Time-integrated sampling of fluvial suspended sediment: a simple methodology for small catchments

Phillips, John; Russell, Mark A.; Walling, Desmond E.

doi:10.1002/1099-1085(20001015)14:14<2589::aid-hyp94>3.0.co;2-d

Cited by 360 publications

(297 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…To integrate the effect of temporal variability in FRN concentrations of river sediment, time-integrated suspended sediment samplers based on the design of Phillips et al (2000) were deployed near the downstream end of each of the five major tributary catchments and in the Burdekin River downstream of all tributary catchments. At each site, three samplers were deployed at 1-m vertical intervals above the baseflow stage, for the period between November 2011 and April 2012.…”

Section: River Sediment Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sediment source tracing with stratified sampling and weightings based on spatial gradients in soil erosion

et al. 2015

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Purpose The results of sediment source tracing in large river catchments depend on defined sources being adequately represented by the sampling and in subsequent numerical analysis. We hypothesise that surface soil concentrations of fallout radionuclides caesium-137 ( 137 Cs) and lead-210 excess ( 210 Pb ex ) are smaller at locations with higher soil erosion rate and that if this is not accounted for, then spatially random sampling gives a biased representation of surface soil delivered to rivers and biased source contribution estimates. Materials and methods Surface soil was sampled across the Burdekin River basin in northeast Australia at 90 locations stratified by three classes of modelled soil erosion rate and analysed by gamma spectroscopy. Separate probability distributions (density functions) were fitted to the 137 Cs concentrations of samples of each erosion class, of subsurface soil and of river sediment. Surface soil distributions were aggregated by weighting in proportion to the upstream area and mean erosion rate of each erosion class, so that the high erosion class contributed disproportionately to the tracer properties of the surface soil source. Source contributions were estimated using a Monte Carlo mixing model. Results and discussion The mean surface soil concentrations of 137 Cs and 210 Pb ex were significantly different between soil erosion classes as hypothesised. Weighting surface soil from the high erosion class more heavily increased the estimated proportion of river sediment contributed from surface soil, by 35 % larger than if surface soil sampling was confined to low erosion areas. Stratified sampling and weighting by erosion rate is of greater importance in river basins with large gradients in soil erosion and where surface soil contributes substantially to river sediment. Surface soil contributed 6 % to fine sediment at the basin outlet and 0-14 % in major tributaries, which was somewhat lower than in a prior study probably due to recent above-average rainfall increasing vegetation ground cover. Conclusions Surface soil sampling for source tracing using fallout radionuclides should be stratified by erosion rate. The tracer properties of high erosion areas should be weighted more heavily than low erosion areas in source mixing models. If comprehensive sampling cannot be afforded, then sampling should be biased towards more highly eroding areas. The approach should be considered for other source tracers whose properties may co-vary with soil erosion rate. Fine sediment delivered from the Burdekin River basin to the Great Barrier Reef lagoon in recent decades was predominantly derived from gully erosion, streambank erosion and rilled and scalded areas on hillslopes.

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Section: River Sediment Samplingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sediment source tracing with stratified sampling and weightings based on spatial gradients in soil erosion

et al. 2015

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“…Suspended sediments were collected using the timeintegrated suspended sediment sampler described by Phillips et al (2000). These samplers effectively trap a representative sample of sediment throughout the hydrograph including the rising and falling limbs.…”

Section: Sediment Sampling and Source Characterisationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Quantifying sources of suspended sediment in three size fractions

2015

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Purpose Identifying of the sources, stores and pathways of sediments in a catchment is essential to accurately target management actions designed to reduce sediment delivery to receiving waters. Fingerprinting the source of sediment using geochemical properties has increasingly been accepted as an accurate approach for quantifying the contribution of different sources to river sediment discharge. In this study, we seek to examine the effect of particle size and location of the sources on their contribution to suspended sediments. Materials and methods Geochemical tracers (n=41) were employed to calculate proportional contributions of sediment to Emu Creek, a predominantly pastoral catchment (911 km 2 ) in south-eastern Queensland, Australia. The study focused on two high flow events (10-and 6-year return periods) and some lower flow events which occurred during the 18 months from October 2011 to March 2013. Source contributions were determined at eight spatially distributed sites in major tributaries and along the main channel of Emu Creek. Source determination at the in-stream sites was done using end member samples (based on the underlying rock type) collected upstream of the site of interest, thus indicating how different sources dominate at different locations downstream. To examine whether different size fractions shared similar provenances, three size fractions of both source and suspended samples including fine silt and clay (<10 μm), silt (10-63 μm) and fine sand (63-212 μm) were analysed. Results and discussionThe source apportionment results using the distribution mixing model indicate that particle size and location of sources within a catchment are major factors that affect the measured contribution of sources to suspended sediments. The closer a suspended sediment sampling site is to a potential source, the more likely it is that source of sediment will dominate the material being sampled. Conclusions For all size fractions, proximal sources of sediment make a higher contribution to suspended sediments than distal sources. This indicates that management actions should be focused on the more proximal sources to the point of interest/impact. Although proximal soil sources were major contributor of sediments in all three size fractions, the percentage of contribution greatly vary in different size fractions, emphasising the need to trace the size fraction which is causing the downstream problems.

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“…Suspended sediment (fourteen samples) was collected during rainfall-runoff events over the period October 2005 to February 2007, using a time-integrated suspended sediment trap (Phillips et al 2000). This trap permitted the collection of a sufficient mass of suspended sediment to meet analytical requirements (i.e.…”

Section: Source Materials and Sediment Sampling Preparation And Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

A rapid spectral-reflectance-based fingerprinting approach for documenting suspended sediment sources during storm runoff events

Martínez‐Carreras¹,

Krein²,

Udelhoven³

et al. 2010

J Soils Sediments

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Purpose This paper reports on the development of a rapid and simple spectra-reflectance-based fingerprinting approach for documenting suspended sediment sources during storm runoff events. The methodology was applied in the rural Wollefsbach catchment (4.4 km 2 , NW Luxembourg). Materials and methods Different chemical properties of the sediment retained on glass fibre filters after filtration were predicted from VIS/NIR spectra (ASD FieldSpec-II spectrometer, 0.4-2.5 µm) through partial least-square regression models (PLSR). Chemical property values measured on time-integrated suspended sediment, bed sediment and potential sediment sources samples (topsoil and channel banks) collected in the catchment were used to calibrate the PLSR models. Appropriate properties were selected and used to apply the 'spectral-reflectance-based fingerprinting approach', in order to estimate the sources of the suspended sediment retained on the filters. Uncertainty associated with model predictions was assessed using an inclusive approach to mixing models based on Bayesian error estimation, incorporating tracer property variability using a Monte Carlo simulation technique. Results and discussion The methodology proved to be a useful, fast and easy to apply approach not only for studying the variation of suspended sediment properties during storm runoff events from spectra, but also for documenting the variation of suspended sediment sources during individual storm events. Conclusions The spectral-reflectance-based fingerprinting approach possesses considerable potential, since it possesses a number of important advantages over conventional source fingerprinting techniques, in terms of cost and time and labour requirements.

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Time-integrated sampling of fluvial suspended sediment: a simple methodology for small catchments

Cited by 360 publications

References 11 publications

Sediment source tracing with stratified sampling and weightings based on spatial gradients in soil erosion

Sediment source tracing with stratified sampling and weightings based on spatial gradients in soil erosion

Quantifying sources of suspended sediment in three size fractions

A rapid spectral-reflectance-based fingerprinting approach for documenting suspended sediment sources during storm runoff events

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