CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Desloges, J.; Clubine, N.; Phillips, R.; and Stewart, A.
Date : 2010.
Title : Floodplain development and annual sediment yield variability from the Ausable River, Ontario.
Publication : Prairie Summit - Le sommet des Prairies. Joint Conference of Canadian Association of Geographers, Canadian Cartographic Association, Canadian Geomorphology Research Group, Canadian Remote Sensing Society / Conférence conjointe de l’Association canadienne des géographes, l’Association canadienne de cartographie, le Groupe canadien de recherche en géomorphologie, la Société canadienne de télédétection. June 1 to 5, 2010. Regina, Saskatchewan.
Issue : Program and Abstract Volume.
Page(s) : 103.
Abstract
Sediment yield into Lake Huron from the 1142 km2 Ausable River watershed, Ontario is controlled by suspended sediment response to flood events, hydrologic change and land use. Twenty four years (1970-1993) of daily suspended sediment observation show that the spring nival melt dominates the flood record and yields the majority of annual sediment load. Multiple clock-wise hysteresis loops indicate a continuous supply of sediment during the early melt period. As the season progresses there is a tendency towards counter-clockwise loops suggesting delayed inputs from bank erosion and other watershed-wide sediment storage sinks. A time series of exponents for the twenty four spring season rating curves shows a weak trend towards a reduced response of sediment input from floods of an equivalent magnitude during the spring freshet. The Ausable River has one of the highest specific sediment yields of rivers flowing into Lake Huron from the eastern (Canadian) side but yields have been declining significantly over the last quarter century. Geoarchaeological investigations show a floodplain dominated by lateral accretion in the middle and early Holocene, followed by vertical accretion as the lower reaches of the river became deeply entrenched. Lower channel boundaries are comprised of glaciolacustrine clays and silts that are capped by alluvium in the upper channel boundary. These tall, and often vertical, embankments exposed in the lower river reaches are a significant sediment source.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology