Grain Size Distribution of Bedload Transport in a Glaciated Catchment (Baranowski Glacier, King George Island, Western Antarctica)
1
Institute of Geophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, 01-452 Warsaw, Poland
2
Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Polish Academy of Sciences, 02-106 Warsaw, Poland
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Water 2018, 10(4), 360; https://doi.org/10.3390/w10040360
Received: 20 February 2018
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Revised: 11 March 2018
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Accepted: 20 March 2018
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Published: 23 March 2018
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Modeling and Practice of Erosion and Sediment Transport under Change)
The relationships among grain size distribution (GSD), water discharge, and GSD parameters are investigated to identify regularities in the evolution of two gravel-bed proglacial troughs: Fosa Creek and Siodło Creek. In addition, the potential application of certain parameters obtained from the GSD analysis for the assessment of the formation stage of both creeks is comprehensively discussed. To achieve these goals, River Bedload Traps (RBTs) were used to collect the bedload, and a sieving method for dry material was applied to obtain the GSDs. Statistical comparisons between both streams showed significant differences in flow velocity; however, the lack of significant differences in bedload transport clearly indicated that meteorological conditions are among the most important factors in the erosive process for this catchment. In particular, the instability of flow conditions during high water discharge resulted in an increase in the proportion of medium and coarse gravels. The poorly sorted fine and very fine gravels observed in Siodło Creek suggest that this trough is more susceptible to erosion and less stabilized than Fosa Creek. The results suggest that GSD analyses can be used to define the stage of development of riverbeds relative to that of other riverbeds in polar regions.
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Keywords:
GSD; proglacial channels; bedload transport; field measurements; fluvial erosion
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MDPI and ACS Style
Sziło, J.; Bialik, R.J. Grain Size Distribution of Bedload Transport in a Glaciated Catchment (Baranowski Glacier, King George Island, Western Antarctica). Water 2018, 10, 360. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10040360
AMA Style
Sziło J, Bialik RJ. Grain Size Distribution of Bedload Transport in a Glaciated Catchment (Baranowski Glacier, King George Island, Western Antarctica). Water. 2018; 10(4):360. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10040360
Chicago/Turabian StyleSziło, Joanna, and Robert Józef Bialik. 2018. "Grain Size Distribution of Bedload Transport in a Glaciated Catchment (Baranowski Glacier, King George Island, Western Antarctica)" Water 10, no. 4: 360. https://doi.org/10.3390/w10040360
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