Abstract
A variety of methids have been used to document contemporary rates of overbank sedimentation along an 11 km reach of the floodplain of the River Culm in Devon, UK. These have included measurements of the conveyance loss of suspended sediment between upstream and downstream measuring stations, the use of sediment traps, and the application of caesium-137 measurements to estimate the rate of accumulation of fine sediment over the past 30 years. The resultant data point to sedimentation rates typically of the order of 1500 g m−2 year−1 or 1.5 mm year−1. Values in excess of 15000 g m−2 year−1 or 15 mm year−1 have been documented in closed depressions and in backwater embayments close to the channel, whereas minimal deposition and even scour may occur along those areas that function as secondary channels during floodplain inundation.
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Walling, D.E., Bradley, S.B. Rates and patterns of contemporary floodplain sedimentation: A case study of the river Culm, Devon, UK. GeoJournal 19, 53–62 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00620549
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00620549