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Factors Controlling Sediment Load in The Central Anatolia Region of Turkey: Ankara River Basin

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Abstract

Better understanding of the factors controlling sediment load at a catchment scale can facilitate estimation of soil erosion and sediment transport rates. The research summarized here enhances understanding of correlations between potential control variables on suspended sediment loads. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool was used to simulate flow and sediment at the Ankara River basin. Multivariable regression analysis and principal component analysis were then performed between sediment load and controlling variables. The physical variables were either directly derived from a Digital Elevation Model or from field maps or computed using established equations. Mean observed sediment rate is 6697 ton/year and mean sediment yield is 21 ton/y/km² from the gage. Soil and Water Assessment Tool satisfactorily simulated observed sediment load with Nash-Sutcliffe efficiency, relative error, and coefficient of determination (R²) values of 0.81, −1.55, and 0.93, respectively in the catchment. Therefore, parameter values from the physically based model were applied to the multivariable regression analysis as well as principal component analysis. The results indicate that stream flow, drainage area, and channel width explain most of the variability in sediment load among the catchments. The implications of the results, efficient siltation management practices in the catchment should be performed to stream flow, drainage area, and channel width.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the anonymous reviewers and the Editor for their constructive comments and suggestions. The author also thanks the Ministry of Education (Turkey) and the Colorado Water Institute (CWI), an affiliate of Colorado State University, for financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography, Sakarya University, Sakarya, 54187, Turkey

    Umit Duru

  2. Department of Geosciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, 80523, USA

    Ellen Wohl

  3. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, 15916-34311, Iran

    Mehdi Ahmadi

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  1. Umit Duru
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Correspondence to Umit Duru.

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Duru, U., Wohl, E. & Ahmadi, M. Factors Controlling Sediment Load in The Central Anatolia Region of Turkey: Ankara River Basin. Environmental Management 59, 826–841 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-016-0818-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-016-0818-8

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