Abstract
Abstract. This paper examines sediment and metal (Al, Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn) exportation at different timescales (annual, seasonal and event) during a 3-year period (2005–2008) in the Mero River headwater, a rural catchment under humid temperate climate. Interannual differences were found both in annual loads and their distributions throughout the year. At annual scale, sediment and particulate metal loads followed the same trend as streamflow, while dissolved metals showed different patterns. Runoff events contributed to 63% of the total sediment load, whereas particulate and dissolved loads in events accounted for between 38–61 and 27–49%, respectively. Runoff events were characterized by high variability in sediment and metal loads, a few events representing a high percentage of the metal exported. Sediment loads were related to maximum and initial discharge. Particulate metal loads were highly correlated with sediment loads, runoff being the hydrological variable that best explains the load of these metals. Dissolved metal loads displayed different patterns. Dissolved Al, showed a great correlation with runoff, while dissolved Mn with maximum discharge.
Highlights
The understanding of the processes controlling sediment and metal export is critical to assessing and anticipating impacts on the water courses
Different seasonal patterns of sediment and particulate metal loads were observed during these 3 hydrological years according to different rainfall and streamflow distribution; in spite of that, summer months always showed the lowest sediments and particulate metal export
A few events (30 %) were responsible for www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/18/3663/2014/
Summary
The understanding of the processes controlling sediment and metal export is critical to assessing and anticipating impacts on the water courses. Landscape characteristics of the catchment such as geology, slope, drainage and land use are important factors controlling the forms and quantities of sediments and metals that are transported to rivers (Miller et al, 2003; Kang et al, 2009). The transport mechanisms vary for each metal, depending on its abundance, solubility or distribution in particle size, among other factors (Horowitz et al, 1990; Park et al, 2007; Pokrovsky et al, 2010). Erosion processes within a catchment are responsible for sediment transfers to water courses. Metal transport may be dominated by sediments, since metals are mostly adsorbed on sediment particles, as reported in several studies (Horowitz et al, 1990; Miller et al, 2003)
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