Water and Sediment Discharges from a Glacier-covered Basin under Maritime Climate in Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia

In order to clarify the characteristics of water and sediment discharges from glacier-covered basins under maritime climate, hydrological observations were carried out within a drainage basin which contains Koryto Glacier in Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. Water discharge of a proglacial stream near th...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Matsumoto, Takane, Chikita, Kazuhisa A.
Format: Conference Object
Language:English
Published: Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University
Subjects:
450
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/2115/38524
Description
Summary:In order to clarify the characteristics of water and sediment discharges from glacier-covered basins under maritime climate, hydrological observations were carried out within a drainage basin which contains Koryto Glacier in Kamchatka Peninsula, Russia. Water discharge of a proglacial stream near the glacier terminus varied between 3 and 12 m^3 s^[-1] during the summer of 2000. Variation in suspended sediment concentration was positively correlated with water discharge, and values of sediment concentration ranged from 1.0 to 0.1 g1^[-1]. A runoff model which consists of two linear reservoirs in series was applied to the basin for simulating discharge variation. Considering a seasonal change in glacier drainage systems, this model can simulate stream discharge well. Three different models based on rating curve, multiple regression and sediment storage for suspended sediment transport estimation yield the total suspended sediment load during the observation period to be 10 × 10^6 kg. The sediment storage model assuming a reservoir beneath the glacier could bring the best estimate of variation in suspended sediment load. However, the multiple regression model gives a reasonable result and is also applicable for prediction. International Symposium on "Dawn of a New Natural History - Integration of Geoscience and Biodiversity Studies". 5-6 March 2004. Sapporo, Japan.