Hydrological drivers of bedload transport in an Alpine watershed

Abstract

Key-points• A streamflow time-serie is analyzed to quantify the contribution of rainfall, snow-melt, and their co-occurrence onto bedload transport.• The co-occurrence of rainfall in a watershed where the snow-melt signal is strong is the dominant driver of bedload transport (77%).• Rainfall occurring once the snow-melt signal is gentler also represents a substantial contribution to annual bedload (9%).