The influence of storm events on fine sediment transport, erosion and deposition within a reach of the River Swale, Yorkshire, UK

The spatial and temporal dynamics of suspended sediment fluxes through a 55 km reach of the lowland River Swale, Yorkshire, UK are investigated for the period July 1994-June 1996. Seventeen storm events were monitored, each of which produced significant suspended sediment transport. Variations in sediment flux dynamics and reach sediment storage through events, representing a combination of channel bed erosion and/or deposition, bank erosion and floodplain deposition, were observed. Some, but not all, of this variation can be explained in terms of event size, precipitation distribution and intensity, and antecedent sediment storage conditions. In particular, marked variations in the size of the reach sediment store over the extremely wet 4-month winter period from December 1994 to April 1995 are demonstrated. Net sediment loss from the reach took place over during this winter period. These event-scale and seasonal patterns form a background to annual variations in the catchment sediment budget. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.