor, where the peak discharge had a recurrence interval of 14 years, the flood was most notable for its long duration (168 days above 1600 m³s⁻¹), high sediment concentrations (three episodes >180 mg/l), and large suspended load (1.71 Mt). The flood of 2001, despite its greater magnitude (recurrence interval 70 years), was associated with relatively low sediment concentrations (<60 mg/l). The 1993 and 2001 floods each left 30–80 mm of silty fine sand on most low-lying floodplain surfaces, but the 2001 flood produced sandy levees near the channel while the 1993 flood did not. The stratigraphic signature of these recent floods is more closely related to the duration and total suspended load of the event than to the magnitude of the peak discharge.     

澜沧江河床沉积物重金属污染评价

河床沉积物是河流水体与泥沙环境中重金属的主要积存载体,能反映水环境的重金属污染状况。本文选取澜沧江为对象,通过对澜沧江干流西藏和云南境内22个河段的河床沉积物重金属测定分析,得到了8种主要的重金属元素(Cr、Mn、Ni、Zn、As、Pb、Cu和Co)的含量,并采用沉积物富集系数法与地质积累指数法分别对所测得沉积物的重金属污染程度进行了评价。结果表明:①澜沧江干流大部分河段污染情况并不明显,但在中游的旧州和功果桥河段,因该区域的地质金属背景值和支流沘江流域铅锌矿开采,地表的重金属元素被雨水冲刷到该河段,导致沉积物重金属富集现象明显,出现了轻度到较强度污染;②澜沧江流域受人为干扰的区域集中于中游与下游,部分河段(功果桥附近)Cu、Pb和Zn等元素呈轻度或偏中度污染;③大坝对河流的阻隔效应使得干流沉积物重金属污染呈现片段化分布,河流沿岸城市化等人类活动对附近河段沉积物重金属污染状况也有较明显的影响。     

Human modifications to the sediment regime of the Lower Mississippi River flood plain

The Mississippi River is one of the most regulated rivers in the world. Human modifications constructed mainly after 1920 include dams and reservoirs, artificial levees, dikes, concrete revetments and a series of channel cutoffs. This paper examines some of the effects of these modifications on the channel and sediment budget of the river. In particular, the changes to the thalweg profile and the size of channel bars are examined in detail. It is concluded, that prior to the 1930s, when major modifications were introduced, the Lower Mississippi River was an aggrading meandering river. The role of the flood plain has also changed. Prior to modifications, the flood plain was the major sediment source as the result of bank caving. Today the flood plain provides only a minor amount of sediment. It can be shown that major degradation to the channel including the growth of channel bars has occurred as a result of these engineered modifications. The data also indicates that the different geomorphic regions respond to modifications in different ways.     

Historical trends affecting accumulation of sediment and phosphorus in Lake Pepin,upper Mississippi River,USA

This study was conducted to collect historical land use information that would help explain the historical patterns in accumulation of sediment and phosphorus in Lake Pepin documented by Engstrom et al. (J Paleolimnol, this issue). A wide range of historical factors including cropping systems, phosphorus applications from fertilizer and manure, human and animal populations, river flows and phosphorus discharges from waste water treatment plants were studied using statistical methods. Results showed that sediment losses from the Minnesota River basin are significantly correlated with historical increases in river flows, row crop production acreage and basin population. Total phosphorus accumulations in the sediments of Lake Pepin are significantly correlated with increased phosphorus discharges from metropolitan area wastewater treatment plants, and increases in row crop acreage and river flows. Total phosphorus inflows to Lake Pepin are significantly correlated with increases in river flows, row crop acreage and phosphorus fertilizer applied to agricultural lands. This is one of eight papers dedicated to the “Recent Environmental History of the Upper Mississippi River” published in this special issue of the Journal of Paleolimnology. D. R. Engstrom served as guest editor of the special issue.     

A whole-basin stratigraphic record of sediment and phosphorus loading to the St. Croix River,USA

Lake St. Croix is a natural impoundment of the lowermost 37 km of the St. Croix River in Minnesota and Wisconsin, making this one of a few large river systems in the world possessing a long-term depositional basin at its terminus. The river’s relatively pristine condition led to its designation as a National Scenic Riverway in 1968, but increasing urbanization in its lower reaches has raised concerns about impacts on water quality. This study was initiated to reconstruct historical loadings of suspended sediment and phosphorus (P) from the sediment record in Lake St. Croix. Twenty-four piston cores, with an average length of 2 m, were collected along eight transects of the lake. Dated chronologies from ²¹⁰Pb, ¹³⁷Cs and ¹⁴C were used to calculate the rate of sediment accumulation in the lake over the past 100+ years. Diatom microfossil analysis was used to reconstruct historical lakewater P concentrations over the same time period, and sediment P analysis quantified the amount of P trapped in lake sediments. Using a whole-lake mass balance approach, the loading of sediment and P to Lake St. Croix over the last 100+ years was calculated. Beginning in 1850, sediment accumulation increased dramatically to a peak in 1950–1960 of eight times background rates prior to European settlement. The peak is driven largely by sediment contributions from small side-valley catchment tributaries to the downstream half of the lake. The total P load to the lake increased sharply after 1940 and remains high, at around four times the level of pre-European settlement conditions. The timing of peak sediment and P loading to the lake shows that early settlement activities, such as logging and the conversion of forest and prairie to agricultural land between 1850 and 1890, had only modest impacts on the lake. By contrast, the mid-1900s brought major increases in sediment and P loading to the lake, suggesting that relatively recent activities on the landscape and changes to nutrient balances in the watershed have caused the current eutrophic condition of this important recreational and natural resource. This is one of eight papers dedicated to the “Recent Environmental History of the Upper Mississippi River” published in this special issue of the Journal of Paleolimnology. D. R. Engstrom served as guest editor of the special issue.     

长江上游社会经济因子对侵蚀产沙的影响

In recent years,the role of human activities in changing sediment yield has become more apparent for the construction of hydraulic engineering and water conservation projec-tions in the Upper Yangtze River,but it has not been evaluated at the macro scale.Taking Sichuan Province and Chongqing City as an example,this paper studies the relationship between socio-economic factors and sediment yield in the Upper Yangtze River based on section data in 1989 and 2007.The results show that sediment yield is significantly correlated with population density and cultivated area,in which the former appears to be more closely related to sediment yield.Moreover,in the relation of sediment yield vs.population density,a critical value of population density exists,below which the sediment yield increases with the increase of population density and over which the sediment yield increases with the decrease of population density.The phenomenon essentially reflects the influence of natural factors,such as topography,precipitation and soil property,and some human activities on sediment yield.The region with a higher population density than critical value is located in the east of the study area and is characterized by plains,hills and low mountains,whereas the opposite is located in the west and characterized by middle and high mountains.In the eastern region,more people live on the lands with a low slope where regional soil erosion is slight;therefore,sediment yield is negatively related with population density.In contrast,in the western region,the population tends to aggregate in the areas with abundant soil and water resources which usually lead to a higher intensity of natural erosion,and in turn,high-intensity agricultural practices in these areas may further strengthen local soil erosion.It is also found that popu-lation tends to move from the areas with bad environment and high sediment yield to the areas with more comfortable environment and less sediment yield.The natural factors have greater influence on sediment yield of western region than that of eastern region.Generally,the natural factors play a dominant role on sediment yield in the Upper Yangtze River.     

A 2500 year sediment record from Fayetteville Green Lake, New York: evidence for anthropogenic impacts and historic isotope shift

A series (N = 12) of short (< 1 m) sediment cores were collected from meromictic Green Lake in Fayetteville, New York to investigate potential anthropogenic impacts on the watershed during historic time and environmental change over the past ~ 2,500 years. Stratigraphic data document an abrupt basinwide change during the early 1800's A.D. from brown laminated sediments to grey varved sediments separated by a transition zone rich in aquatic moss. Deforestation of the region by European settlers during the early 1800's A.D. resulted in a flux of nutrients and increased biological productivity followed by a 7fold increase in sediment accumulation rates. Elemental geochemical data document the anthropogenic loading of lead to the to the lake basin via atmospheric fallout. Stable oxygen isotope (¹⁸O calcite) data also provide evidence for an abrupt shift in the isotopic composition of lake water ~ 150–200 years ago. This isotopic shift could have been a local phenomenon related to an increased supply of summer enriched precipitation following removal of forest vegetation, or it might have reflected broader scale climatic changes. We hypothesize that the ¹⁸O calcite shift was the result of the polar front jet stream migrating from a more southerly prehistoric position to a contracted, northerly configuration ~ 150–200 years ago. Such a shift could have been natural, associated with the end of the Little Ice Age or it may have been anthropogenically forced.     

Recent morphological evolution of the Lower Mississippi River

This study documents slope and stream power changes in the Lower Mississippi River during the pre-cutoff (1880s–1930s), and post-cutoff (1943–1992) periods. The study reach extends from New Madrid, MO, to Natchez, MS, a distance of about 900 km. Analyses for six major reaches and 13 sub-reaches for the pre- and post-cutoff periods indicate that the river presently has a much larger slope and stream power than prior to the cutoffs. The largest increases have occurred between Fulton, TN, and Lake Providence, LA, where slope and stream power increases range from about 27% to 36% and 20% to 38%, respectively. Increases in slope and stream power in reaches upstream and downstream have also occurred, but to a lesser degree. Previous investigations have shown that no coarsening of the bed material has occurred since 1932, and that the bed material may actually be somewhat finer overall. As the Lower Mississippi River is not a sediment-starved system, an increase in stream power with no change in D₅₀ would be expected to be offset by an increase in the bed material load as the river adjusts towards equilibrium. Previous investigators have inferred a reduction in the sediment loads on the Mississippi River this century based on analyses of total measured suspended loads. However, these results should be viewed as primarily representing the changes in wash load and should not be taken to imply that bed material loads have also decreased. Therefore, the bed material loads in the study reach should be greater than in the pre-cutoff period. Excess stream power in the sub-reaches directly affected by cutoffs resulted in scour that increased downstream bed material load. These elevated sediment loads play a key role in driving morphological adjustments towards equilibrium in the post-cutoff channel. The stability status of the channel in the study reach currently ranges from dynamic equilibrium in the farthest upstream reaches through severe degradation to dynamic equilibrium in the middle reaches, and aggradation in the lowest reaches. These evolutionary trends cannot be explained by consideration of changes in slope and stream power alone. Changes in the incoming bed material load to each reach generated by upstream channel evolution must also be considered.     

Floodplain sedimentation in the Upper Mississippi Valley: Natural versus human accelerated

Understanding the time scales and pathways for response and recovery of rivers and floodplains to episodic changes in erosion and sedimentation has been a long standing issue in fluvial geomorphology. Floodplains are an important component of watershed systems because they affect downstream storage and delivery of overbank flood waters, and they also serve as sources and temporary sinks for sediments and toxic substances delivered by river systems. Here, ¹⁴C and ¹³⁷Cs isotopic dating methods are used along with ages of culturally related phenomena associated with mining and agriculture to determine rates of sedimentation and morphologic change for a reach of the upper Mississippi River and adjacent tributaries in southwestern Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois. The most important environmental change that influenced fluvial activity in this region during last 10,000 years involved the conversion of a late Holocene mosaic of prairie and forest to a landscape dominated by cropland and pastureland associated with Euro-American settlement. Results presented herein for the Upper Mississippi Valley (UMV) show that the shift from pre-agriculture, natural land cover to landscape dominance by agricultural land use of the last 175–200 years typically increased rates and magnitudes of floodplain sedimentation by at least an order of magnitude. Accelerated overbank flooding led to increased bank heights on tributary streams and, in turn, contributed to more frequent deep flows of high energy. These high energy flows subsequently promoted bank erosion and lateral channel migration, and the formation of a historical meander belt whose alluvial surface constitutes a new historical floodplain inset against the earlier historical floodplain. The new historical floodplain serves as a “flume-like” channel that provides efficient downstream transport of water and sediment associated with moderate and large magnitude floods. Floodplains on lower tributaries, however, continue to experience rates of overbank sedimentation that are of anomalously high magnitude given improved land cover and land conservation since about 1950. This lower valley anomaly is explained by minimal development of historical (agriculture period) meander belts because of relatively low stream power in these channel and floodplain reaches of relatively low gradient. In general, long-term pre-agriculture rates of vertical accretion between about 10,000 and 200 years ago averaged about 0.2 mm yr^− 1 in tributary watersheds smaller than about 700 km² and about 0.9 mm yr^− 1 on the floodplain of the upper Mississippi River where the contributing watershed area increases to about 170,000 km². On the other hand, rates of historical vertical accretion during the period of agricultural dominance of the last 200 years average between 2 and 20 mm yr^− 1, with short episodes of even higher rates during times of particularly poor land conservation practices. Significant hydrologic effects of mining and agricultural started by the 1820s and became widespread in the study region by the mid-19th century. The hydrologic and geomorphic influences of mining were relatively minor compared to those related to agriculture. High resolution dating of floodplain vertical accretion deposits shows that large floods have frequently provided major increments of sedimentation on floodplains of tributaries and the main valley upper Mississippi River. The relative importance of large floods as contributors to floodplain vertical accretion is noteworthy because global atmospheric circulation models indicate that the main channel upper Mississippi River should experience increased frequencies of extreme hydrologic events, including large floods, with anticipated continued global warming. Instrumental and stratigraphic records show that, coincident with global warming, a shift to more frequent large floods occurred since 1950 on the upper Mississippi River, and these floods generally contributed high magnitudes of floodplain sedimentation.     

Geomorphological explanation of the long profile of the Lower Mississippi River

Concavity in the long profile of rivers has traditionally been explained through the concept of grade, in which the slope declines downstream as a response to changing discharge, bed material size and sediment transport. Applying this concept to particular river systems has, however, proved problematic. The long profile reflects spatially-distributed form–process feedbacks between all aspects of channel morphology operating at a range of poorly defined time- and space-scales, and in the presence of natural controls. In many river systems, process–form dynamics are further complicated by engineering interventions which add additional extrinsic controls and constrain the range of intrinsic dynamics. In this paper, the 1974–75 long profile of the Lower Mississippi River is examined at three scales: the regional; the reach; and the sub-reach (pool–crossing) scales. A combination of curve-fitting, zonation algorithms, and empirical classification techniques are used to show that, although the long profile of the Lower Mississippi River is concave at the largest scale, the profile is characterised by discontinuities, shorter trends and zonal variations in the amplitude and wavelength of pool–crossing morphology. These characteristics are a response to morphological and bed material changes relating to a range of physical (geological, tectonic, tributary input) and engineering controls. Despite its apparent simplicity and correspondence to a ‘graded’ condition, the long profile of the Lower Mississippi River is actually a complex and scale-dependent morphological property. At best, the concave river profile is, therefore, a property which emerges from several scales of process–form interaction; at worst, it is no more than an artefact arising from the application of over-simplified curve-fitting techniques. Disclosure of the nature of the long profile thus requires the application of a variety of analytical techniques, as well as geomorphological explanations which are themselves scale-dependent and which consider the interaction of natural processes and the history of engineering intervention.     

The sedimentary record of environmental lead contamination at St. Louis,Missouri (USA) area smelters

Southeastern Missouri has been a major Pb mining region since 1720 AD. Missouri mines produce a Pb ore that has a distinctive elevated ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb isotopic ratio (>1.30) that is easily recognized in Pb-contaminated sediments. Five ²¹⁰Pb dated sediment cores from Horseshoe Lake, Madison County, Illinois were examined to reconstruct Pb-contamination of the site from southeastern Missouri mines and from a local Pb smelter located adjacent to the lake. Pb concentrations increased in the cores from 5 ppm in the early 1800s to approximately 350 ppm in the late 1940s and 1950s. Pb concentrations in recently deposited sediment range from 100 to 300 ppm depending on the location within the lake. Throughout the 1800s and early 1900s the ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb ratios in the sediment cores increased indicating contamination from southeastern Missouri (mean = 1.243). After the local smelter began recycling lead-acid storage batteries in the 1950s, the ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb ratio declined (mean = 1.224) suggesting contamination of Horseshoe Lake with Pb from sources elsewhere around the world. The results of this study demonstrate how isotopic ratios of Pb can be used to reconstruct historical anthropogenic contamination.     

A lake sediment record of Pb mining from Ullswater,English Lake District,UK

Lake sediments can be significantly impacted by industrial activities. These impacts vary among sites and include both local point sources and atmospherically-derived pollution. Here we present results of a lake sediment pollution record from Ullswater, UK, where lead mining activities have taken place within the catchment since 1690, although large-scale mining did not begin until 1840. Metal concentration data from 12 cores taken along a lake bed transect illustrate that lead mining at Greenside Mine had a significant impact on the lake sediments. High Pb concentrations were identified throughout Ullswater, and exhibited a spatial gradient from south to north, with concentrations decreasing with greater distance from the main source of input at Glenridding. Furthermore, inter-element correlations exhibit spatial variation that reflects the processes by which they are incorporated into the lake sediment record. Together, these observations illustrate potential shortcomings in palaeoenvironmental reconstructions and pollution studies based on single cores from large and morphologically variable lakes. Sedimentation rates were estimated by matching this pollution record with the historical record of mining activities. Within Ullswater, sedimentation rates from 1840 to the present varied from 0.67 to 2.33 mm year⁻¹ with a mean of 1.4 mm year⁻¹; highest sedimentation rates were observed in the deepest section of the lake and close to the main inputs, and lowest sedimentation rates were observed in the northern part of the lake, furthest from the main input. Despite the considerable changes in mining techniques and production, there is little evidence to suggest significant changes in sedimentation rates over time.     

流域侵蚀产沙人类活动影响指数研究——以长江上游为例

流域产沙是土壤侵蚀的重要反映, 受降雨等自然要素和人类活动的共同作用。采用退 耦理论的思想和差分方法推导出流域侵蚀产沙人类活动影响指数的简易估算方法, 并对长江 上游的金沙江、乌江、嘉陵江、岷江分别计算人类活动总体贡献率。结果表明, 各流域人类 活动对侵蚀产沙变化的贡献率达72%～97%,总体上属于抑制侵蚀的正向活动。长江上游输 沙量呈阶段梯级变化, 根据流域侵蚀产沙人类活动影响指数的距平累积变化的突变特征将 1955～2009年划分为5个阶段并分析了每个阶段人类活动的主要特点及其对侵蚀产沙的影响。 其中, 20世纪80年代中期以前河流输沙量较大, 主要与“一五”、“大炼钢铁”、“三线建设”、 农村改革前期不稳定因素等密切相关, 而70年代河流输沙量较小是受当时大搞农田基本建设 和采取“挑沙面土”、“边沟背沟”等传统水土保持措施的影响, 80年代中期后河流输沙量明 显减少, 主要受社会经济稳定有序发展、水保工程的实施及大兴水库建设等影响。     

黄河口泥沙淤积估算问题和方法——以钓口河亚三角洲为例

以往在黄河三角洲沉积量的估算中,对沉积物干容重和计算边界等问题不够重视,导致计算结果存在明显出入。本项研究通过广泛收集资料和大量采样分析得到了多种沉积环境下沉积物干容重的计算模型,结合三角洲沉积结构分析和利用地形测量数据,计算了黄河口钓口河流路时期亚三角洲不同时期的沉积量。其中1965年至1974年间钓口河亚三角洲前缘坡脚以内的总淤积量为71.0亿t。其平均干容重为1.36g/cm³。这一干容重用于估算其它亚三角洲沉积量不会造成明显误差。认为忽略三角洲下松软沉积层的压实沉降、三角洲平原相和前缘相中粘性土与非粘性土干容重的差别以及来沙量的测量误差对计算结果影响较小。     

长江口悬沙浓度变化的同步性和差异性

近年来长江流域入海沙量呈现阶梯性减小趋势,三峡水库蓄水后加剧了这一减小趋势,并通过传递效应影响河口悬沙浓度变化。基于长江口1950-2013年悬沙浓度数据,结果表明：① 长江口南支河段及口外海域悬沙浓度为减小趋势,且越向海域减幅越小,同时与流域入海沙量减幅差距加大;② 北支优势流变化不大,但悬沙浓度为减小趋势,主要为南支和海域大环境悬沙浓度减小所致;③ 拦门沙河段悬沙浓度的峰值区域因径流减小、潮流相对增强,2003-2012年较1984-2002年期间峰值位置向口内上溯约1/6经度,上溯距离洪季 > 年均 > 枯季;④ 1999-2009年南槽进口悬沙浓度减小,主要是再悬浮和滩槽交换引起的悬沙浓度增量小于流域和海域悬沙浓度锐减引起的减量,中段该作用相反,悬沙浓度为增加趋势;⑤ 北槽进口由于分流分沙比减小、流域和海域悬沙浓度减小及再悬浮量减小等综合影响下,1999-2012年逐年的8月份悬沙浓度呈减小趋势,中段越堤沙量作用明显高于外部坏境引起的减小量,为增加趋势。     

长江上游输沙尺度效应研究

利用长江上游DEM、降雨、土地利用、土壤类型数据库,计算出通用土壤流失方程中代表影响侵蚀产沙的各因子,建立这些因子以及流域面积与长江上游268个水文站以上流域输沙模数回归关系,探讨上游侵蚀输沙的尺度效应。结果显示长江上游输沙模数与流域面积之间呈负幂函数单元回归关系,而且这一关系主要产生于降雨侵蚀力因子和土壤可蚀性因子随流域面积的变化。长江上游输沙模数随流域面积增大而降低主要发生在大约1×10⁴~1.58×10⁵km²之间。在考虑了影响侵蚀产沙因子对输沙模数的作用后,输沙模数与流域面积之间呈正幂函数相关,反映出上游输沙近源沉积的特征。分析还发现长江上游各主要支流输沙模数变化与流域尺度大小的关系和原因有明显不同。