Suspended sediment yields (SY) were measured at seven sites in the Motueka catchment to characterise major influences on sediment yield variation and estimate sediment delivery to Tasman Bay. Relationships between storm event SY and peak flow were used with long-term flow records to calculate SY. At large catchment scale, there were clear differences in SY related to geology and rainfall, but the major influence on SY was the impact of a !50-year return period storm that caused an increase in event SY ranging from 10Á20 times in the headwaters to 2Á3 times at the coast. Forest harvesting was an important influence at small catchment scale, producing a five-fold increase in event SY. The magnitude of the SY increase, the time to recover and the total area affected were all smaller than the impact of large storms. Annual SY at the coast was extremely variable, ranging from 49,000 t to 1.7 Mt.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.