scholarly journals Unraveling The Impacts of Meteorological and Anthropogenic Changes on Sediment Fluxes Along an Estuary-Sea Continuum

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Florent Grasso ◽  
Eliott Bismuth ◽  
Romaric Verney
Keyword(s):  
Human Activities ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Large River ◽  
Fine Sediment ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressures ◽  
Estuarine Ecosystem ◽  
Anthropogenic Changes ◽  
Sediment Fluxes

Abstract Sediment fluxes at the estuary-sea interface strongly impact particle matter exchanges between marine and continental sources along the land-sea continuum. However, human activities drive pressures on estuary physical functioning, hence threatening estuarine habitats and their ecosystem services. There is an increasing societal need to better predict the potential trajectories of estuarine sediment fluxes resulting from natural and anthropogenic pressures, but the concomitance of human-induced and meteorological-induced changes makes the responses ambiguous. Therefore, this study explores a 22-year numerical hindcast, experiencing contrasted meteorological conditions and human-induced morphological changes (i.e., estuary deepening and narrowing), in order to disentangle the relative contributions of meteorological and anthropogenic changes on net sediment fluxes between a macrotidal estuary and its adjacent coastal sea. Our results highlight that intense wave events induce fine sediment (≤100 µm) export to the sea but coarser sediment (≥210 µm) import within the estuary. Remarkably, moderate to large river flows support mud import within the estuary. Over 25 years, the reduction of intense wave and river flow events reduces fine sediment export to the sea. In addition, the estuary morphological changes due to human activities increase fine sediment import within the estuary, shifting the estuary from an exporting to importing system. We propose a conceptualization of mud flux response to river flow and wave forcing, as well as anthropogenic pressures. It provides valuable insights into particle transfers along the land-sea continuum, contributing to a better understanding of estuarine ecosystem trajectories under global changes.

scholarly journals Unraveling the impacts of meteorological and anthropogenic changes on sediment fluxes along an estuary-sea continuum

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Florent Grasso ◽  
Eliott Bismuth ◽  
Romaric Verney
Keyword(s):  
Human Activities ◽  
River Discharge ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Large River ◽  
Fine Sediment ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Anthropogenic Pressures ◽  
Estuarine Ecosystem ◽  
Anthropogenic Changes ◽  
Sediment Fluxes

AbstractSediment fluxes at the estuary-sea interface strongly impact particle matter exchanges between marine and continental sources along the land-sea continuum. However, human activities drive pressures on estuary physical functioning, hence threatening estuarine habitats and their ecosystem services. This study explores a 22-year numerical hindcast of the macrotidal Seine Estuary (France), experiencing contrasted meteorological conditions and anthropogenic changes (i.e., estuary deepening and narrowing). The hindcast was thoroughly validated for both water column and sediment bed dynamics and showed good capacities to simulate annual sediment budgets observed from 1990 to 2015. We aim at disentangling the relative contributions of meteorological and human-induced morphological changes on net sediment fluxes between the estuary and its adjacent coastal sea. Our results highlight that intense wave events induce fine sediment (≤ 100 µm) export to the sea but coarser sediment (≥ 210 µm) import within the estuary. Although intense river discharges induce mud export to the sea, moderate to large river discharges prove to support mud import within the estuary. Wave and river discharge events were less intense in 2005–2015 than in 1990–2000, reducing fine sediment export to the sea. The estuary deepening and narrowing due to human activities increased fine sediment import within the estuary, shifting the estuary from an exporting to importing system. We propose a conceptualization of mud flux response to river discharge and wave forcing, as well as anthropogenic pressures. It provides valuable insights into particle transfers along the land-sea continuum, contributing to a better understanding of estuarine ecosystem trajectories under global changes.

scholarly journals River flow and sediment transport simulation based on a curvilinear and rectilinear grid modelling approach – a comparison study

2017 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 1325-1334 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. G. Morianou ◽  
N. N. Kourgialas ◽  
G. P. Karatzas ◽  
N. P. Nikolaidis
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Transport ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
Grid Model ◽  
Curvilinear Grid ◽  
Saint Venant Equations ◽  
Flow And Sediment Transport ◽  
Downstream Section ◽  
The Difference

In the present work, a two-dimensional (2D) hydraulic model was used for the simulation of river flow and sediment transport in the downstream section of the Koiliaris River Basin in Crete, Greece, based on two different structured grids. Specifically, an important goal of the present study was the comparison of a curvilinear grid model with a rectilinear grid model. The MIKE 21C model has been developed to simulate 2D flows and morphological changes in rivers by using either an orthogonal curvilinear grid or a rectilinear grid. The MIKE 21C model comprises two parts: (a) the hydrodynamic part that is based on the Saint-Venant equations and (b) the morphological change part for the simulation of bank erosion and sediment transport. The difference between the curvilinear and the rectilinear grid is that the curvilinear grid lines follow the bank lines of the river, providing a better resolution of the flow near the boundaries. The water depth and sediment results obtained from the simulations for the two different grids were compared with field observations and a series of statistical indicators. It was concluded that the curvilinear grid model results were in better agreement with the field measurements.

Using GeoWEPP model, high-resolution 3D models and ground-based survey to detect sedimentation changes and morphological adjustments in an ephemeral stream

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmelo Conesa-García ◽  
Alberto Martínez-Salvador ◽  
Francisco Martínez-Capel ◽  
Carlos Puig-Mengual ◽  
Pedro Pérez-Cutillas ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Point Clouds ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
Ephemeral Stream ◽  
Event Scale ◽  
Sediment Yields ◽  
Calibration And Validation ◽  
Sediment Budgets

<p>The ephemeral streams, which drain steep and metamorphic catchments, experience rapid and torrential runoff with high sediment loads. These processes cause important morphological changes in the channels. This work proposes a methodological approach to verify the change patterns in the magnitude and frequency of the hydrological events that geomorphologically model this type of channels. A gravel-bed ephemeral stream, the Rambla de la Azohía, located in the coastal area of the Betic Mountains (southeastern Spain), has been chosen as a study case for the method validation. This approach focuses first on relationships between peak discharges and sediment budgets measured at checkpoints for specific events from 2018 to 2020 and then runoff data and sediment yields obtained using the GeoWEPP model for the same cases after calibration/validation. Water depths and concentrations of suspended sediment recorded during the events of 2018 and 2019 were used for model calibration and validation, respectively. For the calibration stage, a sensitivity analysis was carried out in order to detect the parameters that most influence the model output and are, therefore, suitable for calibration. Finally, the results obtained in the calibration and validation periods were evaluated using the Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency (NS) and percent bias (PBIAS). Values of NS and PBIAS equal to 0.86 and  7.81%, respectively, were found in the calibration period, while these indices were  0.81 and  -4.1% in the validation period. All these values confirm the model’s capacity to simulate peak flow and erosion in the experimental conditions. Topographical variations and sediment budgets, verified combining high-resolution digital terrain models (HRDTMs) with ortophotographs and point clouds dated in 2018, 2019 and 2020, and ground-based surveys, were analyzed in relation to changes in discharge in order to determine geomorphic flow thresholds. According to these thresholds, three classes of morphological adjustments were defined: 1. global changes caused by  discharges over the bankfull depth; 2. large alterations at the bankfull stage driven by a noticeable vertical bed accretion and lateral erosion; 3. moderate adjustments during sub-bankfull flows that are able to modify alluvial bars; and 4. minor events, in which the accretion of these bars ceases and shallow scouring and washing actions prevail. These geomorphic thresholds were then applied to the complete series of discharges simulated using GeoWEPP at the event scale during the period 1997-2019. The results revealed a significant increase in the number of events that are capable to produce bed aggradation and bank erosion. This research was funded by FEDER / Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities - State Research Agency (AEI) / Projects CGL2017-84625- C2-1-R and CGL2017-84625-C2-2-R; State Program for Research, Development and Innovation Focused on the Challenges of Society.</p>

Fluvial sediment fluxes response to modern climate change and human activities in the Tibetan Plateau and its margins

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongfeng Li ◽  
Xixi Lu ◽  
Ting Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Resources ◽  
Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Sediment Flux ◽  
The Tibetan Plateau ◽  
Fluvial Sediment ◽  
Sediment Fluxes ◽  
Cold Environments

<p>Sediment flux in cold environments is a crucial proxy to link glacial, periglacial, and fluvial systems and highly relevant to hydropower operation, water quality, and the riverine carbon cycle. However, the long-term impacts of climate change and multiple human activities on sediment flux changes in cold environments remain insufficiently investigated due to the lack of monitoring and the complexity of the sediment cascade. Here we examine the multi-decadal changes in the in-situ observed fluvial sediment fluxes from two types of basins, namely, pristine basins and disturbed basins, in the Tibetan Plateau and its margins. The results show that the fluvial sediment fluxes in the pristine Tuotuohe headwater have substantially increased over the past three decades (i.e., a net increase of 135% from 1985–1997 to 1998–2017) due to the warming and wetting climate. We also quantify the relative impacts of air temperature and precipitation on the increases in the sediment fluxes with a novel attribution approach and finds that climate warming and intensified glacier-snow-permafrost melting is the primary cause of the increased sediment fluxes in the pristine cold environment (Tuotuohe headwater), with precipitation increase and its associated pluvial processes being the secondary driver. By contrast, the sediment fluxes in the downstream disturbed Jinsha River (southeastern margin of the Tibetan Plateau) exhibit a net increase of 42% from 1966-1984 to 1985-2010 mainly due to human activities such as deforestation and mineral extraction (contribution of 82%) and secondly because of climate change (contribution of 18%). Then the sediment fluxes dropped by 76% during the period of 2011-2015 because of the operations of six cascade reservoirs since 2010. In an expected warming and wetting climate for the region, we predict that the sediment fluxes in the pristine headwaters of the Tibetan Plateau will continue to increase throughout the 21st century, but the rising sediment fluxes from the Tibetan Plateau would be mostly trapped in its marginal reservoirs.</p><p>Overall, this work has provided the sedimentary evidence of modern climate change through robust observational sediment flux data over multiple decades. It demonstrates that sediment fluxes in pristine cold environments are more sensitive to air temperature and thermal-driven geomorphic processes than to precipitation and pluvial-driven processes. It also provides a guide to assess the relative impacts of human activities and climate change on fluvial sediment flux changes and has significant implications for water resources stakeholders to better design and manage the hydropower dams in a changing climate. Such findings may also have implications for other cold environments such as the Arctic, Antarctic, and other high mountainous basins.</p><p>Furthermore, this research is under the project of "Water and Sediment Fluxes Response to Climate Change in the Headwater Rivers of Asian Highlands" (supported by the IPCC and the Cuomo Foundation) and the project of "Sediment Load Responses to Climate Change in High Mountain Asia" (supported by the Ministry of Education of Singapore). Part of the results are also published in Li et al., 2018 Geomorphology, Li et al., 2020 Geophysical Research Letters, and Li et al., 2021 Water Resources Research.</p>

scholarly journals Hydrodynamic Controls of Particulate Metals Partitioning Along the Lower Selenga River—Main Tributary of The Lake Baikal

Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1345 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey Chalov ◽  
Vsevolod Moreido ◽  
Ekaterina Sharapova ◽  
Lyudmila Efimova ◽  
Vasyli Efimov ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Metal ◽  
Sediment Transport ◽  
Lake Baikal ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Heavy Metal Concentration ◽  
Sediment Concentration ◽  
Large River ◽  
Downstream Effects ◽  
Longitudinal Gradients ◽  
Particulate Metals

In this study, the downstream effects of pollutants spreading due to hydromorphological gradients and associated changes in sediment transport conditions along the braided-meandering and deltaic distributary reach of a large river downstream section are discussed. We demonstrate the significance of hydrodynamic control for sediment-associated metal partitioning along the river. Typically, the downward decline of the sediment and metals spreading towards Lake Baikal is observed due to buffer effects in the delta. During peak flow, the longitudinal gradients in heavy metal concentration along the distributary delta reach are neglected due to higher concentrations delivered from the upper parts of the river. In particular, significant variations of heavy metal concentrations associated with the river depth are related to sediment concentration and flow velocity profiles. Various particulate metal behavior in silt-sand delta channels and the sand–gravel Selenga main stem emphasize the importance of near-bottom exchange for particles spreading with the river flow. Using empirically derived Rouse numbers, we found quantitative relationships between the ratio of particulate metals sorting throughout depth in a single river channel and the hydrodynamic conditions of sediment transport.

scholarly journals Marine and anthropogenic controls on the estuary of the Suriname River over the past 50 years

2016 ◽  
Vol 95 (4) ◽  
pp. 419-428
Author(s):  
K. Gersie ◽  
P.G.E.F. Augustinus ◽  
R.T. Van Balen
Keyword(s):  
Tidal Current ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Sediment Load ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Fluvial Systems ◽  
Sediment Fluxes ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Strong Tidal Current

AbstractHumans have played an important role in fluvial systems because of the impact of their land-use activities, frequently leading to degradation of environmental conditions. Rivers, which are the primary agents in sediment transport, have thus been subject to changes in sediment fluxes. The Suriname River has been affected by anthropogenic activities since colonial times, and has experienced strong discharge and sediment-load changes since the construction of the Afobaka Dam in 1964. The river's estuary sediments largely consist of fine-grained sediments, originating, ultimately, from the Amazon River and transported by the strong tidal current. The influence of this tidal current is diminished at the head of the estuary, allowing the river flow to become dominant. Also remarkable is the interaction of the Suriname River and the westward-migrating mudbanks which is evident in the changing magnitude and volume of Braamspunt, a mudcape located at the mouth of the estuary. The regulated discharge of the river results in a change of the river's morphology, resulting, among other things, in the growth of river bars.

Large scale high resolution modelling of the West African rivers and aquifers

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alban Depeyre ◽  
Jean-Martial Cohard ◽  
Basile Hector ◽  
Reed Maxwell ◽  
Thierry Pellarin
Keyword(s):  
Water Resources ◽  
West Africa ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Hydrological Cycle ◽  
Soil Parameters ◽  
Global Changes ◽  
The West ◽  
Main Challenge

<p>West Africa has been classified as one of the most vulnerable regions in the world for water resources to face global changes, both climatic and demographic. The population is expected to double by 2050 leading to increased pressure on the use of water resources. In this context, it is necessary to understand the dynamics of major African hydrosystems as large rivers (Niger river, Senegal river...) and transboundary aquifers in order to predict the fate of water resources for the next decades. The ParFlow-CLM physical-based model was chosen for its ability to simulate surface water and groundwater dynamics in a coupled manner. This type of modelling makes it possible to represent the main hydrological processes observed over the whole West Africa region. It operates at a relatively fine spatial resolution (1 km²). The main challenge is to determine the hydrodynamic parameters of the soil for the entire region and on a 100 m thickness (i.e. 3.5 million pixels times 11 layers).</p><p>As a first step, the model was implemented on two catchments monitored by the AMMA-CATCH observatory. These two watersheds are representative of the major and contrasted processes found in WA : being respectively representative of Sudanian and Sahelian climates. In order to assess the relevance of the regional databases (SoilGrids and GLHYMPS), simulations were carried out with original and adjusted (based on observations) soil parameters and results were evaluated with local measurements. It appears that the deep weathered lithology is not considered in databases for most of hard-rock areas in intertropical areas with no tectonic uplift. Aquifer thicknesses, permeabilities and porosities have to be significantly enhanced for the model to represent the correct flow paths. Furthermore, in the Sahel where most of the annual precipitation falls during a dozen events only, a crust layer (consistent with observations) has been added to represent the large runoff coefficients which lead to the early season floods.</p><p>In a second step, the model was implemented at the West Africa scale using the adjusted soil parameters. These parameters were obtained using a simple linear law that have been applied uniformly over the entire domain and a mask over a part of the Sahel representative of the crusting zones. Results will be compared with both remotely sensed and in situ data : GRACE provides water stock variations at a very large scale, MERRA and ERA reanalysis provide evapotranspiration data. Altimeters and in situ measurements provide river flow data. In the near future the launch of the SWOT satellite will bring new observations to complete the current one. The evaluation of the different compartments of the hydrological cycle should reveal spatial discrepancies in the model's ability to represent processes, highlighting the points on which further work should focus.</p>

The research of Meinong earthquake induced hydrological anomalies and increased vertical permeability in southwestern Taiwan

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yan-Yao Lin ◽  
Shih-Jung Wang ◽  
Wen-Chi Lai
Keyword(s):  
Groundwater Level ◽  
River Flow ◽  
Large River ◽  
Shallow Aquifer ◽  
Deep Aquifer ◽  
Tidal Analysis ◽  
Level Change ◽  
Vertical Permeability ◽  
Hydrogeological Characteristics ◽  
Groundwater Level Change

<p>Hydrological anomalies induced by the earthquakes are valuable research data to understand the hydrogeology structure. At the same time, a complete hydrogeological data is the key to the study of earthquake hydrology. In this research, we collected the anomalous hydrological data after the M<sub>w</sub> 6.4 2016 Meinong Earthquake in Taiwan. The main purpose is to know the mechanism of hydrological changes triggered by earthquake and understand the local hydrogeological characteristics in the southern Taiwan.</p><p>From the distribution of the groundwater level change in the same location but different depths of aquifer, as well as the location of the rupture and liquefaction, it could be found that the co-seismic groundwater level change is large in Chianan Plain in the northwest of the epicenter and accompanied with a lot of ruptures and liquefactions located along the Hsinhua Fault. However, the observations in several wells around the Hsinhua Fault show a different water level change pattern compared with the other wells in Chianan Plain. Actually, these wells show that the co-seismic groundwater level decreases in the deep aquifer and increase in the shallow aquifer. It is shown that the Meinong Earthquake may enhance the connectivity between different aquifers near the fault zone and produce an increased vertical pressure gradient. The anomalous hydrological phenomenon also reflected in the river flow. Based on the river flow data we collected from five stations in the Zengwun River watershed, the river flow at two stations in the upstream dose not change after earthquake. There is a little increase at the midstream station. However, a large river flow increase is observed at the downstream station. After excluding the influence of rainfall, we think that the large amount of anomalous flow is caused by the rise of the co-seismic groundwater level between the middle and downstream sections, and a large amount of liquefaction in this area can prove this hypothesis.</p><p>The hypothesis of connectivity changes between different aquifers can be verified by analyzing the tidal response of different aquifers. Many studies have used the tide analysis to obtain the aquifer permeability and compressibility, and compared the changes in the analysis results before and after the earthquake. We think that if different aquifers are vertically connected after earthquake, the tidal analysis results should show a consistent permeability. Tidal analysis is executing now and the results will be provided at conference.</p>

Morphodynamic Process of Dachan Bay in Pearl River Estuary Affected by Human Activities

2014 ◽  
Vol 638-640 ◽  
pp. 1257-1260
Author(s):  
Rong Yao Ji ◽  
Qun Xu ◽  
Si Ping Mo
Keyword(s):  
Tidal Flat ◽  
Human Activities ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Morphological Changes ◽  
River Estuary ◽  
Pearl River Estuary ◽  
Pearl River ◽  
Landsat Images ◽  
Change Analysis ◽  
Factors Affecting

The surrounding area of the Dachan Bay in the Pearl River Estuary has one of the highest economic development rates of China. Rapid industrialization and urbanization has resulted in extensive changes in land use, including the tidal flat reclamation and harbor construction. For the analysis of the morphological changes of the Dachan Bay, multi-temporal Landsat images have been digitized by using the integrated RS and GIS technique, and the digital elevation modes in different years were set up in combination with topographical and nautical data. From the change analysis, it can be concluded that the sea area of the Dachan Bay decreases to 6.0 km2, by 87.6% between 1907a and 2011a due to the large-scale tidal flat reclamation, and the maximum downcutting depth of the seabed in the entrance area is over 10m mainly caused by extensive harbor construction. Based on the research of the morphological change in recent decades, it is suggested that the human activities have become one of the major factors affecting the morphological processes of the Dachan Bay.

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