Erosion and sediment redistribution play an important role in ecosystems as they directly influence water quality and biogeochemical cycles. In particular surface waters are threatened by the input of nutrients and contaminants attached to sediment particles. The yields of sediments and particle bound substances result from non linear interactions of complex processes as well as the exceedance of local thresholds. Sediment particles are detached, transported, deposited and might be resuspended again. Due to the interplay of these processes which are highly variable in space and time, it is difficult to monitor and predict the fate of sediments and attached substances and the ecological consequences within river basins and water courses.
This session focuses on transport pathways, storage and remobilisation of sediments and associated substances in river systems across temporal and spatial scales. We particularly welcome contributions dealing with the following topics:
- sediment budgets in river basins
- tracing of sediment sources and transport pathways
- storage and travel times of sediment in catchments or river reaches
- transport, retention and remobilisation of particle bound nutrients (e.g. organic carbon, phosphorus) and contaminants (e.g. heavy metals, PAHs, pesticides)
- factors and structures controlling transport and retention of sediments and associated substances in river basins and water courses
- interaction between sediment transport and ecosystem processes in terrestrial and aquatic environments
- sediment impacts on floodplain, riparian, hyphoreic and other in-stream habitats for organisms ranging from biofilms, macrophytes, invertebrates to fishes
- monitoring and modelling of sediment redistribution on various temporal and spatial scales