Sediment delivery ratio of single flood events and the influencing factors in a headwater basin of the Chinese Loess Plateau.

Abstract

Little is known about the sediment delivery of single flood events although it has been well known that the sediment delivery ratio at the inter-annual time scale is close to 1 in the Chinese Loess Plateau. This study examined the sediment delivery of single flood events and the influencing factors in a headwater basin of the Loess Plateau, where hyperconcentrated flows are dominant. Data observed from plot to subwatershed over the period from 1959 to 1969 were presented. Sediment delivery ratio of a single event (SDR e) was calculated as the ratio of sediment output from the subwatershed to sediment input into the channel. It was found that SDR e varies greatly for small events (runoff depth <5 mm or rainfall depth <30 mm) and remains fairly constant (approximately between 1.1 and 1.3) for large events (runoff depth >5 mm or rainfall depth >30 mm). We examined 11 factors of rainfall (rainfall amount, rainfall intensity, rainfall kinetic energy, rainfall erosivity and rainfall duration), flood (area-specific sediment yield, runoff depth, peak flow discharge, peak sediment concentration and flood duration) and antecedent land surface (antecedent precipitation) in relation to SDR e. Only the peak sediment concentration significantly correlates with SDR e. Contrary to popular belief, channel scour tends to occur in cases of higher peak sediment concentrations. Because small events also have chances to attain a high sediment concentration, many small events (rainfall depth <20 mm) are characterized by channel scour with an SDR e larger than 1. Such observations can be related to hyperconcentrated flows, which behave quite differently from normal stream flows. Our finding that large events have a nearly constant SDR e is useful for sediment yield predictions in the Loess Plateau and other regions where hyperconcentrated flows are well developed.