Geomorphic/Tectonic Control of Sediment Discharge to the Ocean: The Importance of Small Mountainous Rivers
1992/09/01 by John D. Milliman, James P. M. Syvitski · 58 citations
Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Geological formations and processes #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research #earthquake and tectonic studies
paper · doi:10.1086/629606
Abstract
Analysis of data from 280 rivers discharging to the ocean indicates that sediment loads/yields are a log-linear function of basin area and maximum elevation of the river basin. Other factors controlling sediment discharge (e.g., climate, runoff) appear to have secondary importance. A notable exception is the influence of human activity, climate, and geology on the rivers draining southern Asia and Oceania. Sediment fluxes from small mountainous rivers, many of which discharge directly onto active margins (e.g., western South and North America and most high-standing oceanic islands), have been greatly underestimated in previous global sediment budgets, perhaps by as much as a factor of three. In contrast, sediment fluxes to the ocean from large rivers (nearly all of which discharge onto passive margins or marginal seas) have been overestimated, as some of the sediment load is subaerially sequestered in subsiding deltas. Before the proliferation of dam construction in the latter half of this century, rivers probably discharged about 20 billion tons of sediment annually to the ocean. Prior to widespread farming and deforestation (beginning 2000-2500 yr ago), however, sediment discharge probably was less than half the present level. Sediments discharged by small mountainous rivers are more likely to escape to the deep sea during high stands of sea level by virtue of a greater impact of episodic events (i.e., flash floods and earthquakes) on small drainage basins and because of the narrow shelves associated with active margins. The resulting delta/fan deposits can be distinctly different than the sedimentary deposits derived from larger rivers that discharge onto passive margins.
Citations
Cited by
- A magnetostratigraphic framework and Pleistocene sedimentary environmental evolution of the northern West Philippine Basin
- Provenance, structure, and formation of the mud wedge along inner continental shelf of the East China Sea: A synthesis of the Yangtze dispersal system
- Sediment accumulation and retention of the Changjiang (Yangtze River) subaqueous delta and its distal muds over the last century
- Evidence of recent flood deposits within a distal shelf depocenter and implications for terrestrial carbon preservation in non-deltaic shelf settings
- Abrupt high-latitude climatic teleconnection to mid-latitude erosion and sediment transport during the last glacial period
- Dams on the Mekong: Cumulative sediment starvation
- Fluvial responses to climate and sea‐level change: a review and look forward
- Humans as geologic agents: A deep-time perspective
- Variations in δ13C values of sedimentary organic matter since late Miocene time in the Indus Fan (IODP Site 1457) of the eastern Arabian Sea
- Particulate organic carbon fluxes to the ocean interior and factors controlling the biological pump: A synthesis of global sediment trap programs since 1983
- Geologic Constraints on Early Mars Climate
- WBMsed, a distributed global-scale riverine sediment flux model: Model description and validation
- Air Temperature Regulates Erodible Landscape, Water, and Sediment Fluxes in the Permafrost‐Dominated Catchment on the Tibetan Plateau
- Island weathering: river sources of rare earth elements to the Western Pacific Ocean
- Sedimentation and Survival of the Mekong Delta: A Case Study of Decreased Sediment Supply and Accelerating Rates of Relative Sea Level Rise
- Australia–SE Asia collision: plate tectonics and crustal flow
- Anthropogenic sediment retention: major global impact from registered river impoundments
- The beaver meadow complex revisited – the role of beavers in post‐glacial floodplain development
- Long-term trends in the chemical and mechanical denudation in a small Carpathian catchment
- Frequency-domain and uncertainty-aware framework for the detection of decadal topographic changes in steep mountain basins: A case study of the Lanyang–Yilan region
- The deglacial transition on the southeastern Alaska Margin: Meltwater input, sea level rise, marine productivity, and sedimentary anoxia
- Coastal Flooding in Asian Megadeltas: Recent Advances, Persistent Challenges, and Call for Actions Amidst Local and Global Changes
- Scaling laws for aggradation, denudation and progradation rates: the case for time-scale invariance at sediment sources and sinks
- Inverting Topography for Landscape Evolution Model Process Representation: 1. Conceptualization and Sensitivity Analysis
- Evolving Sediment Structure and Lithospheric Architecture Across the Indo‐Burman Forearc Margin From the Joint Inversion of Surface‐ and Scattered‐Wave Seismic Constraints
- Geomorphic changes and socio-environmental impacts of recent sand mining in the Sakarya River, NW Turkey
- Submarine‐channel meandering reset by landslide filling, Taranaki Basin, New Zealand
- Transport of heavy minerals and heavy anthropogenic particles in the Rio Sella catchment and along the adjacent coast, northern Spain
- Sediment discharge to the ocean from small mountainous rivers: The New Guinea example
- Late quaternary glacial cycle and precessional period of clay mineral assemblages in the western pacific warm pool
- Sedimentation and its response to management strategies of the Three Gorges Reservoir, Yangtze River, China
- Dynamics of streamflow and sediment load in Peninsular Indian rivers (1965–2015)
- Distribution, sources, and ecological risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the water and suspended sediments from the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, China
- The Huanghe (Yellow River) and Changjiang (Yangtze River) deltas: a review on their characteristics, evolution and sediment discharge during the Holocene
- Variability in sediment delivery and storage along river courses in Bega catchment, NSW, Australia: implications for geomorphic river recovery
- Monsoon-influenced variations in morphology and sediment of a mesotidal beach on the Mekong River delta coast
- Estuarine turbidity maximum in six tropical minor rivers, central west coast of India
- A short review of fecal indicator bacteria in tropical aquatic ecosystems: knowledge gaps and future directions. [europepmc]
- Characterization of the Particle Size Fraction associated with Heavy Metals in Suspended Sediments of the Yellow River. [europepmc]
- Persistent effects of the Yellow River on the Chinese marginal seas began at least ~880 ka ago. [europepmc]
- Powerful turbidity currents driven by dense basal layers. [europepmc]
- Qualitative Dynamics of Suspended Particulate Matter in the Changjiang Estuary from Geostationary Ocean Color Images: An Empirical, Regional Modeling Approach. [europepmc]
- Variations in Soil Bacterial Composition and Diversity in Newly Formed Coastal Wetlands. [europepmc]
- Hydro-ecological controls on riverine organic carbon dynamics in the tropical monsoon region. [europepmc]
- Distribution of organic carbon and lignin in soils in a subtropical small mountainous river basin. [europepmc]
- Morphological changes in the lower Lancang River due to extensive human activities. [europepmc]
- Carbon cycle inverse modeling suggests large changes in fractional organic burial are consistent with the carbon isotope record and may have contributed to the rise of oxygen. [europepmc]
- Detrital Carbonate Minerals in Earth's Element Cycles. [europepmc]
- Vegetal Undercurrents-Obscured Riverine Dynamics of Plant Debris. [europepmc]
- Peak Cenozoic warmth enabled deep-sea sand deposition. [europepmc]
- Sediment delivery to sustain the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta under climate change and anthropogenic impacts. [europepmc]
- A 2 °C difference affecting the spatiotemporal distribution of small demersal fish assemblages in shallow tropical and subtropical waters of Western Taiwan. [europepmc]
- Landscape dynamics and the Phanerozoic diversification of the biosphere. [europepmc]
- Global distribution and dynamics of muddy coasts. [europepmc]
- A high-resolution hydrodynamics and sediment dataset in the coastline waters of the Northern Bay of Bengal. [europepmc]
- Mapping the Spatial Heterogeneity of Watershed Ecosystems and Water Quality in Rainforest Fjordlands. [europepmc]
- Long term carbon export from mountain forests driven by hydroclimate and extreme event driven landsliding. [europepmc]
- Primary Productivity and Habitat Depth Shape Developmental Mode in European Marine Gastropods. [europepmc]
Related