SUSPENDED SEDIMENT AND PARTICULATE PHOSPHORUS TRANSPORT AND DELIVERY PATHWAYS IN AN ARABLE CATCHMENT, GELBÆK STREAM, DENMARK

Abstract

Reliable quantification of suspended sediment (SS) and particulate phosphorus (PP) transport, and identification of the various delivery pathways at the catchment level, is an important and necessary aid to appropriate catchment management. In this study we measured storm event, seasonal and annual losses of SS and PP from a Danish arable catchment, Gelbæk Stream, using a multisampling strategy. SS losses for the study years May 1993–April 1994 and May 1994–April 1995 ranged from 71 to 88 kg ha−1, while PP losses ranged from 0·32 to 0·36 kg P ha−1. In both cases losses mainly occurred during infrequent storm events. In comparison with intensive storm sampling, infrequent (fortnightly) sampling underestimated annual transport during the two study years by −24 and −331%, respectively, for SS, and by −8·6 and −151%, respectively, for PP. Reliable estimation of the transport of sediment and sediment-associated nutrients and other substances thus necessitates the use of an intensive monitoring approach. Turbidimeters proved to be a good substitute for direct measurement of SS, especially during storm events, although careful calibration is needed at the seasonal and storm event levels. Experience shows that in artificially drained and geologically complex catchments such as Gelbæk, simultaneous comparative monitoring of different sources (e.g. subsurface drainage water) is an important means of reliably discriminating between the various diffuse sources of sediment and phosphorus. Subsurface drainage water was found to account for 11–15% of the annual SS export from the catchment; the corresponding figure for PP being 11–18%. Surface runoff was only a source of SS and PP during the first study year, when it accounted for 19% of SS and 7% of PP catchment export. Stream bank/bed erosion must therefore have been the major diffuse source of SS and PP in both study years. The study also revealed that analysis of the trace element content (e.g. 137Cs, 210Pb) of the SS transported in subsurface drainage water and stream water during storm events is a useful means of discriminating between diffuse losses of SS delivered from topsoil and subsoil compartments. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.