Sediment export, transient landscape response and catchment-scale connectivity following rapid climate warming and Alpine glacier recession

Lane, Stuart N.; Bakker, Maarten; Gabbud, Chrystelle; Micheletti, Natan; Saugy, Jean-Noël

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2016.02.015

Cited by 202 publications

(364 citation statements)

References 106 publications

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“…the effectiveness of the up-and downstream propagation of change. The significance of connectivity for proglacial sediment budgets and the sensitivity of proglacial areas in terms of transmission of geomorphological change (that is inherent to those areas) has been recently highlighted by Knight and Harrison (2014), Micheletti et al (2015), and Lane et al (2016). Overall, sediment connectivity governs to what degree a proglacial area functions as a sediment source or sink (Owens and Slaymaker, 2004).…”

Section: Sediment Connectivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Attempts at closure of the sediment budget of proglacial systems therefore tend to include sediment transport monitoring, either via river discharge data and sediment rating curves or via continuous records such as acoustic sensors for bedload (section 3.4.1; Table 2). Alternatively, inference of sediment transport (bedload) can be made from weirs or similar water intake structures that are used for discharge diversion (Bezinge et al, 1989;Lane et al, 2016), or sediment infill/delta progradation in natural (Liermann et al, 2012) or artificial lakes can be measured. Using records of sediment transport preserved within artificial lakes can be most suitable because the lake level is regularly lowered to increase available storage before the melt season.…”

Section: Accepted Manuscript [Type Here] [Type Here]mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Short-term geomorphological evolution of proglacial systems

2017

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Proglacial systems are amongst the most rapidly changing landscapes on Earth, as glacier mass loss, permafrost degradation and more episodes of intense rainfall progress with climate change. This review addresses the urgent need to quantitatively define proglacial systems not only in terms of spatial extent but also in terms of functional processes. It firstly provides a critical appraisal of prevailing conceptual models of proglacial systems, and uses this to justify compiling data on rates of landform change in terms of planform, horizontal motion, elevation changes and sediment budgets. These data permit us to produce novel summary conceptual diagrams that consider proglacial landscape evolution in terms of a balance of longitudinal and lateral water and sediment fluxes. Throughout, we give examples of newly emerging datasets and data processing methods because these have the potential to assist with the issues of: (i) a lack of knowledge of proglacial systems within high-mountain, arctic and polar regions, (ii) considerable inter-and intracatchment variability in the geomorphology and functioning of proglacial systems, (iii) problems with the magnitude of short-term geomorphological changes being at the threshold of detection, (iv) separating short-term variability from longer-term trends, and (v) of the representativeness of plot-scale field measurements for regionalisation and for upscaling. We consider that understanding of future climate change effects on proglacial systems requires holistic process-based modelling to explicitly consider feedbacks and linkages, especially between hillslope and valley-floor components.Such modelling must be informed by a new generation of repeated distributed topographic surveys to detect and quantify short-term geomorphological changes.

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Section: Sediment Connectivitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Accepted Manuscript [Type Here] [Type Here]mentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-term geomorphological evolution of proglacial systems

2017

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“…During large floods, particularly ablation-precipitation events, total bedload flux was from 59% to 77% [31,34]. The effect of weather and extreme events on the modern development of the relief of the valley floor and channel was also repeatedly emphasised for proglacial rivers [7][8][9]13,17,20,[22][23][24][25]38,[63][64][65][66].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The rivers can develop complex multiple channel patterns, often at a transitional stage [10,11,38]. Scarce detailed research also showed the importance of local factors on the spatial distribution, extent, and temporal frequency of streambank erosion, which as a consequence causes problems in the comparison of obtained results [8,13,22,64,71]. According to Palmer et al [72], large variations at individual sites and in annual rates suggest that between the banks, erosion rates may be confounded by the timing and magnitude of discharge events, storage of sediments within the channel system, and the remobilization of eroded material.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The transition is well visible in all sedimentation environments both in the terminoglacial and extraglacial zone. As a result of deglaciation, a number of directional changes are also observed in the fluvial system, related to an increase in coupling between the slope and channel subsystems and changes in the supply/delivery of water and sediments to the river [6][7][8].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Effect of Meteorological Patterns on the Intensity of Streambank Erosion in a Proglacial Gravel-Bed River (Spitsbergen)

Kociuba

Janicki

2018

Water

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Lower parts of proglacial rivers are commonly assumed to be characterised by a multiannual aggradation trend, and streambank erosion is considered to occur rarely and locally. In the years 2009-2013, detailed measurements of channel processes were performed in the Scott River (SW Spitsbergen). More than 60% of its surface area (10 km 2 ) occupies non-glaciated valleys. Since the end of the Little Ice Age, the Scott Glacier has been subject to intensive retreat, resulting in the expansion of the terminoglacial and paraglacial zones. In this area, the Scott River develops an alluvial valley with a proglacial river, which has led to a comparatively low rate of fluvial transport, dominance of suspension over bedload, and the occurrence of various channel patterns. Measurements, performed in the lower course of the valley in two fixed cross-sections of the Scott River channel, document variable annual tendencies with a prevalence of scour over deposition processes in the channel bottom. The balance of scour and fill also differs in particular measurement cross-sections and during the summer season. The maximum erosion indices (1.7 m 2 ) were related to single periods of floods with snow-glacier melt and rainfall origin. The contribution of streambank erosion was usually lower than that of deep erosion both in the annual cycle and during extreme events. The channel-widening index also suggests variable annual (from −1 m to +1 m) and inter-annual tendencies. During a three-day flood from August 2013, in a measurement profile at the mouth of the river, the NNW bank was laterally shifted by as much as 3 m. Annual and inter-seasonal indices of total channel erosion, however, show that changes in the channel-bottom morphology are equalised relatively fast, and in terms of balance the changes usually do not exceed 0.5% of a cross section's area.

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Toward mountains without permanent snow and ice

et al. 2017

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The cryosphere in mountain regions is rapidly declining, a trend that is expected to accelerate over the next several decades due to anthropogenic climate change. A cascade of effects will result, extending from mountains to lowlands with associated impacts on human livelihood, economy, and ecosystems. With rising air temperatures and increased radiative forcing, glaciers will become smaller and, in some cases, disappear, the area of frozen ground will diminish, the ratio of snow to rainfall will decrease, and the timing and magnitude of both maximum and minimum streamflow will change. These changes will affect erosion rates, sediment, and nutrient flux, and the biogeochemistry of rivers and proglacial lakes, all of which influence water quality, aquatic habitat, and biotic communities. Changes in the length of the growing season will allow low-elevation plants and animals to expand their ranges upward. Slope failures due to thawing alpine permafrost, and outburst floods from glacier-and moraine-dammed lakes will threaten downstream populations. Societies even well beyond the mountains depend on meltwater from glaciers and snow for drinking water supplies, irrigation, mining, hydropower, agriculture, and recreation. Here, we review and, where possible, quantify the impacts of anticipated climate change on the alpine cryosphere, hydrosphere, and biosphere, and consider the implications for adaptation to a future of mountains without permanent snow and ice.

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Sediment export, transient landscape response and catchment-scale connectivity following rapid climate warming and Alpine glacier recession

Cited by 202 publications

References 106 publications

Short-term geomorphological evolution of proglacial systems

Short-term geomorphological evolution of proglacial systems

Effect of Meteorological Patterns on the Intensity of Streambank Erosion in a Proglacial Gravel-Bed River (Spitsbergen)

Toward mountains without permanent snow and ice

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