Sediment delivery from tropical rivers
Lancelot Pinta defended a master degree (M2) thesis entitled “Impact of rainfall erosivity and land cover change on total organic carbon accumulation in sediments of a water reservoir in Thailand” on Thursday June 28th at Sorbonne Université (Paris). The objectives of this study were to determine, the amount of catchment-derived organic carbon stored in sediments of the Mae Thang reservoir (Phrae province) of North Thailand and to relate its accumulation with land cover change and rainfall regime between 2004 and 2016. Sediment delivery to the lake was thoroughly enhanced, up to ca. 35,5 Mg.ha-1.yr-1, with respect to the preceding 1995-2006 period (ca. 19.6 Mg.ha-1.yr-1, Thothong et al., Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment 140, 521-533, 2011). This shift was attributed to the continuous extension of maize cultivation in the drainage basin. The total organic carbon deposition rate reached ca. 51,3 MgC.ha-1.yr-1 in 2017 vs. ca. 23.8 MgC.ha-1.yr-1 in 2006. In addition, total organic carbon accumulation weighted by rainfall erosivity could also be correlated to cultivated land extension in the catchment since impoundment in 1995.
This internship was supervised by Sylvain Huon (UPMC) and benefited from the help of Jean-Louis Janeau (IRD) on the field (M-TROPICS/MSEC).
