The uncertainties associated with sediment fingerprinting suspended and recently deposited fluvial sediment in the Nene river basin

Pulley, Simon; Foster, Ian D L; Antunes, A Paula M

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2014.09.016

Cited by 113 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 45 publications

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“…High-flow events generate a large proportion of the total annual SS load in rivers Horowitz, 2009;Lloyd et al, 2016;Pulley et al, 2015). Consequently, disentangling the factors that drive event-based SS dynamics is essential to improve our understanding of longer term SS trends, the importance of episodic events on those trends, and the impact of SS on ecology, geomorphology and infrastructure.…”

Section: Event-based Variationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suspended sediment transport dynamics in rivers: Multi-scale drivers of temporal variation

Vercruysse

Grabowski

Rickson

2017

Earth-Science Reviews

326

181

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Suspended sediment is a natural part of river systems and plays an essential role in structuring the landscape, creating ecological habitats and transporting nutrients. It is also a common management problem, where alterations to sediment quantity and quality negatively impact ecological communities, increase flood hazard and shorten the lifespan of infrastructure. To address these challenges and develop appropriate sustainable management strategies, we need a thorough understanding of sediment sources, pathways and transport dynamics and the drivers that underlie spatial and temporal variability in suspended sediment transport in rivers. However, research to date has not sufficiently addressed the temporal complexity of sediment transport processes, which is limiting our ability to disentangle the hydro-meteorological, catchment, channel and anthropogenic drivers of suspended sediment transport in rivers. This review critically evaluates previously published work on suspended sediment dynamics to demonstrate how the interpretation of sediment sources and pathways is influenced by the temporal scale and methodology of the study. To do this, the review (i) summarizes the main drivers of temporal variation in suspended sediment transport in rivers; (ii) critically reviews the common empirical approaches used to analyze and quantify sediment sources and loads, and their capacity to account for temporal variations; (iii) applies these findings to recent case studies to illustrate how method and timescale affect the interpretation of suspended sediment transport dynamics; and finally (iv) synthesizes the findings of the review into a set of guidelines for a multi-timescale approach to sediment regime characterization. By recognizing a priori that study design and temporal scale have an impact on the interpretation of SS dynamics and employing methods that address these issues, future research will be better able to identify the drivers of suspended sediment transport in rivers, improve sediment transport modelling, and propose effective, sustainable solutions to sediment management problems.

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Section: Event-based Variationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suspended sediment transport dynamics in rivers: Multi-scale drivers of temporal variation

Vercruysse

Grabowski

Rickson

2017

Earth-Science Reviews

326

181

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“…A~0.1 g sample was successively pretreated with 10 ml of 30% H 2 O 2 over 24 h to remove organic matter, and with 5 ml of 10% HCl for 10 min to remove calcium carbonates. The pretreated samples were then added to 500 ml of ultrapure water in the Malvern Hydro 2000 unit, where two minutes of ultrasonic dispersion was performed immediately before analysis (Pulley et al, 2015). Each sample was run in quintuplicate.…”

Section: Laboratory Analysesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Flow regulation manipulates contemporary seasonal sedimentary dynamics in the reservoir fluctuation zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir, China

Tang

Bao

et al. 2016

Science of The Total Environment

102

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• Hydrological regime in the reservoir fluctuation zone has been significantly altered.• Grain-size variations are diagnostic for sedimentary stratigraphy differentiation.• Post-dam sedimentation processes were reproduced by chronology determination.• Regular flow regulation controls contemporary seasonal sedimentary dynamics. Since the launch of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, a distinctive reservoir fluctuation zone has been created and significantly modified by regular dam operations. Sediment redistribution within this artificial landscape differs substantially from that in natural fluvial riparian zones, due to a specific hydrological regime comprising steps of water impoundment with increasing magnitudes and seasonal water level fluctuation holding a range of sediment fluxes. This study reinterpreted post-dam sedimentary dynamics in the reservoir fluctuation zone by stratigraphy determination of a 345-cm long sediment core, and related it to impact of the hydrological regime. Seasonality in absolute grain-size composition of suspended sediment was applied as a methodological basis for stratigraphic differentiation. Sedimentary laminations with relatively higher proportions of sandy fractions were ascribed to sedimentation during the dry season when proximal subsurface bank erosion dominates source contributions, while stratigraphy with a lower proportion of sandy fractions is possibly contributed by sedimentation during the wet season when distal upstream surface erosion prevails. Chronology determination revealed non-linear and high annual sedimentation rates ranging from 21.7 to 152.1 cm/yr. Although channel geomorphology may primarily determine the spatial extent of sedimentation, seasonal sedimentary dynamics was predominantly governed by the frequency, magnitude, and duration of flooding. Summer inundation by G R A P H I C A L A B S T R A C T a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Contents lists available at ScienceDirectScience of the Total Environment j o u r n a l h o m e p a g e : w w w . e l s e v i e r . c o m / l o c a t e / s c i t o t e n v natural floods with enhanced sediment loads produced from upstream basins induced higher sedimentation rates than water impoundment during the dry season when distal sediment supply was limited. We thus conclude that flow regulation manipulates contemporary seasonal sedimentary dynamics in the reservoir fluctuation zone, though little impact on total sediment retention rate was detected. Ongoing reductions in flow and sediment supply under human disturbance may have profound implications in affecting sedimentary equilibrium in the reservoir fluctuation zone. The results herein provide insights of how big dams have disrupted the sediment conveyance processes of large scale fluvial systems.

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“…However identifying sources of the sediment in tributaries is key to understanding the sediment transport processes and accumulation in the Rother. Sediment source sampling is still in progress and will be analysed with a sediment unmixing model to determine provenance of the sediment in the waterways (Pulley et al, 2015). Sediment properties that will be used in this model include; particle size, mineral magnetism, radionuclides and sediment geochemistry.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…High concentrations of sediment in the water column also have a number of indirect negative impacts on ecosystems, such as damaging fish gills and increasing eutrophication (Collins et al, 2010). Excessive sediment input is frequently caused by soil erosion on agricultural fields, although it has been suggested that channel banks can also be a major contributor (Pulley et al, 2015). The soil that erodes from fields can be delivered to waterways and roads where most negative impacts are felt (Boardman et al, 2003;Evans, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

SMART – Sediment Mitigation Actions for the River Rother, UK

et al. 2017

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Abstract. The River Rother, West Sussex, is suffering from excess sediment which is smothering the river bed gravels. This is thought to be exacerbating issues of pollution and degradation of ecosystems. This project aims to identify the severity, extent, possible causes and potential mitigation options available to reduce these pressures on the river. Data have been collected from ten sites to investigate the amount of sediment stored in the river bed gravels and cores obtained from four small reservoirs to establish rates of sedimentation and contribute to the construction of a temporal sediment budget over the last 50-100 years. Evidence suggests that tributary streams have more stored sediment per m 2 upstream of their confluence with the River Rother compared to the Rother itself. Reservoir core data indicate that sediment has accumulated more rapidly in the small reservoirs surrounded by mixed agricultural land compared to one surrounded by ancient woodland. These are preliminary results and work is continuing.

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The uncertainties associated with sediment fingerprinting suspended and recently deposited fluvial sediment in the Nene river basin

Cited by 113 publications

References 45 publications

Suspended sediment transport dynamics in rivers: Multi-scale drivers of temporal variation

Suspended sediment transport dynamics in rivers: Multi-scale drivers of temporal variation

Flow regulation manipulates contemporary seasonal sedimentary dynamics in the reservoir fluctuation zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir, China

SMART – Sediment Mitigation Actions for the River Rother, UK

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