Variations in the effective and bankfull discharge for suspended sediment transport due to dam construction

doi:10.1007/s11707-021-0874-0

Front. Earth Sci.

2022, Vol. 16

Issue (2) : 446-464 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-021-0874-0

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Variations in the effective and bankfull discharge for suspended sediment transport due to dam construction

Fan CHEN^1,², Li CHEN¹(

), Wei ZHANG¹, Jing YUAN³, Kanghe ZHANG¹

¹. State Key Laboratory of Water Resources and Hydropower Engineering Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
². Changjiang Institute of Survey, Planning, Design and Research, Wuhan 430010, China
³. Bureau of Hydrology, Changjiang Water Resources Commission, Wuhan 430010, China

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Abstract

A varied class method is applied to calculate the effective discharges and their variations after the Three Gorges Dam (TGD) construction based on the mean daily flow discharge and suspended sediment concentration field data from 1981 to 2016. For comparison, the bankfull discharges are also determined according to the cross-section profiles and flow discharge-stage relations. Our results show that a bimodal effective discharge curve usually exists at the fixed sites, which generates two effective discharges (Q_e₁ and Q_e₂) within the moderate flow range. Under the quasi-equilibrium circumstances of the pre-dam period, effective discharges are closely related to the mean annual runoff, with a narrow range of regional variations in occurrence frequency. Our analyses draw the conclusion that the relatively higher unsaturation degrees of the pre-dam effective discharges caused by dam interception and riverbed coarsening are the primary cause of the increase in effective discharges from Yichang to Shashi, while the more frequent low and medium discharges due to flow regulation drive the decrease in effective discharges from Jianli to Datong. The slightly elevated flood levels and descending bankfull levels collaboratively result in the decrease of bankfull discharges from Yichang to Shashi, while the lowered bed elevation causes the increase in bankfull discharges from Luoshan to Datong. Overall, the bankfull discharge in the Middle and Lower Yangtze River is larger than effective discharge and approaches the 1.5- year recurrence interval discharge.

Keywords effective discharge bankfull discharge unsaturation degree flow-sediment regimes Middle and Lower Yangtze River Three Gorges Dam

Corresponding Author(s): Li CHEN

About author: Tongcan Cui and Yizhe Hou contributed equally to this work.

Online First Date: 30 April 2021 Issue Date: 26 August 2022

Cite this article:

Fan CHEN,Li CHEN,Wei ZHANG, et al. Variations in the effective and bankfull discharge for suspended sediment transport due to dam construction[J]. Front. Earth Sci., 2022, 16(2): 446-464.

URL:

https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/10.1007/s11707-021-0874-0
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/Y2022/V16/I2/446

Fig.1 Sketch maps of (a) the Yangtze River Basin; (b) the study reach from Yichang to Datong; and (c) the schematic plot of determining the bankfull level at the fixed sites.

Fig.2 Field data of the daily average (a) flow discharge; (b) water stage; and (c) suspended sediment concentration during 1981?2016.

Fig.3 Flow frequency distribution of the (a) pre-dam and (b) post-dam period.

Fig.4 Temporal variations in (a) water volume and (b) sediment load.

Fig.5 Flow discharge versus water stage relationships at (a) Yichang; (b) Shashi; (c) Jianli; (d) Luoshan; (e) Hankou; (f) Datong.

Tab.1 Coefficients of Kolmorov-Smirnov (d) for different fitting functions

Fig.6 Recurrence intervals of annual maximum peak discharges (a) from Yichang to Jianli and (b) from Luoshan to Datong.

Fig.7 Recurrence intervals of annual maximum peak discharges (a) from Yichang to Jianli; (b) from Luoshan to Datong.

Fig.8 Effective discharge curves at (a) Yichang; (b) Shashi; (c) Jianli; (d) Luoshan; (e) Hankou; (f) Datong.

Fig.9 Flow duration curves of the (a) pre-dam; (b) post-dam period.

Tab.2 Effective, bankfull and other characteristic discharges

Fig.10 Temporal variations in (a) bankfull levels; and (b) bankfull discharges after dam construction.

Fig.11 Flow discharge versus daily class-based sediment transport rate relationship at (a) Yichang; (b) Shashi; (c) Jianli; (d) Luoshan; (e) Hankou; and (f) Datong.

Fig.12 Relationship between the critical discharge from Fig.11 (Q_c) and bankfull discharge (Q_b).

Fig.13 The variation in the unsaturation degree of different flow discharges. The most unsaturated flow discharges (Q_u) are marked with solid dots and the flow discharge ranges with an increased occurrence frequency are in bold.

Fig.14 Relationship between the clossness to dam and the absolute difference (Q_e - Q_u), and relative difference ((Q_e - Q_u)/ Q_e).

Fig.15 Relationship between the mean annual runoff volume and effective discharge (Q_e).

Fig.16 Relationship between closeness to dam and relative change percentage of sediment load after damming.

Fig.17 Relationships between bankfull discharge (Q_b) and the 1.5- year (Q_1.5) and 2.0-year (Q_2.0) recurrence interval discharges.

Fig.18 Relationships between effective discharge (Q_e) and bankfull discharge (Q_b).

Fig.19 Accumulative sediment load proportions of the effective discharges (Q_e₁ and Q_e₂) and bankfull discharge (Q_b) at the hydrometric stations.

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