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Sediment is an integral and dynamic part of aquatic systems and it plays a major role in the hydrological, geomorphological and ecological functioning of river basins, defined here to include lakes, reservoirs, estuaries and the coastal zone. In natural and agricultural systems, sediment originates from the weathering of rocks, the mobilization and erosion of soils and river banks, and mass movements such as landslides and debris flows. In most river basins there are also important contributions to the sediment load of organic-rich material from a range of sources such as riparian trees, macrophytes and fish. This inorganic and organic material is susceptible to transportation downstream by flowing water, from headwaters and other source areas towards the outlet of the river basin. Flow rates decline in lowland areas (and areas where flow is reduced) where transported material settles in slack-zones and on the bed of the river, and on river floodplains during overbank events. At the end of the river much of the sediment is deposited in the estuary and on the seabed of the coastal zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In August of 2003 a severe wildfire burnt the majority of Fishtrap Creek, a 170 km2 catchment in central British Columbia, Canada. The objective of this study was to determine the short-term (15-month) influence of the wildfire on the amount and composition of fine sediment delivery and retention in the system and to compare it to a similar unburnt catchment. In the spring of 2004 automatic water samplers were installed at a gauging site on Fishtrap Creek to collect suspended sediments from the snowmelt runoff and gravel traps were deployed on the channel bed surface to collect composite samples of suspended fine sediment. Jamieson, the reference creek, exhibits similar geology and pre-burn vegetation and was sampled in the same manner for comparison. Composite suspended sediment collected in the traps was removed from the streams in mid-summer and early September. Quantitative estimates of the amount and particle size structure of the naturally stored fine sediment in, and on, the gravel creekbed were obtained in pre-melt, mid and late-summer conditions. Estimates of suspended sediment yields indicated that while the burnt system delivered 66% more material per unit area, the total seasonal suspended sediment yield was low (855 kg km−2) compared to other fire-disturbed systems. While the burnt catchment was primed to deliver sediment, the hydrologic drivers were not of sufficient magnitude to generate a substantial response, suggesting that in this first post-fire year the system was transport-limited, not supply-limited. Differences were noted in the spatial and seasonal composition of the <500 µm composite suspended sediments, with the burnt catchment having significantly (P≤0.05) more OM%. Seasonally a significant increase of OM% in late summer samples was associated with instream biofilms and possible delivery of black carbon. The system's post-fire response was not geomorphically substantial but significant biological differences were noted in the short-term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a study examining the potential of mineral magnetic, geochemical and organic properties to determine if a 2003 wildfire in a catchment in British Columbia, Canada, caused a change in the sources of the suspended sediment transported in the channel relative to a nearby unburnt (reference) catchment. The results show that some of the properties offer the potential to determine sediment sources in the unburnt catchment. However, the 2003 wildfire modified the concentrations of some properties and this can either compromise or enhance their ability as tracers in the burnt catchment. At present, the source tracing results are inconclusive. This has implications for the use of certain properties as fingerprints and raises important issues about approaches to sediment source identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A spatially extensive geochemical data set of stream water and bed sediment composition across the Tamar catchment in south-west England was analysed to identify the key bed sediment properties that control the in-stream dissolved reactive phosphorus (DRP) concentrations during baseflow conditions. Linear regression analysis of the streamwater DRP concentrations and the distribution coefficient Kd for DRP revealed that the former is positively correlated with total SiO2 and Al2O3, and negatively correlated with K2O. The primary control on these major element distributions is the dominant bedrock geology. The data suggest that streamwater DRP concentrations are mainly controlled by adsorption to clay minerals. Where P concentrations in streamwater were considerably elevated by inputs from point sources, DRP concentrations are also controlled by precipitation of hydroxyapatite. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]