Anthropogenic impacts on suspended sediment load in the Upper Yangtze river |
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Authors: | Jie Wei Xiubin He Yuhai Bao |
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Institution: | (1) Geography and Tourism College, Chongqing Normal University, 400047 Chongqing, China;(2) Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 610041 Chengdu, China |
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Abstract: | Climate change and human disturbance drive catchment erosion and increase riverine sediment load sensitively in small and
medium-sized watersheds. This is not always true in large basins, where aggregation and buffering effects have dampen the
ability to determine the driving forces of sedimentation. Even though there are significant responses to sedimentation in
large river basins, it is difficult to get a precise quantitative assessment of specific drivers. This paper develops a methodology
to identify driving forces that change suspended sediment load in the Upper Yangtze river. Annual runoff and sediment load
data from 1954 to 2005 at the Yichang gauging station in the Upper Yangtze basin, daily precipitation data from 60 meteorological
stations, and survey data on reservoir sediment were collected for the study. Sediment load/rainfall erosivity (S/R), is a
new proxy indicator introduced to reflect human activities. Since the mid-1980s, S/R in the Upper Yangtze has dramatically
declined from 0.21 to 0.03 (×1010 t ha h MJ−1 mm−1), indicating that human activity has played a key role in the decline of the suspended sediment load. Before the mid-1980s,
a higher average S/R is attributed to large-scale deforestation and land reclamation. A significant sediment decrease occurred
from 1959 to 1961 during an extreme drought condition, and an increase in sedimentation in 1998 coincided with an extreme
flood event, which was well recorded in the S/R curve. This indicates that the S/R proxy is able to distinguish anthropogenic
from climate impacts on suspended sediment load, but is not necessarily indicatory in extreme climate events. In addition,
typical drivers of riverine sediment load variation including soil conservation projects, reservoirs construction, and land
use/cover change are discussed. |
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