Seismic controls on contemporary sediment export in the Siret river catchment, Romania

Earthquake-triggered landslides; Event efficiency index; Lithology; Sediment rating curve; Sediment yield; Seismic activity; Carpathians; Romania; Seret River; Ukraine; Vrancea

Abstract :

[en] While differences in catchment sediment yield (SY, [tkm-2y-1]) are generally attributed to topography, lithology, climate and land use, recent studies have highlighted that also seismic activity may have an important impact on SY. Nonetheless, relatively little is known about the importance of this factor and the processes and mechanisms explaining its influence. Therefore, this study explores the role of seismic activity in explaining spatial and temporal variation in sediment export within the Siret Basin (Romania, 45,000km2), a catchment with a large variability in seismic activity. Based on previously unpublished long-term (>30years) SY measurements for 38 subcatchments of the Siret, we analyze the correlation between average SY, seismic activity and various other catchment characteristics. Our results showed that spatial variation in average SY was indeed strongly correlated with the degree of seismic activity in each catchment (R2=0.74). Also catchment lithology explained an important part of the differences in SY (R2=0.67). The combination of these two factors accounted for about 80% of the observed variation in SY, while other factors (e.g. topography, land use, climate, and runoff) did not significantly contribute to the explained variance in average SY. To explore the impact of a specific earthquake event on sediment export, we analyzed daily variations in suspended sediment concentrations of 10 subcatchments, five years before and after an earthquake of Mw= 7.4 that affected the Vrancea region in 1977 and triggered a substantial number of landslides. Only one catchment showed a clear (3-fold) increase in sediment concentrations at unit discharge. For the other nine catchments, no consistent increase could be observed. This indicates that the impact of seismic activity on average SY is mainly indirect and not associated with sudden pulses of sediments, caused by earthquake-triggered landslides. Potential mechanisms that could explain such indirect responses are discussed. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.

Disciplines :

Earth sciences & physical geography

Author, co-author :

Vanmaercke, Matthias ; Université de Liège > Département de géographie > Géographie physique et du quaternaire

Obreja, F.; Department of Geography, Stefan cel Mare University of Suceava, Romania, River Forecast, Hydrology and Hydrogeology Bureau of The SIRET Water Branch, Bacau, Romania

Poesen, J.; Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, KU Leuven, Heverlee, Belgium

Language :

English

Title :

Seismic controls on contemporary sediment export in the Siret river catchment, Romania

Publication date :

2014

Journal title :

Geomorphology

ISSN :

0169-555X

eISSN :

1872-695X

Publisher :

Elsevier

Volume :

216

Pages :

247-262

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Available on ORBi :

since 28 March 2017

Statistics

Number of views

57 (0 by ULiège)

Number of downloads

1 (0 by ULiège)

More statistics

Scopus citations^®

Scopus citations^®
without self-citations

OpenCitations

OpenAlex citations

Bibliography

Aalto R., Dunne T., Guyot J. Geomorphic controls on Andean denudation rates. J. Geol. 2006, 114:85-99.
Airinei S. Microplǎci litosferice pe teritoriul României. SC GGG, seria Geologie 1977, 15.
Alexandrov Y., Laronne J.B., Reid I. Intra-event and inter-seasonal behaviour of suspended sediment in flash floods of the semi-arid northern Negev, Israel. Geomorphology 2007, 85:85-97.
Asselman N. Fitting and interpretation of sediment rating curves. J. Hydrol. 2000, 234:228-248.
Balan S., Cristescu V., Cornea I. Cutremurul de pǎmânt din România de la 4 martie 1977 1982, Editura Academiei, Bucureşti.
Bǎlteanu D. Procese de modelare a versanţilor declanşate de cutremurul din 4 martie 1977 în Carpaţii şi Subcarpaţii Buzǎului. SC GGG, seria Geografie, t.26 1979, Academia Romana, Bucureşti.
Bǎlteanu D., Chendes V., Sima M., Enciu P. A country-wide spatial assessment of landslide susceptibility in Romania. Geomorphology 2010, 124:102-112.
Borselli L., Cassi P., Torri D. Prolegomena to sediment and flow connectivity in the landscape: a GIS and field numerical assessment. Catena 2008, 75:268-277.
Bruijnzeel L.A. Hydrological functions of tropical forests: not seeing the soil for the trees?. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 2004, 104:185-228.
Cavalli M., Trevisani S., Comiti F., Marchi L. Geomorphometric assessment of spatial sediment connectivity in small Alpine catchments. Geomorphology 2013, 188:31-41.
CGIAR SRTM 90m digital elevation data Available online:, (last accessed: 20 July 2013). http://srtm.csi.cgiar.org/.
Clarke B.A., Burbank D.W. Quantifying bedrock - fracture patterns within the shallow subsurface: implications for rock mass strength, bedrock landslides, and erodibility. J. Geophys. Res. 2011, 116:F04009. 10.1029/2011JF001987.
Constantinescu L., Enescu D. Cutremurele din Vrancea în cadrul stiintific si tehnologic 1985, Editura Academiei, Bucuresti.
Constantinescu L., Marza V.I. A computer-compiled and computer-oriented catalogue of Romania's earthquakes during a millennium (AD 984-1979). Rev. Roum. Geophys. 1980, 24:193-234.
Cox R., Zentner D.B., Rakotondrazafy A.M.F., Rasoazanamparany C.F. Shakedown in Madagascar: occurrence of lavakas (erosional gullies) associated with seismic activity. Geology 2010, 38:179-182.
Dadson S.J., Hovius N., Chen H., Dade W.B., Hsieh M.-L., Willet S.D., Hu J.-C., Horng M.-J., Chen M.-C., Stark C.P., Lague D., Lin J.-C. Links between erosion, runoff variability and seismicity in the Taiwan orogen. Nature 2003, 426:648-651.
Dadson S., Hovius N., Chen H., Dade W., Lin J., Hsu M., Lin C., Ming-Jame H., Chen T., Milliman J., Stark C. Earthquake-triggered increase in sediment delivery from an active mountain belt. Geology 2004, 32:733-736.
de Vente J., Poesen J. Predicting soil erosion and sediment yield at the basin scale: scale issues and semi-quantitative models. Earth Sci. Rev. 2005, 71:95-125.
de Vente J., Poesen J., Bazzoffi P., Van Rompaey A., Verstraeten G. Predicting catchment sediment yield in Mediterranean environments: the importance of sediment sources and connectivity in Italian drainage basins. Earth Surf. Process. Landf. 2006, 31:1017-1034.
de Vente J., Verduyn R., Verstraeten G., Vanmaercke M., Poesen J. Factors controlling sediment yield at the catchment scale in NW Mediterranean geoecosystems. J. Soils Sediments 2011, 11:690-707.
de Vente J., Poesen J., Verstraeten G., Govers G., Vanmaercke M., Van Rompaey A., Arabkhedri M., Boix-Fayos C. Predicting soil erosion and sediment yield at regional scales: where do we stand?. Earth Sci. Rev. 2013, 127:16-29.
Densmore A.L., Hovius N. Topographic fingerprints of bedrock landslides. Geology 2000, 28:371-374.
Diaconu C. Probleme ale scurgerii aluviunilor pe râurile din România. St. de Hidrologie 1971, XXX. IMH, Bucureşti.
Diaconu C., Lǎzǎrescu D. Hidrologie 1965, Editura Didacticǎ şi Pedagogicǎ, Bucureşti.
Diaconu C., Serban P. Synthesis and Hydrological Regionalizations 1994, Editura Tehnica, Bucuresti, (388 pp.).
Diaconu C., Lǎzǎrescu D., Mociorniţa C. Aspecte hidrologice ale viiturilor pe unele râuri interioare din primǎvara anului 1970. Hidrotehnica 1970, nr. 12. (Bucureşti).
DiBiasi R., Whipple K., Heisath A., Ouimet W. Landscape form and millennial erosion rates in the San Gabriel Mountains, CA. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 2010, 289:134-144.
EEA Corine Land Cover 1990 raster data - version 13 (02/2010) Available online:, (last accessed: 15 July 2013). http://www.eea.europa.eu/data-and-maps/data/corine-land-cover-1990-raster.
Egholm D.L., Knudsen M.F., Sandford M. Lifespan of mountain ranges scaled by feedbacks between landsliding and erosion by rivers. Nature 2013, 498:475-478.
Fisher R.A. The distribution of the partial correlation coefficient. Metron 1924, 3:329-332.
Geological Institute of Romania, 1960. Geological Map of Romania, Scale 1/25000.
Hovius N., Meunier P., Ching-Weei L., Hongey C., Yue-Gau C., Dadson S., Ming-Jame H., Lines M. Prolonged seismically induced erosion and the mass balance of a large earthquake. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 2011, 304:347-355.
Huang M.Y.F., Montgomery D.R. Fluvial response to rapid episodic erosion by earthquake and typhoons, Tachia River, central Taiwan. Geomorphology 2012, 175(176):126-138.
Keefer D.K. Investigating landslides caused by earthquakes - a historical review. Surv. Geophys. 2002, 23:473-510.
Kirchner J.W., Ferrier K.L. Mainly in the plain. Nature 2013, 495:318-319.
Koons P.O., Upton P., Barker A.D. The influence of mechanical properties on the link between tectonic and topographic evolution. Geomorphology 2012, 137:168-180.
Larsen I.J., Montgomery D.R. Landslide erosion coupled to tectonics and river incision. Nat. Geosci. 2012, 5:468-473.
Lin J.-C., Petley D., Jen C.-H., Koh A., Hsu M.-L. Slope movements in a dynamic environment - a case study of Tachia River, Central Taiwan. Quat. Int. 2006, 147:103-112.
Lin W.-T., Lin C.-Y., Choun W.-C. Assessment of vegetation recovery and soil erosion at landslides caused by a catastrophic earthquake: a case study in Central Taiwan. Ecol. Eng. 2006, 28:79-89.
Lungu D., Arion C., Aldea A., Vacareanu R. Reprezentation of seismic action in the new Romanian code for design of earthquake resistant buildings P 100-2003. 13th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering Vancouver, B.C., Canada August 1-6, 2004 Paper No. 1796 2004.
Malamud B.D., Turcotte D.L., Guzzetti F., Reichenbach P. Landslides, earthquakes, and erosion. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 2004, 229:45-59.
Markus M., Demissie M. Predictability of annual sediment loads based on flood events. J. Hydraul. Eng. 2006, 11:354-361.
Merritt W., Letcher R., Jakeman A. A review of erosion and sediment transport models. Environ. Model. Softw. 2003, 18:761-799.
Meunier P., Hovius N., Haines J.A. Topographic site effects and the location of earthquake induced landslides. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 2008, 275:221-232.
Milliman J.D., Syvitski J.P.M. Geomorphic/tectonic control of sediment discharge to the ocean: the importance of small mountainous rivers. J. Geol. 1992, 100:525-544.
Moatar F., Person G., Meybeck M., Coynel A., Etcheber H., Crouzet P. The influence of contrasting suspended particulate matter transport regimes on the bias and precision of flux estimates. Sci. Total Environ. 2006, 370:515-531.
Molnar P., Anderson R.S., Anderson S.P. Tectonics, fracturing of rock, and erosion. J. Geophys. Res. 2007, 112:F03014. 10.1029/2005JF000433.
Montgomery D.R., Brandon M.T. Topographic controls on erosion rates in tectonically active mountain ranges. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 2002, 201:481-489.
Mustǎţea A. Viituri excepţionale pe teritoriul României 2005, NIHWM, Bucureşti.
Mutihac V., Ionesi L. Geologia României 1974, Ed. Ştiinţificǎ, Bucureşti.
Mutihac V., Stratulat M.I., Fechet R.M. Geologia Romaniei 2004, Editura Didactica si Pedagogica, R.A.
Nadal-Romero E., Martínez Murillo J., Vanmaercke M., Poesen J. Scale-dependency of sediment yield from badland areas in Mediterranean environments. Prog. Phys. Geogr. 2011, 35:297-332.
Nash J.E., Sutcliffe J.V. River flow forecasting through conceptual models part I - a discussion of principles. J. Hydrol. 1970, 10:282-290.
New M., Lister D., Hulme M., Makin I. A high-resolution data set of surface climate over global land areas. Clim. Res. 2002, 21:1-25.
NIEP (National Institute for Earth Physics, Romania) Romplus Catalogue, 2012 Available online:. http://www.infp.ro/catalog-seismic/evenimente.
NIHWM Instructions for hydrological stations and services. Instruction Manual by the National Institute of Hydrology and Water Management 1997, 122-125. (Bucharest).
Obreja F. The sediment transport of the Siret River during the floods from 2010. Studii şi cercetǎri de geografie şi protecţia mediului 2012, vol. XI, Issue 1:90-99. (June).
Olariu P., Obreja F., Obreja I. Unele aspecte privind tranzitul de aluviuni din bazinul hidrografic Trotuş şi de pe sectorul inferior al râului Siret în timpul viiturilor excepţionale din anii 1991 şi 2005. Sectiunea Geografie anul XVIII 2009.
Oncescu M.C., Bonjer K.P. A note on the depth recurrence and strain release of large intermediate Vrancea earthquakes. Tectonophysics 1997, 272:291-302.
Oncescu M.C., Marza V.I., Rizescu M., Pop M. The Romanian earthquake catalogue between 984-1997. Contributions from the First International Workshop on Vrancea Earthquakes, Bucharest, Romania, November 1-4, 1997 1999, 43-48. Kluwer Academic Publishers. F. Wenzel, D. Lungu (Eds.).
Owens P.N., Batalla R.J., Collins A.J., Gomez B., Hicks D.M., Horowitz A.J., Kondolf G.M., Marden M., Page M.J., Peacock D.H., Petticrew E.L., Salomons W., Trustrum N.A. Fine-grained sediment in River Systems: environmental significance and management issues. River Res. Appl. 2005, 21:693-717.
Parker G. Selective sorting and abrasion of river gravel. I: theory. J. Hydraul. Eng. 1991, 117:131-147.
Parker N.V. Hillslope memory and spatial and temporal distributions of earthquake-induced landslides 2013, (Durham theses), Durham University, (Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/7761).
Pearce A.J., Watson A.J. Effects of earthquake-induced landslides on sediment budget and transport over a 50-yr period. Geology 1986, 14:52-55.
Perşoiu I., Rǎdoane M. Spatial and temporal controls on historical channel responses - study of an atypical case: Someşu Mic River, Romania. Earth Surf. Process. Landf. 2011, 36:1391-1409.
Phillips J., Webb B., Walling D., Leeks G. Estimating the suspended sediment loads of rivers in the LOIS study area using infrequent samples. Hydrol. Process. 1999, 13:1035-1050.
Podani M., Zǎvoianu I. Cauzele şi efectele inundaţiilor produse în luna iulie 1991 în Moldova. Studii şi Cercetǎri de Geografie XXXIX 1992, Academia Romana, Bucureşti.
Portenga E.W., Bierman P.R. Understanding Earth's eroding surface with 10Be. GSA Today 2011, 24. 10.1130/G111A.1.
Rǎdoane M., Rǎdoane N. Dams, sediment sources and reservoir silting in Romania. Geomorphology 2005, 71:112-125.
Rǎdoane M., Rǎdoane N., Dumitriu D. Geomorphological evolution of longitudinal river profiles in the Carpathians. Geomorphology 2003, 50:293-306.
Rǎdoane N., Rǎdoane M., Olariu P., Dumitriu D. Efectele geomorfologice ale inundaţiilor din 28-29 iulie 2004 în bazine hidrografice mici din Valea Trotuşului. Geografia în contextul dezvoltǎrii durabile 2007, Universitatea "Babeş-Bolyai", Cluj-Napoca.
Rǎdoane M., Pandi G., Rǎdoane N. Contemporary bed elevation changes from the Eastern Carpathians. Carpathian J. Earth Environ. Sci. 2010, 5:49-60.
Rǎdoane M., Obreja F., Cristea I., Mihailǎ D. Changes in the channel-bed level of the eastern Carpathian rivers: climatic vs. human control over the last 50years. Geomorphology 2013, 193:91-111.
Radu C. Regimul seismic al regiunii Vrancea. SC GGG, Seria Geografie 1965, 3,2.
Raymond S., Moatar F., Meybeck M., Bustillo V. Choosing methods for estimating dissolved and particulate riverine fluxes from monthly sampling. Hydrol. Sci. J. 2013, 58:1326-1339.
Sandu I., Pescaru V.I., Poiana I. Clima Romaniei 2008, Editura Academiei Romane, Bucureşti.
Sǎndulescu M. Geotectonica României 1984, Ed. Tehnicǎ, Bucureşti.
Shedlock K., Giardini D., Grünthal G., Zhang P. The GSHAP global seismic hazard map. Seismol. Res. Lett. 2000, 71:679-686.
Steegen A., Govers G., Nachtergaele J., Takken I., Beuselinck L., Poesen J. Sediment export by water from an agricultural catchment in the Loam Belt of central Belgium. Geomorphology 2000, 33:25-36.
Steel R.G.D., Torrie J.H. Principles and Procedures of Statistics 1960, McGraw-Hill, New York, (672 pp.).
Syvitski J.P.M., Milliman J. Geology, geography, and humans battle for dominance over the delivery of fluvial sediment to the coastal ocean. J. Geol. 2007, 115:1-19.
Vanacker V., Von Blanckenburg F., Govers G., Molina A., Poesen J., Deckers J., Kubik P. Restoring dense vegetation can slow mountain erosion to near natural benchmark levels. Geology 2007, 35:303-306.
Vanmaercke M., Zenebe A., Poesen J., Nyssen J., Verstraeten G., Deckers J. Sediment dynamics and the role of flash floods in sediment export from medium-sized catchments: a case study from the semi-arid tropical highlands in northern Ethiopia. J. Soils Sediments 2010, 10:611-627.
Vanmaercke M., Poesen J., Rǎdoane M., Govers G., Ocakoglu F., Arabkhedri M. How long should we measure? An exploration of factors controlling the inter-annual variation of catchment sediment yield. J. Soils Sediments 2012, 12:603-619.
Vanmaercke M., Kettner A., Van Den Eeckhaut M., Poesen J., Mamaliga A., Verstraeten G., Rǎdoane M., Obreja F., Upton P., Syvitski J., Govers G. Moderate seismic activity affects contemporary sediment yields. Prog. Phys. Geogr 2014, (in press). 10.1177/0309133313516160.
Walling D. Assessing the accuracy of suspended sediment rating curves for a small basin. Water Resour. Res. 1977, 13:531-538.
Whittaker A.C., Attal M., Allen P.A. Characterising the origin, nature and fate of sediment exported from catchments perturbed by active tectonics. Basin Res. 2010, 22:809-828.
Wilcoxon F. Individual comparisons by ranking methods. Biom. Bull. 1945, 1:80-83.
Willenbring J.K., Codilean A.T., McElroy B. Earth is (mostly) flat: apportionment of the flux of continental sediment over millennial time scales. Geology 2013, 41:343-346.
Yanites B.J., Tucker G.E., Mueller K.J., Chen Y.-C. How rivers react to large earthquakes: evidence from central Taiwan. Geology 2010, 38:639-642.
Yanites B.J., Tucker G.E., Hsu H.-L., Chen C.-C. The influence of sediment cover variability on long-term river incision rates: An example from the Peikang River, central Taiwan. J. Geophys. Res. 2011, 116:F03016. 10.1029/2010JF001933.