Sediment organization and adjustment in a torrential reach of the upper Ijuez river, central Spanish Pyrenees

  1. Gómez-Villar, A. 1
  2. Sanjuán, Y. 2
  3. García-Ruiz, J.M. 2
  4. Nadal-Romero, E. 3
  5. Álvarez-Martínez, J. 4
  6. Arnáez, J. 5
  7. Serrano-Muela, M.P. 2
  1. 1 Universidad de León
    info

    Universidad de León

    León, España

    ROR https://ror.org/02tzt0b78

  2. 2 Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología
    info

    Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología

    Zaragoza, España

    ROR https://ror.org/039ssy097

  3. 3 Universidad de Zaragoza
    info

    Universidad de Zaragoza

    Zaragoza, España

    ROR https://ror.org/012a91z28

  4. 4 Universidad de Valladolid
    info

    Universidad de Valladolid

    Valladolid, España

    ROR https://ror.org/01fvbaw18

  5. 5 Universidad de La Rioja
    info

    Universidad de La Rioja

    Logroño, España

    ROR https://ror.org/0553yr311

Montrer des affiliations +
Revue:
Cuadernos de investigación geográfica: Geographical Research Letters

ISSN: 0211-6820,  1697-9540

Année de publication: 2014

Titre de la publication: Geomorfología Fluvial / Fluvial geomorphology

Volumen: 40

Número: 1

Pages: 191-214

Type: Article

DOI: 10.18172/CIG.2566 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openDialnet editor

D'autres publications dans: Cuadernos de investigación geográfica: Geographical Research Letters

Objectifs de Développement Durable

Résumé

The dynamics of the torrential upper reach of the Ijuez River, Central Spanish Pyrenees, was analyzed in relation to the spatial organization of grain size. The reach is located in the Eocene flysch, which usually acts as a high sediment production area, particularly during periods of intense human activity. The Ijuez Valley was cultivated and densely populated until the middle of the 20th century, resulting in general deforestation and the development of debris flows, shallow landslides, sheet wash erosion and deep gullies. As a consequence, the alluvial plain became characterized by the presence of large quantities of coarse sediment. The spatial organization of sediment showed a progressive downstream decline in the cobble and boulder size, especially in the channel, whereas the remainder of the alluvial plain showed large variability. No trend in the occurrence of the largest boulders was evident throughout the reach, confirming the importance of debris and hyperconcentrated flows in sediment transport. The torrential reach did not have a negative exponential longitudinal profile, in contrast to that usually observed for mountain rivers. This was attributed to the large quantity of heterometric sediment derived from the hillslopes, which resulted in no marked decline in sediment size and consequent change in the longitudinal profile. A recent trend of scouring was detected, reflecting the reduction in sediment supply following farmland abandonment and reforestation, which have reduced connectivity between the hillslopes and the channel.

Références bibliographiques

  • Alvera, B., García-Ruiz, J.M. 2000. Variability of sediment yield from a high mountain catchment, Central Spanish Pyrenees. Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research 32, 127-144.
  • Andrews, E.D. 1983. Entrainment of gravel from naturally sorted riverbed material. Geological Society of America Bulletin 94, 1225-1231.
  • Bathurst, J.C., Moretti, G., El-Hames, A., Beguería, S., García-Ruiz, J.M. 2007. Modelling the impact of forest loss on shallow landslide sediment yield, Ijuez catchment, Spanish Pyrenees. Hydrology and Earth System Sciences 11 (1), 569-583.
  • Beguería, S. 2006. Changes in land cover and shallow landslide activity: A case study in the Spanish Pyrenees. Geomorphology 74, 196-206.
  • Beguería, S., López-Moreno, J.I., Gómez-Villar, A., Rubio, V., Lana-Renault, N., García-Ruiz, J.M. 2006. Fluvial adjustments to soil erosion and plant cover changes in the central Spanish Pyrenees. Geografiska Annaler 88A (3), 177-186.
  • Benda, L., Hassan, M.A., Church, M., May, C.L. 2005. Geomorphology of steepland headwaters: The transition from hillslopes to channels. Journal of the American Water Resources Association 41 (4), 835-851.
  • Blijenberg, H. 1998. Rolling stones? Triggering and frequency of hillslope debris flows in the Bachelard Valley, southern French Alps. Utrecht University, Utrecht.
  • Bogen, J. 1995. Sediment transport and deposition in mountain rivers. In Sediment and water quality in river catchments, I.D.L. Foster, A.M. Gurnell, B.W. Webb (eds.), J. Wiley, Chichester, pp. 437-451.
  • Boix-Fayos, C., Barberá, G.G., López-Bermúdez, F., Castillo, V.M. 2007. Effects of check dams, reforestation and land-use changes on river channel morphology: case study of the Rogativa catchment (Murcia, Spain). Geomorphology 91, 103-123.
  • Bovis, M.J., Millard, T.H., Oden, M.E. 1998. Gully processes in coastal British Columbia: the role of woody debris. In Carnation Creek and Queen Charlotte Islands Fish/Forestry Workshop, D.L. Hogan, P.J. Tschaplinski, S. Chatwin (eds.), Land Management Handbook 41, pp. 49-75.
  • Bridge, J.S., Lunt, A.A. 2006. Depositional models of braided rivers. In Braided rivers. Process, deposits, ecology and management, G.H. Sambrook Smith, J.L. Best, C.S. Bristow, G.E. Petts (eds.), International Association of Sedimentologists, Blackwell Publishing, Special Publication no 36, pp. 11-50.
  • Brierley, G.J., Hickin, E.J. 1985. The downstream gradation of particle sizes in the Squamish River, British Columbia. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 10, 597-606.
  • Brooks, A.P., Brierley, G.J. 1997. Geomorphic responses of lower Bega River to catchment disturbance, 1851-1926. Geomorphology 18, 291-304.
  • Church, M. 2010. Mountains and montane channels. In Sediment cascades. An integrated approach, T. Burt, R. Allison (eds.),Wiley-Blackwell, Chichester, pp. 17-53.
  • Church, M., Kellerhals, R. 1978. On the statistics of grain size variation along a gravel river. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 15, 1151-1160.
  • D’Agostino, V. 2013. Assessment of past torrential events through historical sources. In Dating torrential processes on fans and cones. Methods and their application for hazard and risk assessment, M. Schneuwly-Bollschweiler, M. Stoffel, F. Rudolf-Miklau (eds.), Springer, Rotterdam, pp. 131-146.
  • Dawson, M. 1988. Sediment size variation in a braided reach of the Sunwapta River, Alberta, Canada. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 13, 599-618.
  • Elfström, A. 1987. Large boulder deposits and catastrophic floods. A case study of the Baldakatj area, Swedish Lapland. Geografiska Annaler 69A (1), 101-121.
  • Ferguson, R., Hoey, T., Wathen, S., Werrity, A. 1996. Field evidence for rapid downstream fining of river gravels through selective transport. Geology 24 (2), 179-182.
  • Frings, R.M. 2008. Downstream fining in large sand-bed rivers. Earth-Science Reviews 87, 39-60.
  • García-Ruiz, J.M., Puigdefábregas, J. 1982. Formas de erosión en el flysch eoceno surpirenaico. Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica 8, 85-130.
  • García-Ruiz, J.M., Puigdefábregas, J. 1985. Efectos de la construcción de pequeñas presas en cauces anastomosados del Pirineo Central. Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica 11, 91-102.
  • García-Ruiz, J.M., Valero, B. 1998. Historical geomorphic processes and human activities in the Central Spanish Pyrenees. Mountain Research and Development 18 (4), 309-320.
  • García-Ruiz, J.M., Lana-Renault, N. 2011. Hydrological and erosive consequences of farmland abandonment in Europe, with special reference to the Mediterranean region - A review. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment 140, 317-338.
  • García-Ruiz, J.M., Alvera, B., Del Barrio, G., Puigdefábregas, J. 1990. Geomorphic processes above the timberline in the Spanish Pyrenees. Mountain Research and Development 10 (3), 201-214.
  • García-Ruiz, J.M., Alatorre, L.C., Gómez-Villar, A., Beguería, S. 2010. Upstream and downstream effects of check dams in braided rivers, Central Pyrenees. In Check dams, morphological adjustments and erosion control in torrential streams, C. Conesa García, M.A. Lenzi (eds.), Nova Science Publishers, New York, pp. 307-322.
  • García-Ruiz, J.M., Beguería, S., Alatorre, L.C., Puigdefábregas, J. 2010. Land cover changes and shallow landsliding in the Flysch Sector of the Spanish Pyrenees. Geomorphology 124, 250-259.
  • García-Ruiz, J.M., Arnáez, J., Gómez-Villar, A., Ortigosa, L., Lana-Renault, N. 2013. Firerelated debris flows in the Iberian Range, Spain. Geomorphology 196, 221-230.
  • Gasparini, N.M., Tucker, G.E., Bras, R.L. 2004. Network-scale dynamics of grain-size sorting: implications for downstream fining, stream-profile concavity, and drainage basin morphology. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 29, 401-421.
  • Gómez, B. 1987. Bedload. In Glacio-fluvial sediment transfer. An alpine perspective, A.M. Gurnell, M.J. Clark (eds.),Wiley, Chichester, pp. 355-376.
  • Gomez, B., Rosser, B.J., Peacock, D.H., Hicks, D.M., Palmer, J.A. 2001. Downstream fining in a rapidly aggrading gravel bed river. Water Resources Research 37 (6), 1813-1823.
  • Gómez-Villar, A., García-Ruiz, J.M. 2000. Surface sediment characteristics and present dynamics in alluvial fans of the Central Spanish Pyrenees. Geomorphology 34 (2), 127-144.
  • Gomi, T., Sidle, R.C., Bryant, M.D. 2001. The characteristics of woody debris and sediment distribution in headwater streams, southeastern Alaska. Canadian Journal of Forest Research 31, 1386-1399.
  • Hack, J.T. 1957. Studies of longitudinal stream profiles in Virginia and Maryland. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 294-B, 45-97.
  • Hoey, T.B., Ferguson, R.I. 1997. Controls of strength and rate of downstream fining above a river base level. Water Resources Research 33 (11), 2601-2608.
  • Hoey, T.B., Bluck, B.J. 1999. Identifying the controls over downstream fining of river gravels. Journal of Sedimentary Research 69 (1), 40-50.
  • Keesstra, S.D. 2007. Impact of natural reforestation on floodplain sedimentation in the Dragonja basin, SW Slovenia. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 32, 49-65.
  • Knighton, A.D. 1980. Longitudinal changes in size and sorting of stream-bed material in four English rivers. Geological Society of America Bulletin 91, 55-62.
  • Kondolf, G.M., Piégay, H., Landon, N. 2002. Channel response to increased and decreased bedload supply from land use change: contrasts between two catchments. Geomorphology 45, 35-51.
  • Lana-Renault, N., Alvera, B., García-Ruiz, J.M. 2010. The snowmelt period in a Mediterranean high mountain catchment: runoff and sediment transport. Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica 36 (2), 99-108.
  • Lasanta-Martínez, T., Vicente-Serrano, S.M., Cuadrat-Prats, J.M. 2005. Mountain Mediterranean landscape evolution caused by the abandonment of traditional primary activities: a study of the Spanish Central Pyrenees. Applied Geography 25 (1), 47-65.
  • Lasanta, T., Beguería, S., García-Ruiz, J.M. 2006. Geomorphic and hydrological effects of traditional shifting agriculture in a Mediterranean mountain area, Central Spanish Pyrenees. Mountain Research and Development 26 (2), 146-152.
  • Leopold, L.B. 1994. A view of the river. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 298 pp.
  • Lenzi, M.A., D’Agostino, V., Billi, P. 1999. Bedload transport in the instrumented catchment of the Rio Cordón. Part I: Analysis of bedload records, conditions and thresholds of bedload entrainment. Catena 36 (3), 171-190.
  • Liébault, F., Clément, P., Piégay, H., Landon, N. 1999. Assessment of bedload delivery from tributaries: the Drôme River case, France. Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research 31 (1), 108-117.
  • Liébault, F., Gomez, B., Page, M., Marden, M., Peacock, D., Richard, D. Trotter, C.M. 2005. Land-use change, sediment production and channel response in upland regions. River Research and Applications 21, 739-756.
  • Lorente, A., García-Ruiz, J.M., Beguería, S., Arnáez, J. 2002. Factors explaining the spatial distribution of hillslope debris flows. A case study in the Flysch Sector of the Central Spanish Pyrenees. Mountain Research and Development 22 (1), 32-39.
  • Lorente, A., Beguería, S., Bathurst, J.C., García-Ruiz, J.M. 2003. Debris flow characteristics and relationships in the Central Spanish Pyrenees. Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences 3, 683-692.
  • Marston, R.A., Bravard, J.P., Green, T. 2003. Impacts of reforestation and gravel mining on the Malnant River, Haute Savoie, French Alps. Geomorphology 55, 65-74.
  • Martí, C., Valero, B., García-Ruiz, J.M. 1997. Large, historical debris flows in the Central Spanish Pyrenees. Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 22 (3-4), 381-385.
  • Martín-Vide, J.P., Niñerola, D., Bateman, A., Navarro, A., Velasco, E. 1999. Runoff and sediment transport in a torrential ephemeral stream of the Mediterranean coast. Journal of Hydrology 225, 118-129.
  • Martínez-Castroviejo, R., García-Ruiz, J.M. 1990. Coladas de piedras (debris flows) y dinámica fluvial en ríos torrenciales del Pirineo Central: el caso del río Ijuez. Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica 16, 55-72.
  • Montgomery, D.R., Buffington, J.M. 1997. Channel-reach morphology in mountain drainage basins. Geological Society of America Bulletin 109 (5), 596-611.
  • Mosley, M.P., Tindale, D.S. 1985. Sediment variability and bed material sampling in gravel-bed rivers. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 10, 465-482.
  • Moussavi-Harami, R., Mahboudi, A., Khanehbad, M. 2004. Analysis of controls on downstream fining along three gravel-bed rivers in the Band-e-Golestan drainage basin NE Iran. Geomorphology 61, 143-153.
  • Nakumura, F., Swanson, F.J. 1993. Effects of coarse debris on morphology and sediment storage in mountain stream systems in western Oregon. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 18, 43-61.
  • Picco, L., Ravazzolo, D., Rainato, R., Lenzi, M.A. 2014. Characteristics of fluvial islandas along three gravel-bed rivers of north-eastern Italy. Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica 40 (1), 53-66.
  • Ortigosa, L., García-Ruiz, J.M., Gil, E. 1990. Land reclamation by reforestation in the Central Spanish Pyrenees. Mountain Research and Development 10 (3), 281-288.
  • Powell, D.M. 1998. Patterns and processes of sediment sorting in gravel-bed rivers. Progress in Physical Geography 22 (1), 1-32.
  • Procter, E., Bollschweiler, M., Stoffel, M., Neumann, M. 2011. A regional reconstruction of debris flow activity in the Northern Calcareous Alps, Austria. Geomorphology 132, 41-50.
  • Pueyo, Y., Beguería, S. 2007. Modelling the rate of secondary succession after farmland abandonment in a Mediterranean mountain area. Landscape and Urban Planning 83, 245-254.
  • Quiñonero-Rubio, J.M., Boix-Fayos, C., De Vente, J. 2013. Desarrollo y aplicación de un índice multifactorial de conectividad de sedimentos a escala de cuenca. Cuadernos de Investigación Geográfica 39 (2), 203-223.
  • Recking, A., Liébault, F., Peteuil, C., Jolimet, T. 2012. Testing bedload transport equations with consideration of time scales. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 37, 774-789.
  • Rice, S. 1999. The nature and controls on downstream fining within sedimentary links. Journal of Sedimentary Research 69 (1), 32-39.
  • Rice, S., Church, M. 1998. Grain size along two gravel-bed rivers: statistical variation, spatial pattern and sedimentary links. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 23, 345-363.
  • Rice, S., Church, M. 2001. Longitudinal profiles in simple alluvial systems. Water Resources Research 37 (2), 417-426.
  • Rickenmann, D. 1997. Sediment transport in Swiss torrents. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 22, 937-951.
  • Schumm, S.A. 1977. The fluvial system.Wiley, New York, 338 pp.
  • Seal, R., Paola, C. 1995. Observations of downstream fining on the North Fork Toutle River near Mount St Helens,Washington. Water Resources Research 31 (5), 1409-1419.
  • Segura-Beltrán, F., Sanchis-Ibor, C. 2013. Assessment of channel changes in a Mediterranean ephemeral stream since the early twentieth century. The Rambla de Cervera, eastern Spain. Geomorphology 201, 199-214.
  • Surian, N. 2002. Downstream variation in grain size along an Alpine river: analysis of controls and processes. Geomorphology 43, 137-149.
  • Trimble, S.W. 1999. Decreased rates of alluvial sediment storage in the Coon Creek basin, Wisconsin, 1975-93. Science 285, 1244-1246.
  • Vicente-Serrano, S.M., Lasanta, T., Romo, A. 2004. Analysis of spatial and temporal evolution of vegetation cover in the Spanish Pyrenees: role of human management. Environmental management 34 (6), 802-818.
  • White, S., García-Ruiz, J.M., Martí, C., Valero, B., Errea, M.P., Gómez-Villar, A. 1997. The 1996 Biescas campsite disaster in the Central Spanish Pyrenees and its temporal and spatial context. Hydrological Processes 11, 1797-1812.
  • Wolman, M.G. 1954. A method of sampling coarse river-bed material. Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 35, 951-956.
La source de données: Dialnet