ALBERT

Description: Large rivers have been previously shown to be vertically heterogeneous in terms of suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentration, as a result of sorting of suspended solids. Therefore, the spatial distribution of suspended sediments within the river section has to be known to assess the riverine sedimentary flux. Numerous studies have focused on the vertical distribution of SPM in a river channel from a theoretical or experimental perspective, but only a few were conducted so far on very large rivers. Moreover, a technique for the prediction of depth-integrated suspended sediment fluxes in very large rivers based on sediment transport dynamics has not yet been proposed. We sampled river water along depth following several vertical profiles, at four locations on the Amazon River and its main tributaries and at two distinct water stages. Depending on the vertical profile, a one-to fivefold increase in SPM concentration is observed from river channel surface to bottom, which has a significant impact on the 'depth-averaged' SPM concentration. For each cross section, a so-called Rouse profile quantitatively accounts for the trend of SPM concentration increase with depth, and a representative Rouse number can be measured for each cross section. However, the prediction of this Rouse number would require the knowledge of the settling velocity of particles, which is dependent on the state of aggregation affecting particles within the river. We demonstrate that in the Amazon River, particle aggregation significantly influences the Rouse number and renders its determination impossible from grain-size distribution data obtained in the lab. However, in each cross section, the Rouse profile obtained from the fit of the data can serve as a basis to model, at first order, the SPM concentration at any position in the river cross section. This approach, combined with acoustic Doppler current profiler (ADCP) water velocity transects, allows us to accurately estimate the depth-integrated instantaneous sediment flux. Copyright (C) 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Description: [1] Residual solid products of erosion display a wide range of size, density, shape, mineralogy, and chemical composition and are hydrodynamically sorted in large river channels during their transport. We characterize the chemical and isotopic variability of river sediments of the Amazon Basin, collected at different water depths, as a function of grain size. Absolute chemical concentrations and Sr and Nd isotopic ratios greatly varies along channel depth. The Al/Si ratio, tightly linked to grain size distribution, systematically decreases with depth, mostly reflecting dilution by quartz minerals. A double‐normalization diagram is proposed to correct from dilution effects. Elements define fan‐shaped patterns and can be classified in three different groups with respect to hydrodynamic sorting during transport in the Amazon: (1) “poorly sorted” insoluble elements like Al, Fe, Th, and REEs, (2) “well‐sorted” insoluble elements like Zr and Ti, mainly carried by heavy minerals, and (3) alkali (Na to Cs) and alkali‐earth elements (Mg to Ba), for which a large variety of patterns is observed, related, for alkali, to their variable affinity for phyllosilicates. Sr isotopes show that the Amazon River at the mouth is stratified, the Madeira‐ and Solimões‐derived sediments being preferentially transported near the channel surface and at depth, respectively. The comparison between the Solimões and Madeira rivers shows how the interplay between grain sorting, weathering, and crustal composition controls the composition of the suspended river sediments.

Description: Large rivers are the main conveyors of continental material to the oceans through sediment and dissolved fluxes. The redistribution of elements is fundamental in Earth surface processes and central in various biogeochemical cycles. The nature of the exported continental material is a function of the processes operating in the river’s catchment. From external forcings such as climate, tectonics or anthropogenic activity, having a strong control on erosion and weathering, to transport dynamics and sediment storage in flood plain, chemical elements are segregated from source to sink. Evaluating the composition of the exported sediments is thus essential in our understanding of large scale processes. This raises the problem of integrating the sediments chemical composition both spatially in a river section and temporally during the hydrogram. Efforts have been made to precisely determine de total flux of transported material of major world rivers but the determination of associated chemical solid fluxes is still limited. Also it is now recognized that surface sediments composition does not reflect in most cases the average sediment composition (Galy et al. 2007; Bouchez et al. in press). Nevertheless, global chemical budgets still rely on simple averaging of the available data counting mainly on surface sediment samples. Hydrodynamic sorting of minerals exerts a first order control on the chemistry of sediments in the water column, segregating elements according to the flow dynamics and the water depth. This has to be accounted for in order to derive accurate chemical fluxes. This work is an attempt to integrate the chemical flux of the sediments transported by the Ganga. The river was sampled at various stages of the monsoon at the same location in Bangladesh between 2004 and 2010 using a point sampler to collect sediments throughout the water column. Sediments were analyzed for major elements and grain-size. The systematic use of Acoustic Doppler Current Profilers (ADCP) surveys during sampling allows us to document the hydrodynamic conditions at the sampling location. Building upon a Rousean model we are able to predict the grain size of the vertical water column and extrapolate it through the river section. Then, using the strong correlation between grain size parameters and major element composition (Al, Si, Fe) we infer the chemical flux associated with the river section. Extrapolating these fluxes through the annual hydrologic cycle we attempt to constrain the chemical flux of the sediments exported by the Ganga. The chemical composition of this exported material is finally compared to the composition of the Himalayan crust. The significant difference between these two compositions is principally interpreted as the result of the sequestration of coarse silicic material in the flood plain. J. Bouchez et al. in press, Hydrological Processes V. Galy et al., 2007, Nature 450 : 407-411

Description: The Ganga River is one of the main conveyors of sediments produced by Himalayan erosion. Determining the flux of elements transported through the system is essential to understand the dynamics of the basin. This is hampered by the chemical heterogeneity of sediments observed both in the water column and under variable hydrodynamic conditions. Using Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) acquisitions with sediment depth profile sampling of the Ganga in Bangladesh we build a simple model to derive the annual flux and grain size distributions of the sediments. The model shows that ca. 390 (+/- 30) Mt of sediments are transported on average each year through the Ganga at Haring Bridge (Bangladesh). Modeled average sediment grain size parameters D(50) and D(84) are 27 (+/- 4) and 123 (+/- 9) mu m, respectively. Grain size parameters are used to infer average chemical compositions of the sediments owing to a strong grain size chemical composition relation. The integrated sediment flux is characterized by low Al/Si and Fe/Si ratios that are close to those inferred for the Himalayan crust. This implies that only limited sequestration occurs in the Gangetic floodplain. The stored sediment flux is estimated to c.a. 10% of the initial Himalayan sediment flux by geochemical mass balance. The associated, globally averaged sedimentation rates in the floodplain are found to be ca. 0.08 mm/yr and yield average Himalayan erosion rate of ca. 0.9 mm/yr. This study stresses the need to carefully address the average composition of river sediments before solving large-scale geochemical budgets.