FIELD EXPERIMENTS TO EVALUATE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN SEISMIC SIGNALS AND SEDIMENT TRANSPORT IN HIGH-LATITUDE RIVERS

High latitude and high-altitude rivers are experiencing rapid changes in a warming climate, including fast rates of erosion. In Sweden, rivers are typically ice-covered at least a third of the year. Increased precipitation, unseasonable ice thaws, and changing ice dynamics have led to flooding and ice jams which significantly impact riverbank erosion and sediment transport. This erosion has associated effects on water quality and ecosystem processes but has largely remained understudied. It is important to understand how these processes are evolving in a changing climate. However, measurement of sediment transport and bank erosion under ice or during ice-breakup is difficult. Fortunately, new advancements in environmental seismology techniques can quantify sub-ice sediment transport and changes during ice break-up. Together, seismologic monitoring and traditional measurements of erosion and sediment transport in rivers with and without ice cover can be used to disentangle the effects of ice breakup and high flows.

I am joining a team of researchers at the University of Umeå in Sweden. I will work under the instruction of Lina Sjöberg, professor for the department of ecology and environmental science and fluvial geomorphology researcher of rivers and streams. The project will use environmental seismology to quantify the role of ice on sediment transport in different river ice regimes. Our goal during this season will be to install seismic networks along several rivers spanning a climatic gradient in northern Sweden (60- 68° N). There will be two field sites, one that is located on the Sävarån River (63°N) and the other that is located on the Miellajokka River (68°N). I will be responsible for analyzing initial summertime ice-free datasets that evaluate seismic velocity and sediment transport signals along our gradient of field sites.The initial ice-free dataset that we will collect will become an important baseline for future investigation. This hands-on experience will provide exposure to comprehensive fieldwork in a truly unique environment that is not available in the United States. The work that will be completed this summer will provide valuable information on sediment transport in two important Swedish river systems.