Toward generalizable sediment fingerprinting with tracers that are conservative and nonconservative over sediment routing timescales

Belmont, Patrick; Willenbring, Mark L.; Schottler, Shawn P.; Marquard, J.; Kumarasamy, Karthik; Hemmis, Jay M.

doi:10.1007/s11368-014-0913-5

Cited by 93 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 68 publications

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“…Interestingly, the percent coverage of waterbody areas within the watershed was not selected in any of our models. Due to low‐sediment delivery ratios in this relatively flat landscape (Belmont et al, ; Gran et al, ; Maalim et al, ), it seems that off‐channel lakes and wetlands do not exert enough control on TSS dynamics to show up in our models, whereas lakes that are directly connected to the channel network do.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Near‐Channel Versus Watershed Controls on Sediment Rating Curves

et al. 2017

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Predicting riverine suspended sediment flux is a fundamental problem in geomorphology, with important implications for water quality, land and water resource management, and aquatic ecosystem health. To advance understanding, we evaluated environmental and landscape factors that influence sediment rating curves (SRCs). We generated SRCs with recent total suspended solids (TSSs) and discharge data from 45 gages on 36 rivers throughout the state of Minnesota, USA. Watersheds range from 32 to 14,600 km2 and represent distinct settings regarding topography, land cover, and geologic history. Rivers exhibited three distinct SRC shapes: simple power functions, threshold power functions, and peaked or negative‐slope functions. We computed SRC exponents and coefficients (describing the steepness of the relation and the TSS concentration at median flows, respectively). In addition to quantifying watershed topography, climate/hydrology, geology, soil type, and land cover, we used lidar topography to characterize the near‐channel environment upstream of gages. We used random forest models to analyze relations between SRC parameters and attributes of the watershed and the near‐channel environment. The models correctly classify 78% of SRC shapes and explain 37%–60% of variance in SRC parameters. We find that SRC steepness (exponent) is strongly related to near‐channel morphological characteristics including near‐channel relief, channel gradient, and presence of lakes along the local channel network, but not to land use. In contrast, land use influences TSS concentrations at moderate and low flow. These findings suggest that the near‐channel environment controls changes in TSS as flows increase, whereas land use drives median and low flow TSS conditions.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 89%

Near‐Channel Versus Watershed Controls on Sediment Rating Curves

et al. 2017

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“…Unlike the downstream sediment 210 Pb ex concentration increase with sediment age suggested by our transit‐time sediment simulations (Figure e), fallout lead‐210 activity levels for the experimental suspended sediments decreased downstream between the sampling locations of the Vallcebre catchments (Figure b). A variety of studies have explained downstream decreases in the 210 Pb ex concentrations of suspended sediments by the contribution of unlabelled fresh materials from (nearly vertical) streambanks showing nil or little fallout lead‐210 interception (Belmont et al, ; Hancock et al, ; Wethered et al, ). Channel entrenchment in the Vallcebre catchments is strongly conditioned by the occurrence of infrequent, strong autumn events with an approx.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the Use of ²¹⁰Pb_ex to Study Sediment Connectivity in a Mediterranean Mountain Basin with Badlands

et al. 2017

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Basin management demands a sound understanding of sediment dynamics, particularly in Mediterranean mountain catchments with badlands, which affect water bodies and freshwater ecosystems. Connectivity has emerged as a framework for understanding how sediments move between geomorphic zones. We analyse the feasibility of excess lead‐210 (210Pbex) to study sediment connectivity in a 4‐km2 Mediterranean mountain basin with badlands (Vallcebre research catchments, Eastern Pyrenees) by applying mass‐balance models for hypothesis generation and experimental testing. Badlands in the area are weathered by freezing during the winter and are eroded in summer by high‐intensity showers. The eroded sediments may remain deposited within the streams from months to years. Application of 210Pbex balance models in our basin suggests: (i) a saw‐tooth seasonal pattern of badland surface 210Pbex activities (increasing from October to May, and depleted in summer) and (ii) a downstream increase in sediment activity due to fallout lead‐210 accumulation in stream‐bed sediment deposits. Our experimental results (obtained during 2013 and 2014) showed low sediment 210Pbex concentrations, illustrating the fresh‐rock origin of sediments, but also hampering their study due to high measurement uncertainty (especially for sediments with d50 > 20 μm) and dependence on sampling methods. Suspended sediment 210Pbex activity reproduced the simulated seasonal activity patterns for the badland surfaces. However, sediment activity decreased downstream, suggesting that flushing of fine sediments by flooding prevents fallout lead‐210 accumulation on the stream bed. Overall, high sediment connectivity was revealed between the badlands, streams and outlet of the basin, as well as the fast transmission of 210Pbex by the finest sediment fraction. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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“…To mitigate this effect, Walling et al (2003) suggested including more tracers, which should be independent. That the tracers should be non-contradictory and conservative has been emphasized by other researchers (Belmont et al, 2014;Sherriff et al, 2015;Zhang and Liu, 2016). Brosinsky et al (2014) indicated that aggregating source types increase uncertainty in fingerprinting.…”

Section: Tracer Selectionmentioning

confidence: 96%

“…Various sources of uncertainty, including sampling methods, source discrimination, tracer selection, and mixing models, have been studied in detail (Belmont et al, 2014;Foster, 2000;Koiter et al, 2015;Sherriff et al, 2015;Smith and Blake, 2014). In particular, different mixing models have been investigated and their precisions have been analysed (Haddadchi et al, 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new method for fingerprinting sediment source contributions using distances from discriminant function analysis

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et al. 2016

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Toward generalizable sediment fingerprinting with tracers that are conservative and nonconservative over sediment routing timescales

Cited by 93 publications

References 68 publications

Near‐Channel Versus Watershed Controls on Sediment Rating Curves

Near‐Channel Versus Watershed Controls on Sediment Rating Curves

Testing the Use of ²¹⁰Pb_ex to Study Sediment Connectivity in a Mediterranean Mountain Basin with Badlands

A new method for fingerprinting sediment source contributions using distances from discriminant function analysis

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Toward generalizable sediment fingerprinting with tracers that are conservative and nonconservative over sediment routing timescales

Cited by 93 publications

References 68 publications

Near‐Channel Versus Watershed Controls on Sediment Rating Curves

Near‐Channel Versus Watershed Controls on Sediment Rating Curves

Testing the Use of 210Pbex to Study Sediment Connectivity in a Mediterranean Mountain Basin with Badlands

A new method for fingerprinting sediment source contributions using distances from discriminant function analysis

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Testing the Use of ²¹⁰Pb_ex to Study Sediment Connectivity in a Mediterranean Mountain Basin with Badlands