Sediment grain size links sediment production, weathering, and fining from fractured bedrock on hillslopes to river incision and landscape relief. Yet models of sediment grain size delivery to rivers remain unconstrained due to a scarcity of field data. We analyzed how bedrock fracture spacing and hillslope weathering influence landscape‐scale patterns in surface sediment grain size across gradients of erosion rate and hillslope bedrock exposure in the San Gabriel Mountains (SGM) and northern San Jacinto Mountains (NSJM) of California, USA. Using ground‐based structure‐from‐motion photogrammetry models of 50 bedrock cliffs, we showed that fracture density is ~5 times higher in the SGM than the NSJM. 274 point‐count‐surveys of surface sediment grain size measured in the field and from imagery show a drainage area control on sediment grain size, with systematic downslope coarsening on hillslopes and in headwater‐colluvial channels transitioning to downstream fining in fluvial channels. In contrast to prior work and predictions from a hillslope weathering model, grain size does not increase smoothly with increasing erosion rate. For soil‐mantled landscapes, sediment grain size increases with increasing erosion rates; however, once bare bedrock emerges on hillslopes, sediment grain size in both the NSJM and SGM becomes insensitive to further increases in erosion rate and hillslope bedrock exposure, and instead reflects fracture spacing contrasts between the NSJM and SGM. We interpret this threshold behavior to emerge in steep landscapes due to efficient delivery of coarse sediment from bedrock hillslopes to channels and the relative immobility of coarse sediment in fluvial channels.
The size distributions of sediment delivered from hillslopes to rivers profoundly influence river morphodynamics, including river incision into bedrock and the quality of aquatic habitat. Yet little is known about the factors that influence size distributions of sediment produced by weathering on hillslopes. We present results of a field study of hillslope sediment size distributions at Inyo Creek, a steep catchment in granitic bedrock of the Sierra Nevada, USA. Particles sampled near the base of hillslopes, adjacent to the trunk stream, show a pronounced decrease in sediment size with decreasing sample elevation across all but the coarsest size classes. Measured size distributions become increasingly bimodal with decreasing elevation, exhibiting a coarse, bouldery mode that does not change with elevation and a more abundant finer mode that shifts from cobbles at the highest elevations to gravel at mid elevations and finally to sand at low elevations. We interpret these altitudinal variations in hillslope sediment size to reflect changes in physical, chemical, and biological weathering that can be explained by the catchment's strong altitudinal gradients in topography, climate, and vegetation cover. Because elevation and travel distance to the outlet are closely coupled, the altitudinal trends in sediment size produce a systematic decrease in sediment size along hillslopes parallel to the trunk stream. We refer to this phenomenon as ‘downvalley fining.’ Forward modeling shows that downvalley fining of hillslope sediment is necessary for downstream fining of the long‐term average flux of coarse sediment in mountain landscapes where hillslopes and channels are coupled and long‐term net sediment deposition is negligible. The model also shows that abrasion plays a secondary role in downstream fining of coarse sediment flux but plays a dominant role in partitioning between the bedload and suspended load. Patterns observed at Inyo Creek may be widespread in mountain ranges around the world. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd
more » « less- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10388639
- Publisher / Repository:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Earth Surface Processes and Landforms
- Volume:
- 45
- Issue:
- 8
- ISSN:
- 0197-9337
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- p. 1828-1845
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
More Like this
-
more » « less
Abstract -
Sand, Gravel, Cobbles, and Boulders: Detrital Thermochronology Shows that One Size Does Not Tell Allmore » « less
Abstract Detrital thermochronology has been used to measure sediment source elevations, and thus to quantify spatial variations in sediment production and erosion in steep mountain catchments. Samples commonly include a small fraction of the sediment sizes present on mountain streambeds, which according to previous modeling may not adequately represent sediment production where hillslope sediment sizes vary or where sediment breaks down during transport. Here we explore what can be learned from multiple sizes by quantifying source elevation distributions for 12 sediment size classes collected from Inyo Creek in the eastern Sierra Nevada, California. To interpret these data, we use a new analytical framework that identifies both the elevations where sediment sources deviate from catchment hypsometry and the likelihood that observed cumulative deviations could occur by chance. We find that sediment in four gravel and cobble size classes originates preferentially from higher elevations, either because erosion rates are faster or because these sizes are disproportionately represented in the sediment from high elevations. Conversely, boulders in the stream originate mostly from low elevations near the sample point, possibly reflecting the breakdown of boulders from high elevations during transport. While source elevations of finer sediment sizes are statistically indistinguishable from hypsometry, we show that these sizes are unlikely to be consistent with uniform sediment production because they cannot be considered in isolation from the coarser sizes. Our source elevation distributions from sand, gravel, cobbles, and boulders show that no one size can tell the rich story of sediment production and evolution, and highlight opportunities for future work.
-
more » « less
Abstract Debris flows are powered by sediment supplied from steep hillslopes where soils are often patchy and interrupted by bare‐bedrock cliffs. The role of patchy soils and cliffs in supplying sediment to channels remains unclear, particularly surrounding wildfire disturbances that heighten debris‐flow hazards by increasing sediment supply to channels. Here, we examine how variation in soil cover on hillslopes affects sediment sizes in channels surrounding the 2020 El Dorado wildfire, which burned debris‐flow prone slopes in the San Bernardino Mountains, California. We focus on six headwater catchments (<0.1 km2) where hillslope sources ranged from a continuous soil mantle to 95% bare‐bedrock cliffs. At each site, we measured sediment grain size distributions at the same channel locations before and immediately following the wildfire. We compared results to a mixing model that accounts for three distinct hillslope sediment sources distinguished by local slope thresholds. We find that channel sediment in fully soil‐mantled catchments reflects hillslope soils (
D 50 = 0.1–0.2 cm) both before and after the wildfire. In steeper catchments with cliffs, channel sediment is consistently coarse prior to fire (D 50 = 6–32 cm) and reflects bedrock fracture spacing, despite cliffs representing anywhere from 5% to 95% of the sediment source area. Following the fire, channel sediment size reduces most (5‐ to 20‐fold) in catchments where hillslope sources are predominantly soil covered but with patches of cliffs. The abrupt fining of channel sediment is thought to facilitate postfire debris‐flow initiation, and our results imply that this effect is greatest where bare‐bedrock cliffs are present but not dominant. A patchwork of bare‐bedrock cliffs is common in steeplands where hillslopes respond to channel incision by landsliding. We show how local slope thresholds applied to such terrain aid in estimating sediment supply conditions before two destructive debris flows that eventually nucleated in these study catchments in 2022. -
We explore how rock properties and channel morphology vary with rock type in Last Chance Canyon, Guadalupe Mountains, New Mexico, USA. The rocks here are composed of horizontally to near-horizontally interbedded carbonate and sandstone. This study focuses on first- and second-order channel sections, where the streams have a lower channel steepness index (ksn) upstream and transition to higher ksn values downstream. We hypothesize that differences in bed thickness and rock strength influence ksn values, both locally by influencing bulk bedrock strength and also nonlocally through the production of coarse sediment. We collected discontinuity intensity data (the length of bedding planes and fractures per unit area), Schmidt hammer rebound measurements, and measured the largest boulder at every 12.2 m elevation contour to test this hypothesis. Bedrock and boulder mineralogy were determined using a lab-based carbonate dissolution method. High-resolution orthomosaics and digital surface models (DSMs) were generated from drone and ground-based photogrammetry. The orthomosaics were used to map channel sections with exposed bedrock. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) 10 m digital elevation models (DEMs) were used to measure channel slope and hillslope relief. We find that discontinuity intensity is negatively correlated with Schmidt hammer rebound values in sandstone bedrock. Channel steepness tends to be higher where reaches are primarily incising through more thickly bedded carbonate bedrock and lower where more thinly bedded sandstone is exposed. Bedrock properties also influence channel morphology indirectly, through coarse sediment input from adjacent hillslopes. Thickly bedded rock layers on hillslopes erode to contribute larger colluvial sediment to adjacent channels, and these reaches have higher ksn values. Larger and more competent carbonate sediment armors both the carbonate and the more erodible sandstone and reduces steepness contrasts across rock types. We interpret that in the relatively steep, high-level ksn downstream channel sections, the slope is primarily controlled by the coarse alluvial cover. We further posit that the upstream low-level ksn reaches have a base level that is fixed by the steep downstream reaches, resulting in a stable configuration, where channel slopes have adjusted to lithologic differences and/or sediment armor.more » « less
-
more » « less
Abstract Wildfire increases the potential connectivity of runoff and sediment throughout watersheds due to greater bare soil, runoff and erosion as compared to pre‐fire conditions. This research examines the connectivity of post‐fire runoff and sediment from hillslopes (
< 1.5 ha;n = 31) and catchments (< 1000 ha;n = 10) within two watersheds (< 1500 ha) burned by the 2012 High Park Fire in northcentral Colorado, USA. Our objectives were to: (1) identify sources and quantify magnitudes of post‐fire runoff and erosion at nested hillslopes and watersheds for two rain storms with varied duration, intensity and antecedent precipitation; and (2) assess the factors affecting the magnitude and connectivity of runoff and sediment across spatial scales for these two rain storms. The two summer storms that are the focus of this research occurred during the third summer after burning. The first storm had low intensity rainfall over 11 hours (return interval <1–2 years), whereas the second event had high intensity rainfall over 1 hour (return interval <1–10 years). The lower intensity storm was preceded by high antecedent rainfall and led to low hillslope sediment yields and channel incision at most locations, whereas the high intensity storm led to infiltration‐excess overland flow, high sediment yields, in‐stream sediment deposition and channel substrate fining. For both storms, hillslope‐to‐stream sediment delivery ratios and area‐normalised cross‐sectional channel change increased with the percent of catchment that burned at high severity. For the high intensity storm, hillslope‐to‐stream sediment delivery ratios decreased with unconfined channel length (%). The findings quantify post‐fire connectivity and sediment delivery from hillslopes and streams, and highlight how different types of storms can cause varying magnitues and spatial patterns of sediment transport and deposition from hillslopes through stream channel networks.
