Sediment budgets for a sediment‐laden river: the lower Wei River in the period 1960–1990 |
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| Authors: | Wenwei Shao Changxing Shi Xiaoli Fan Yuanyuan Zhou Jianbin Bai |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Key Laboratory of Water Cycle and Related Land Surface Processes, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing, China;2. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China |
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| Abstract: | Fluvial sediment delivery is the main form of sediment transfer from the land to the sea, but this process is currently undergoing significant variations due to the alteration of catchment and base level controls related to climate change and human activities, especially the widespread construction of dams. Using the lower Wei River as an example and an integrated approach, this study investigates the variation of fluvial sediment delivery, as well as the connectivity under the effects of both controls. Based on hydrological records and channel cross‐section surveys, sediment budgets were constructed for two periods (1960–1970, 1970–1990) after the dam was closed in 1960. In the period 1960–1969, due to the elevated base level (327.2 ± 1.62 m) caused by the dam, the aggradation rate was 0.451 × 108 t yr‐1 in the channel and 0.716 × 108 t yr‐1 on the floodplain, indicating that the positive lateral connectivity between these locations was enhanced. As a consequence, serious sediment storage resulted in a sediment delivery ratio (SDR) that was smaller than that occurring before 1960. In the period 1970–1990, sweeping soil and water conservation (SWC) measures were implemented, resulting in a reduction of the connectivity between the trunk and tributaries, and a decrease of ~31% in the mean sediment input. In addition, together with the base level fluctuation in the range of 327.47 ± 0.49 m, the annual variation in sediment storage was primarily dependent on the water–sediment regime affected by the SWC. The negative lateral connectivity was enhanced between the channel and floodplain via bank erosion. Consequently, the aggradation rate was reduced by 89% on the floodplain and by 96% in the channel. Sediment output continued to decrease primarily due to the SWC practices and climate changes in this period, whereas the SDR increased due to the enhanced longitudinal connectivity between the upstream and downstream. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. |
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| Keywords: | sediment budget sediment delivery catchment control base level control lower Wei River |
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