Premium
Discharge and suspended sediment transport in the Ayeyarwady River, Myanmar: centennial and decadal changes
Author(s) -
Furuichi T.,
Win Z.,
Wasson R. J.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
hydrological processes
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.222
H-Index - 161
eISSN - 1099-1085
pISSN - 0885-6087
DOI - 10.1002/hyp.7295
Subject(s) - sediment , hydrology (agriculture) , discharge , plateau (mathematics) , centennial , delta , pacific decadal oscillation , geology , water discharge , river delta , sediment transport , physical geography , environmental science , climatology , drainage basin , el niño southern oscillation , geography , geomorphology , archaeology , mathematical analysis , geotechnical engineering , cartography , mathematics , aerospace engineering , engineering
Among the large rivers rising on the Tibetan Plateau and adjacent high mountains, the discharge and suspended sediment load of the Ayeyarwady (Irrawaddy) River are the least well known. Data collected between 1969 and 1996 at Pyay (Prome) are analysed to provide the best available modern estimate of discharge (379 ± 47 × 10 9 m 3 /year) and suspended sediment load (325 ± 57 × 10 6 t/year) for the river upstream of the delta head. A statistical comparison with data collected in the nineteenth century (1871 to 1879) shows discharge has significantly decreased in the last ∼100 years. Regression and correlation analyses between discharge in the modern period and indices of El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) show a relationship. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.