CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Campbell, I.A.
Date : 1977.
Title : Stream discharge, suspended sediment and erosion rates in the Red Deer River basin, Alberta, Canada
Publication : Erosion and Solid Matter Transport in Inland Waters Symposium; Proceeding of the Paris Symposium; July 1977: International Association of Hydrological Sciences Publication
Issue : 122:
Page(s) : 244-259.
Abstract
The study of the relationship between stream discharge and sediment load and regional erosion rates in arid and semiarid environments is greatly complicated by the fact that fluvial activity within the drainage basins of such areas is econcentrated in perhaps one or two events each year. Such patterns of fluvial activity present a major problem when attempting to estimate suspended sediment rating curves. In most humid drainage basins, much of the sediment load originates with fluvial processes initiated by precipitation, or runoff, over large areas of the basin. High discharges usually are associated with large sediment loads. Under arid and semiarid climates, such situations are rare. Here, intense local convectional rainstorms, often falling on poorly vegetated and highly erodible material close to the channel system, result in large inputs of sediment often accompanied by relatively minor changes in discharge in the main channel. This additional factor further complicates the problem and highlights the general fact that in most drainage systems, in reality, the sediment yield is derived from a relatively small proportion of the total catchment area. In regions of moisture deficiency, such a situation almost always pertains. These patterns were illustrated by data collected from the Red Deer River basin, Alberta, Canada. Suspended sediment and stream discharge data, as related to surface erosion measurements and regional erosion rates, showed that typical rating curves significantly underestimate the occurrence of high sediment concentrations and that in most years the sediment concentrations greatly exceed those computed by rating curves. Such a situation poses potentially severe problems in terms of design criteria for river management projects, especially in the arid world
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology