An appraisal of the sediment yield in western Mediterranean river basins
dc.contributor.author
dc.date.accessioned
2017-06-01T06:59:49Z
dc.date.available
2017-06-01T06:59:49Z
dc.date.issued
2016-12-01
dc.identifier.issn
0048-9697
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dc.description.abstract
The number of studies assessing soil erosion and sediment transport has increased with the aim of achieving sustainable land and water management. Mediterranean rivers have been the object of many of these studies due to their naturally high values of sediment fluxes and a higher vulnerability under future climate scenarios. In this context, we attempt to use empirical relationships to (i) further assess the relation between sediment yield and basin scale and (ii) provide an update on the main drivers controlling sediment yield in these particular river systems. For this purpose, sediment yield data (from reservoir sedimentation surveys and sediment transport records) was collected from > 100 locations distributed across the western Mediterranean area, with basin areas ranging from 1 to 100,000 km2. Quantile Regression analysis was used to assess the correlation between basin area and sediment yield, while additional basin-scale descriptors were related to sediment yield by means of multiple regression analysis. Results showed the complexity in the relationship between basin scale and sediment yield, with changes in supply conditions with increasing area introducing uncertainties in the correlation. Despite the large scatter, analysis pointed towards the same direction and area appeared to be the main constrain for the maximum value of sediment yield that can be found at a specific basin scale. Results from the multiple regression indicated that variables representing basin's physiography, climate and land use were highly correlated with the basins' sediment yield. Also, a better model performance was obtained when using total sediment yield instead of specific values (per unit area). Validation showed model instability, potentially due to data limitations and the use of catchments with varying characteristics. Overall, despite providing some insights on the correlation between sediment yield and basin-scale characteristics, validation prevented direct extrapolation of the model to other catchments
dc.description.sponsorship
This work has been supported by the European Communities 7th Framework Programme Funding under Grant agreement no. 603629-ENV-2013-6.2.1-Globaqua. The authors also acknowledge the support from the Economy and Knowledge Department of the Catalan Government through the Consolidated Research Groups: 2014 SGR 645 (RIUS-FluvialDynamics Research Group) and 2014 SGR 291 (Catalan Institute for Water Research)
dc.format.mimetype
application/pdf
dc.language.iso
eng
dc.publisher
Elsevier
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Reproducció digital del document publicat a: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.08.065
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© Science of the Total Environment, 2016, vol. 572, p. 538-553
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Articles publicats (D-CCAA)
dc.rights
Tots els drets reservats
dc.subject
dc.title
An appraisal of the sediment yield in western Mediterranean river basins
dc.type
info:eu-repo/semantics/article
dc.rights.accessRights
info:eu-repo/semantics/embargoedAccess
dc.embargo.terms
Cap
dc.date.embargoEndDate
info:eu-repo/date/embargoEnd/2026-01-01
dc.relation.projectID
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/FP7/603629/EU/MANAGING THE EFFECTS OF MULTIPLE STRESSORS ON AQUATIC ECOSYSTEMS UNDER WATER SCARCITY/GLOBAQUA
dc.type.version
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
dc.identifier.doi
dc.identifier.idgrec
026189
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