Suspended Sediment Transport in Serbian River

Abstract

Soil erosion as well as sedimentation and transportation processes are complex in Serbia. The processes of erosion are widely distributed and determined by quite favorable natural conditions. Examination of suspended sediment load transport in Serbia is very popular recently. Frequent extreme meteorological and hydrological conditions imply permanent loss of land. In this study, the inter-annual sediment load is examined in the Morava River Basin. Suspended load (Qs) monitoring was carried out by Met office at 16 profiles. Identified trends were obtained using the nonparametric Mann-Kendall test. Average transport of suspended sediment within the Morava drainage basin is ranged from 15.1 to 160.5 t/km2/year. The results of the Mann-Kendall test showed different trends. Six stations identified a negative trend significant at 0.001, at three stations significance at 0.1, while four stations didn’t reveal any significant result. The average negative trend in suspended sediment load is ranged from 0.03 to 7.6 t/km2/year. On the other hand, on three stations a positive trend is identified. The differences can be attributed to the impact of climate change as well as anthropogenic factors. Increasing rainfall trend may have an impact on suspended sediment load on specific stations. On the other hand, extensive years of erosion control measures, as well as the depopulation of rural settlements in some parts of the basin led to reduced intensity of the erosion as well as suspended sediment load transportation.