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| R Number: R6868 | |
| Contractor: University of Exeter | |
| Dates: 1 September 1997 to 31 August 2000 | |
| The project aims to explore the potential for integrating environmental radionuclide tracers with conventional monitoring techniques in catchment sediment budget investigations in developing countries and to produce guidelines for associated monitoring strategies. The project is based on a Zambian case study and involves collaboration between the University of Exeter, the UK Institute of Hydrology and the University of Zambia. | |
| Executive Summary | ||
| Objectives | ||
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Provision of improved methods for assessing the mobilisation, storage and transport of sediment within drainage basins and for establishing catchment sediment budgets
1. Development of improved methods for establishing catchment sediment budgets 2. Local capacity building in Zambia 3. Contribution to International Atomic Energy Coordinated Research Project on the use of environmental radionuclides in erosion and sedimentation investigations 4. Production of technical manual and scientific papers |
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| Methodology | ||
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The project is based on a case study of the 63 km2 Kaleya catchment located near Mazabuka in southern Zambia. The catchment has been instrumented with two monitoring stations equipped with data loggers for recording river levels and suspended sediment concentration (via turbidity) and automatic water samplers. This instrumentation provides basic data on temporal and spatial variations in sediment yield. It is being complemented by studies aimed at exploiting the potential for using environmental radionuclides as sediment tracers, to assemble information on suspended sediment sources, rates of erosion associated with different land use types and sediment storage in slope and floodplain sinks. Particular emphasis is being placed on the use of the fallout radionuclide caesium-137, produced by the atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons in the period from the mid 1950s to the late 1960s. The data collected will be used to establish a sediment budget for the Kaleya catchment. The methods developed will be documented for more wider application in developing countries. |
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| Further Information | ||
| Collaborating Organisations | ||
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Contact Details for Further Information
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Professor D.E. Walling |
Department of Geography University of Exeter Amory Building Rennes Drive Exeter EX4 4RJ
Tel: +44 1392 263345 |