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In a context of accelerated soil erosion and sediment supply to water bodies, sediment fingerprinting techniques have received an increasing interest in the last 2 decades. The selection of tracers is a particularly critical step for the subsequent accurate prediction of sediment source contributions. To select tracers, the most conventional approach is the three-step method, although, more recently, the consensus method has also been proposed as an alternative. The outputs of these two approaches were compared in terms of identification of conservative properties, tracer selection, modelled contributions and performance on a single dataset. As for the three-step method, several range test criteria were compared, along with the impact of the discriminant function analysis (DFA). The dataset was composed of tracer properties analysed in soil (three potential sources; n = 56) and sediment core samples (n = 32). Soil and sediment samples were sieved to 63 µ m and analysed for organic matter, elemental geochemistry and diffuse visible spectrometry. Virtual mixtures (n = 138) with known source proportions were generated to assess model accuracy of each tracer selection method. The Bayesian un-mixing model MixSIAR was then used to predict source contributions on both virtual mixtures and actual sediments. The different methods tested in the current research can be distributed into three groups according to their sensitivity to the conservative behaviour of properties, which was found to be associated with different predicted source contribution tendencies along the sediment core. The methods selecting the largest number of tracers were associated with a dominant and constant contribution of forests to sediment. In contrast, the methods selecting the lowest number of tracers were associated with a dominant and constant contribution of cropland to sediment. Furthermore, the intermediate selection of tracers led to more balanced contributions of both cropland and forest to sediments. The prediction of the virtual mixtures allowed us to compute several evaluation metrics, which are generally used to support the evaluation of model accuracy for each tracer selection method. However, strong differences or the absence of correspondence were observed between the range of predicted contributions obtained for virtual mixtures and those values obtained for actual sediments. These divergences highlight the fact that evaluation metrics obtained for virtual mixtures may not be directly transferable to models run for actual samples and must be interpreted with caution to avoid over-interpretation or misinterpretation. These divergences may likely be attributed to the occurrence of a not (fully) conservative behaviour of potential tracer properties during erosion, transport and deposition processes, which could not be fully reproduced when generating the virtual mixtures with currently available methods. Future research should develop novel metrics to quantify the conservative behaviour of tracer properties during erosion and transport processes. Furthermore, new methods should be designed to generate virtual mixtures closer to reality and to better evaluate model accuracy. These improvements would contribute to the development of more reliable sediment fingerprinting techniques, which are needed to better support the implementation of effective soil and water conservation measures at the catchment scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrological processes research remains a field that is severely measurement limited. While conventional tracers (geochemicals, isotopes) have brought extremely valuable insights into water source and flowpaths, they nonetheless have limitations that clearly constrain their range of application. Integrating hydrology and ecology in catchment science has been repeatedly advocated as offering potential for interdisciplinary studies that are eventually to provide a holistic view of catchment functioning. In this context, aerial diatoms have been shown to have the potential for detecting of the onset/cessation of rapid water flowpaths within the hillslope-riparian zone-stream continuum. However, many open questions prevail as to aerial diatom reservoir size, depletion and recovery, as well as to their mobilisation and transport processes. Moreover, aerial diatoms remain poorly known compared to freshwater species and new species are still being discovered. Here, we ask whether aerial diatom flushing can be observed in three catchments with contrasting physiographic characteristics in Luxembourg, Oregon (USA) and Slovakia. This is a prerequisite for qualifying aerial diatoms as a robust indicator of the onset/cessation of rapid water flowpaths across a wider range of physiographical contexts. One species in particular, (Hantzschia amphioxys (Ehr.) Grunow), was found to be common to the three investigated catchments. Aerial diatom species were flushed, in different relative proportions, to the river network during rainfall-runoff events in all three catchments. Our take-away message from this preliminary examination is that aerial diatoms appear to have a potential for tracing episodic hydrological connectivity through a wider range of physiographic contexts and therefore serve as a complementary tool to conventional hydrological tracers.

Hydromorphodynamic models are powerful tools to predict the potential mobilization and transport of sediment in river ecosystems. Recent studies even showed that they are able to satisfyingly predict suspended sediment matter concentration in small river systems. However, modelling exercises often neglect suspended sediment properties (e.g. particle site distribution and density), even though such properties are known to directly control the sediment particle dynamics in the water column during rising and flood events. This study has two objectives. On the one hand, it aims at further developing an existing hydromorphodynamic model based on the dynamic coupling of TELEMAC-3D (v7p1) and SISYPHE (v7p1) in order to enable an enhanced parameterisation of the sediment grain size distribution with distributed sediment density. On the other hand, it aims at evaluating and discussing the added-value of the new development for improving sediment transport and riverbed evolution predictions. To this end, we evaluate the sensitivity of the model to sediment grain size distribution, sediment density and suspended sediment concentration at the upstream boundary condition. As a test case, the model is used to simulate a flood event in a small scale river, the Orne River in North-eastern France. The results show substantial discrepancies in bathymetry evolution depending on the model setup. Moreover, the sediment model based on an enhanced sediment grain size distribution (10 classes) and with distributed sediment density outperforms the model with only two sediment grain size classes in terms of simulated suspended sediment concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Basin management demands a sound understanding of sediment dynamics, particularly in Mediterranean mountain catchments with badlands, which affect water bodies and freshwater ecosystems. Connectivity has emerged as a framework for understanding how sediments move between geomorphic zones. We analyse the feasibility of excess lead‐210 (210Pbex) to study sediment connectivity in a 4‐km2 Mediterranean mountain basin with badlands (Vallcebre research catchments, Eastern Pyrenees) by applying mass‐balance models for hypothesis generation and experimental testing. Badlands in the area are weathered by freezing during the winter and are eroded in summer by high‐intensity showers. The eroded sediments may remain deposited within the streams from months to years. Application of 210Pbex balance models in our basin suggests: (i) a saw‐tooth seasonal pattern of badland surface 210Pbex activities (increasing from October to May, and depleted in summer) and (ii) a downstream increase in sediment activity due to fallout lead‐210 accumulation in stream‐bed sediment deposits. Our experimental results (obtained during 2013 and 2014) showed low sediment 210Pbex concentrations, illustrating the fresh‐rock origin of sediments, but also hampering their study due to high measurement uncertainty (especially for sediments with d50 > 20 μm) and dependence on sampling methods. Suspended sediment 210Pbex activity reproduced the simulated seasonal activity patterns for the badland surfaces. However, sediment activity decreased downstream, suggesting that flushing of fine sediments by flooding prevents fallout lead‐210 accumulation on the stream bed. Overall, high sediment connectivity was revealed between the badlands, streams and outlet of the basin, as well as the fast transmission of 210Pbex by the finest sediment fraction. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]