Control factors and scale analysis of annual river water, sediments and carbon transport in China

• Published in: Scientific reports 2016-05, Vol.6 (1), p.25963-25963, Article 25963
• Main Authors: Song, Chunlin, Wang, Genxu, Sun, Xiangyang, Chang, Ruiying, Mao, Tianxu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 704/242; 704/47/4113; Humanities and Social Sciences; multidisciplinary; Science
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/srep25963

Under the context of dramatic human disturbances on river system, the processes that control the transport of water, sediment, and carbon from river basins to coastal seas are not completely understood. Here we performed a quantitative synthesis for 121 sites across China to find control factors of annual river exports (Rc: runoff coefficient; TSSC: total suspended sediment concentration; TSSL: total suspended sediment loads; TOCL: total organic carbon loads) at different spatial scales. The results indicated that human activities such as dam construction and vegetation restoration might have a greater influence than climate on the transport of river sediment and carbon, although climate was a major driver of Rc. Multiple spatial scale analyses indicated that Rc increased from the small to medium scale by 20% and then decreased at the sizable scale by 20%. TSSC decreased from the small to sizeable scale but increase from the sizeable to large scales; however, TSSL significantly decreased from small (768 g·m −2 ·a −1 ) to medium spatial scale basins (258 g·m −2 ·a −1 ), and TOCL decreased from the medium to large scale. Our results will improve the understanding of water, sediment and carbon transport processes and contribute better water and land resources management strategies from different spatial scales.