Quantifying sediment storage in a high alpine valley (Turtmanntal, Switzerland)

The determination of sediment storage is a critical parameter in sediment budget analyses. But, in many sediment budget studies the quantification of magnitude and time-scale of sediment storage is still the weakest part and often relies on crude estimations only, especially in large drainage basins (>100 km2). We present a new approach to storage quantification in a meso-scale alpine catchment of the Swiss Alps (Turtmann Valley, 110 km2). The quantification of depositional volumes was performed by combining geophysical surveys and geographic information system (GIS) modelling techniques. Mean thickness values of each landform type calculated from these data was used to estimate the sediment volume in the hanging valleys and the trough slopes. Sediment volume of the remaining subsystems was determined by modelling an assumed parabolic bedrock surface using digital elevation model (DEM) data. A total sediment volume of 781·3×106–1005·7×106 m3 is deposited in the Turtmann Valley. Over 60% of this volume is stored in the 13 hanging valleys. Moraine landforms contain over 60% of the deposits in the hanging valleys followed by sediment stored on slopes (20%) and rock glaciers (15%). For the first time, a detailed quantification of different storage types was achieved in a catchment of this size. Sediment volumes have been used to calculate mean denudation rates for the different processes ranging from 0·1 to 2·6 mm/a based on a time span of 10 ka. As the quantification approach includes a number of assumptions and various sources of error the values given represent the order of magnitude of sediment storage that has to be expected in a catchment of this size. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[1]  P. Höllermann Blockgletscher als Mesoformen der Periglazialstufe : Studien aus europäischen und nordamerikanischen Hochgebirgen , 1983 .

[2]  Oliver Sass,et al.  Bedrock detection and talus thickness assessment in the European Alps using geophysical methods , 2007 .

[3]  J. Harbor,et al.  Relative Rates of Glacial and Nonglacial Erosion in Alpine Environments , 1993 .

[4]  J. Buoncristiani,et al.  A reconstruction of the last glacial maximum (LGM) ice-surface geometry in the western Swiss Alps and contiguous Alpine regions in Italy and France , 2004 .

[5]  O. Sass,et al.  Investigations regarding Alpine talus slopes using ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) in the Bavarian Alps, Germany , 2001 .

[6]  Lukas U. Arenson,et al.  Borehole deformation measurements and internal structure of some rock glaciers in Switzerland , 2002 .

[7]  Andreas Kääb,et al.  Glacier and Permafrost Hazards in High Mountains , 2005 .

[8]  O. Sass,et al.  Comparing geophysical methods for talus slope investigations in the Turtmann valley (Swiss Alps) , 2006 .

[9]  L. Schrott,et al.  Modelling sediment thickness and rockwall retreat in an Alpine valley using 2D-seismic refraction (Reintal, Bavarian Alps) , 2002 .

[10]  K. Fryirs,et al.  Variability in sediment delivery and storage along river courses in Bega catchment, NSW, Australia: implications for geomorphic river recovery , 2001 .

[11]  J. Otto Paraglacial sediment storage quantification in the Turtmann Valley, Swiss Alps , 2009 .

[12]  Anders Rapp,et al.  Recent Development of Mountain Slopes in Kärkevagge and Surroundings, Northern Scandinavia , 1960 .

[13]  M. Church,et al.  Disequilibrium of Holocene sediment yield in glaciated British Columbia , 1989, Nature.

[14]  William L. Graf,et al.  The Geomorphology of the Glacial Valley Cross Section , 1970 .

[15]  M. Church,et al.  Paraglacial Sedimentation: A Consideration of Fluvial Processes Conditioned by Glaciation , 1972 .

[16]  Lothar Schrott,et al.  Spatial distribution of sediment storage types and quantification of valley fill deposits in an alpine basin, Reintal, Bavarian Alps, Germany , 2003 .

[17]  Markus N. Zimmermann,et al.  Climatic change and debris flow activity in high-mountain areas. A case study in the Swiss Alps , 1992 .

[18]  C. Ballantyne,et al.  The Periglaciation of Great Britain , 1994 .

[19]  Michel Jaboyedoff,et al.  Toward preliminary hazard assessment using DEM topographic analysis and simple mechanical modeling by means of sloping local base level , 2004 .

[20]  A. Rosselli,et al.  Modélisation gravimétrique 2.5D et cartes des isohypses au 1:100'000 du substratum rocheux de la Vallée du Rhône entre Villeneuve et Brig (Suisse). , 2003 .

[21]  F. Schlunegger,et al.  Crustal uplift in the Alps: why the drainage pattern matters , 2001 .

[22]  M. Church,et al.  Postglacial topographic evolution of glaciated valleys: a stochastic landscape evolution model , 2005 .

[23]  Andreas Kääb,et al.  Advance mechanisms of rock glaciers , 2005 .

[24]  F. Schlunegger,et al.  Pleistocene/Holocene climate change, re‐establishment of fluvial drainage network and increase in relief in the Swiss Alps , 2003 .

[25]  Christine Embleton-Hamann,et al.  Jäckli, H. 1957: Gegenwartsgeologie des bündnerischedn rheingebietes. Ein beitrag zur exogenen dynamik alpiner gebirgslandschaften , 2006 .

[26]  C. Harris Climate Change, Mountain Permafrost Degradation and Geotechnical Hazard , 2005 .

[27]  É. Cossart,et al.  Sediment release and storage in early deglaciated areas: Towards an application of the exhaustion model from the case of Massif des Écrins (French Alps) since the Little Ice Age , 2008 .

[28]  I. Evans Statistical Characterization of Altitude Matrices by Computer. Report 6. An Integrated System of Terrain Analysis and Slope Mapping. , 1979 .

[29]  M. Hinderer Late Quaternary denudation of the Alps, valley and lake fillings and modern river loads , 2001 .

[30]  Stephen B. Taylor,et al.  Comparative geomorphic analysis of surficial deposits at three central Appalachian watersheds : Implications for controls on sediment-transport efficiency , 2006 .

[31]  R. Dikau,et al.  Geomorphologic System Analysis of a High Mountain Valley in the Swiss Alps , 2004 .

[32]  O. Humlum The geomorphic significance of rock glaciers: estimates of rock glacier debris volumes and headwall recession rates in West Greenland , 2000 .

[33]  Richard Dikau,et al.  HRSC-A data: a new high-resolution data set with multipurpose applications in physical geography , 2007 .

[34]  D. Barsch Nature and importance of mass‐wasting by rock glaciers in alpine permafrost environments , 1977 .

[35]  W. Frei,et al.  Seismic reflection profiling in the Swiss Rhone valley. I, Seismic reflection field work, seismic processing and seismic results of the Roche-Vouvry and Turtmann and Agarn lines , 1991 .

[36]  D. Wheeler Using parabolas to describe the cross-sections of glaciated valleys , 1984 .

[37]  C. Morris,et al.  Lateglacial and Holocene talus slope development and rockwall retreat on Mynydd Du, UK , 2004 .

[38]  O. Slaymaker,et al.  Holocene Sediment Production in Lillooet River Basin, British Colombia: A Sediment Budget Approach , 2007 .

[39]  Michael Nyenhuis Permafrost und Sedimenthaushalt in einem alpinen Geosystem , 2006 .

[40]  B. Müller Paraglacial sedimentation and denudation processes in an Alpine valley of Switzerland. An approach to the quantification of sediment budgets , 1999 .

[41]  Yingkui Li,et al.  Glacial valley cross-profile morphology, Tian Shan Mountains China , 2001 .

[42]  E. Brückl,et al.  Internal structure and ice content of Reichenkar rock glacier (Stubai Alps, Austria) assessed by geophysical investigations , 2007 .

[43]  B. Etzelmuller,et al.  Quantification of thermo-erosion in pro-glacial areas - examples from Svalbard (with 8 figures and 2 tables) , 2000 .

[44]  M. Bishop,et al.  DENUDATION OF SMALL ALPINE BASINS, NANGA PARBAT HIMALAYA, PAKISTAN , 1999 .

[45]  P. Molnar,et al.  Late Cenozoic uplift of mountain ranges and global climate change: chicken or egg? , 1990, Nature.

[46]  M. Jakob,et al.  Mass transport by active rockglaciers in the Khumbu Himalaya , 1998 .

[47]  A. M. Curry,et al.  Paraglacial modification of slope form , 1999 .

[48]  T. Spencer,et al.  Physical geography and global environmental change , 1998 .

[49]  Andreas Kääb,et al.  Permafrost creep and rock glacier dynamics , 2006 .

[50]  J. Giardino,et al.  Engineering geomorphology of rock glaciers , 1999 .

[51]  John England,et al.  Observations on rock glaciers in the Himalayas and Karakoram Mountains of northern Pakistan and India , 1998 .

[52]  O. Sass,et al.  Application of field geophysics in geomorphology: Advances and limitations exemplified by case studies , 2008 .

[53]  D. Barsch Rockglaciers: Indicators for the Present and Former Geoecology in High Mountain Environments , 1996 .

[54]  T. Shiraiwa,et al.  Slope denudation and the supply of debris to cones in Langtang Himal, Central Nepal Himalaya , 1998 .

[55]  D. Wheeler,et al.  On the mathematical description of glaciated valley cross sections , 1992 .

[56]  M. Church,et al.  Reconnaissance sediment budgets for Lynn Valley, British Columbia: Holocene and contemporary time scales , 2003 .

[57]  Oliver Sass,et al.  Determination of the internal structure of alpine talus deposits using different geophysical methods (Lechtaler Alps, Austria) , 2006 .