Influences of Catchment and River Channel Characteristics on the Magnitude and Dynamics of Storage and Re-Suspension of Fine Sediments in River Beds

Park Park,López-Tarazón López-Tarazón,López-Tarazón López-Tarazón,López-Tarazón López-Tarazón,Vericat Vericat,Vericat Vericat,Birgand Birgand,Batalla Batalla,Batalla Batalla,Batalla Batalla,Gentile Gentile,Gentile Gentile,Navratil Navratil,Esteves Esteves,Harrington Harrington

doi:10.3390/w11050878

Abstract

Fine particles or sediments are one of the important variables that should be considered for the proper management of water quality and aquatic ecosystems. In the present study, the effect of catchment characteristics on the performance of an already developed model for the estimation of fine sediments dynamics between the water column and sediment bed was tested, using 13 catchments distributed worldwide. The model was calibrated to determine two optimal model parameters. The first is the filtration parameter, which represents the filtration of fine sediments through pores of the stream bed during the recession period of a flood event. The second parameter is the bed erosion parameter that represents the active layer, directly related to the re-suspension of fine sediments during a flood event. A dependency of the filtration parameter with the catchment area was observed in catchments smaller than ~100 km2, whereas no particular relationship was observed for larger catchments (>100 km2). In contrast, the bed erosion parameter does not show a noticeable dependency with the area or other environmental characteristics. The model estimated the mass of fine sediments released from the sediment bed to the water column during flood events in the 13 catchments within ~23% bias.

Highlights

Fine particles or sediments are considered one of the most important factors affecting the quality and functioning of fluvial environments
Discussion storage re-suspension model developed by Park al. [32]
The The storage and and re-suspension model developed by Park et al.et[32]

Summary

Introduction

Fine particles or sediments are considered one of the most important factors affecting the quality and functioning of fluvial environments. Erodibility and runoff processes mainly govern the fine sediment dynamics at the basin outlet. These factors and the catchment sizes cause variations in the sediment supply and transport processes. Gao et al [13] suggested that the suspended sediment load (Qs ) is dominated by short-time-interval processes in smaller catchments with less-developed drainage density and small capacity to store fine sediment (i.e., drainage area

Objectives

Discussion

Conclusion