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Within‐storm variations in runoff and sediment export from a rapidly eroding coal‐refuse deposit
Author(s) -
Smith Laurence C.,
Olyphant Greg A.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
earth surface processes and landforms
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.294
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1096-9837
pISSN - 0197-9337
DOI - 10.1002/esp.3290190407
Subject(s) - sediment , storm , surface runoff , geology , hydrology (agriculture) , environmental science , flux (metallurgy) , erosion , sedimentation , oceanography , geomorphology , geotechnical engineering , ecology , materials science , metallurgy , biology
Measurements of rainfall, runoff and sediment export from a barren deposit of coal mine refuse in south‐western Indiana were collected during three storms in the summer and autumn of 1990. Interfluve sheetwash, sediment mass flux, sediment concentration and, to a lesser extent, trunk gully discharge all responded quickly to changes in rainfall intensity. Grain‐size distributions varied considerably during storms, containing exclusively fine‐grained sediment at low sediment discharges but very large quantities of coarse (> 2mm) sediment at peak sediment discharges. Although data from a fairly long, multipulsed storm indicate that sediment production is limited by supply, the imbricated layer of flat chips that exists at the surface of the deposit is apparently mobilized during most high‐intensity pulses of rainfall, thereby producing large volumes of coarse sediment during summer thunderstorms.