Tracing Sediment Pathways from Mountain Catchments into Regional Rivers: Climate-Driven changes in sediment flux in the Eastern Alps.
Abstract ID: 3.10010 | Accepted as Talk | Talk | TBA | TBA
Roan Hick (1)
Climate change is rapidly reshaping mountain environments. Glaciers are retreating, permafrost is degrading, and precipitation extremes are becoming more frequent. These changes directly influence not only water runoff, but also the production, mobilisation, and downstream transfer of sediment. Understanding how sediment pathways evolve under these shifting conditions is essential for anticipating landscape changes, assessing hazard risks, and managing river systems in alpine regions. Yet, key aspects of sediment connectivity, from the source areas in steep mountain terrain to the delivery points in regional rivers, remain poorly understood.
This PhD project investigates sediment pathways and transport processes in glacierised mountain catchments and scales these insights to better understand the impacts of climate change on regional sediment fluxes. The research combines field-based geomorphic and hydrological measurements with landscape evolution modelling (LEM) and regional data analysis.
The study begins with fieldwork in a high alpine catchment, where sediment flux and transfer pathways will be quantified and related to climate and discharge data. These measurements will inform the calibration of a landscape evolution model, which will be used to estimate erosion and sediment transport under future climate scenarios. The project then expands to the regional scale by compiling and analysing long-term sediment load and discharge records from the larger river system. This analysis will explore whether local sediment dynamics can help explain broader system behaviour, identify potential hotspots of sediment activity, and detect signals of a peak sediment phase.
By combining local process studies with a regional perspective, the project contributes to a better understanding of how glaciated alpine sediment systems respond to climate change. The outcomes will support hazard assessment, sediment management, and infrastructure planning in mountain river basins, and align with the objectives of the CLIMB project.
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