Yield of sediment in relation to mean annual precipitation

Langbein, W. B.; Schumm, S. A.

doi:10.1029/tr039i006p01076

Cited by 889 publications

(520 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…Upper, Average annual water discharge compiled from gauging-station records of US Geological Survey. Lower, Average annual suspended-sediment discharge compiled mostly from data of Keown et al (1981Keown et al ( ,1986, plus supplemental data on Lower Missouri River from Parker (1988) and data on lower Ohio River from , 1993, 1995 shales in the central Missouri basin with areas of smallto-moderate rainfall is the basis for the relation between sediment yield and precipitation devised by Langbein and Schumm (1958). They demonstrated that the maximum sediment yields in this region were associated with only moderate amounts of precipitation, which were sufficient to wash the sediment off the land but were insufficient to support enough vegetation to protect the land from being eroded.…”

Section: Missouri-mississippi River Sediment-delivery Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Causes for the decline of suspended‐sediment discharge in the Mississippi River system, 1940–2007

Meade

Moody

2009

Hydrological Processes

275

251

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Abstract:Before 1900, the Missouri-Mississippi River system transported an estimated 400 million metric tons per year of sediment from the interior of the United States to coastal Louisiana. During the last two decades (1987)(1988)(1989)(1990)(1991)(1992)(1993)(1994)(1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006), this transport has averaged 145 million metric tons per year. The cause for this substantial decrease in sediment has been attributed to the trapping characteristics of dams constructed on the muddy part of the Missouri River during the 1950s. However, reexamination of more than 60 years of water-and sediment-discharge data indicates that the dams alone are not the sole cause. These dams trap about 100-150 million metric tons per year, which represent about half the decrease in sediment discharge near the mouth of the Mississippi. Changes in relations between water discharge and suspended-sediment concentration suggest that the Missouri-Mississippi has been transformed from a transport-limited to a supply-limited system. Thus, other engineering activities such as meander cutoffs, river-training structures, and bank revetments as well as soil erosion controls have trapped sediment, eliminated sediment sources, or protected sediment that was once available for transport episodically throughout the year. Removing major engineering structures such as dams probably would not restore sediment discharges to pre-1900 state, mainly because of the numerous smaller engineering structures and other soil-retention works throughout the Missouri-Mississippi system. Published in

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Section: Missouri-mississippi River Sediment-delivery Systemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Causes for the decline of suspended‐sediment discharge in the Mississippi River system, 1940–2007

Meade

Moody

2009

Hydrological Processes

275

251

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“…Walker's model subsequently influenced many midcontinental U.S. studies, including the studies in North Dakota by Bickley and Clayton (1972) and Clayton et al (1976). Also influential was Langbein and Schumm's (1958) model relating biomass, mean annual precipitation, and sediment yield in drainage basins east of the Rocky Mountains.…”

Section: Holocene Loess and Cliff Dune Sedimentationmentioning

confidence: 99%

The good earthworm: How natural processes preserve upland Archaic archaeological sites of western Illinois, U.S.A.

Nest

2002

Geoarchaeology

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In western Illinois, many soil profiles developed into upland loess deposits (Peoria Silt) contain Archaic period artifacts greater than 3500 yr B.P. in stone zones below plow level. For artifacts in prairie and prairie-forest transition soils (not forest soils), depth distribution curves suggest they were buried in biomantles by small soil fauna. Artifacts of sizes archaeologists routinely collect generally move down while retaining fine-scale horizontal integrity. The process results in stratigraphic separation of Archaic and Woodland period components that otherwise would commingle at the surface. The characteristic distribution of known upland sites, narrowly rimming stream valley headwaters, reflects incomplete burial of materials on steeper forested slopes. On adjacent gently sloping upper shoulder segments of valleys where grassy cover more strongly influences soil development (and by inference on broad level uplands where true prairie soils occur), Archaic artifacts will be buried in the biomantle and go undetected by surface surveyors. ᭧

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“…Incision would occur during more humid periods, when vegetation stabilizes the hillslopes, reducing runoff, peak discharge, and sediment supply. On the other hand, Bryan [1928,1940] Some of the discrepancies between these observations must reflect differences in vegetation cover, soils, and relief at the time that a climate or land-use change occurs [Langbein and Schumm, 1958;Schumm, 1977;Knox, 1983]. Yet even in the simple case in which vegetation and other factors remained constant, it would be difficult to judge on the basis of intuition alone how a catchment might respond to an independent change in a single climatic variable, such as precipitation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Drainage basin responses to climate change

Tucker¹,

Slingerland²

1997

Water Resources Research

510

486

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Abstract. Recent investigations have shown that the extent of the channel network in some drainage basins is controlled by a threshold for overland flow erosion. The sensitivity of such basins to climate change is analyzed using a physically based model of drainage basin evolution. The GOLEM model simulates basin evolution under the action of weathering processes, hillslope transport, and fluvial bedrock erosion and sediment transport. Results from perturbation analyses reveal that the nature and timescale of basin response depends on the direction of change. An increase in runoff intensity (or a decrease in vegetation cover) will lead to a rapid expansion of the channel network, with the resulting increase in sediment supply initially generating aggradation along the main network, followed by downcutting as the sediment supply tapers off. By contrast, a decrease in runoff intensity (or an increase in the erosion threshold) will lead to a retraction of the active channel network and a much more gradual geomorphic response. Cyclic changes in runoff intensity are shown to produce aggradational-degradational cycles that resemble those observed in the field. Cyclic variations in runoff also lead to highly punctuated denudation rates, with denudation concentrated during periods of increasing runoff intensity and/or decreasing vegetation cover. The sediment yield from thresholddominated basins may therefore exhibit significant variability in response to relatively subtle environmental changes, a finding which underscores the need for caution in interpreting modern sediment-yield data.

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Yield of sediment in relation to mean annual precipitation

Cited by 889 publications

References 4 publications

Causes for the decline of suspended‐sediment discharge in the Mississippi River system, 1940–2007

Causes for the decline of suspended‐sediment discharge in the Mississippi River system, 1940–2007

The good earthworm: How natural processes preserve upland Archaic archaeological sites of western Illinois, U.S.A.

Drainage basin responses to climate change

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