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ARTICLE IN PRESS
GEOMOR-02336; No of Pages 10

Geomorphology xx (2007) xxx – xxx

www.elsevier.com/locate/geomorph

Relationships between suspended sediment concentrations and

discharge in two small research basins in a mountainous
Mediterranean area (Vallcebre, Eastern Pyrenees)
Montserrat Soler a,⁎, Jérôme Latron b , Francesc Gallart a
a
Institute of Earth Sciences “Jaume Almera”, CSIC. Lluis Solé i Sabarís s/n, 08028 Barcelona, Spain
b
Pyrenean Institute of Ecology, CSIC, Montañana 1005, Zaragoza E50059, Spain
Received 8 February 2006; received in revised form 19 July 2006; accepted 23 February 2007

Abstract

The relationships between suspended sediment concentrations and discharge were studied at the Can Vila (0.56 km2) and Ca
l'Isard (1.32 km2) sub-basins of the Vallcebre research area (Eastern Pyrenees) during a period of 5 years that included 67 events of
diverse magnitude. Abandoned agricultural fields and forests are the main land use in the Can Vila basin, whereas the Ca l'Isard basin
is mainly forested, though there are also some heavily eroded landscapes (badlands). The most frequent events were of a single
discharge peak, although double and multiple peaked events were also recorded. Clockwise (positive) hysteretic loops occurred in
both catchments, mainly during the wet seasons when precipitation was of moderate intensity (average of 18 mm h− 1) and baseflow
before the event was rather high (average for Ca l'Isard 8.1 l s− 1 km− 2, and for Can Vila 11.76 l s− 1 km− 2); the bulk of stream
discharge came from saturated areas, whereas sediments came mainly from the stream channels. Counter-clockwise (negative)
hysteretic loops were much more frequent in the Ca l'Isard basin, mainly in summer when rainfall intensity was high (average of
32.5 mm h− 1) and baseflow was low (average for Ca l'Isard 0.94 l s− 1 km− 2 and for Can Vila 0.73 l s− 1 km− 2); most of the water and
sediment came from the badlands. Eight-shaped loops occurred in transition periods, mainly in the Ca l'Isard basin.
© 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Eastern Pyrenees; Suspended sediment; Hysteretic loops; Badlands; Sediment sources; Runoff generation

1. Introduction logical functioning of the catchments depending on both

Studies of sediment dynamics and transport in
Mediterranean mountain basins are of relevance due to
the seasonality of the Mediterranean climate (rainy
equinoxes and dry summers) and to the different kinds
of land cover and land uses in these areas. These char-
acteristics induce marked annual variations in the hydro-
⁎ Corresponding author. Fax: +34 934110012.
E-mail addresses: msoler@ija.csic.es (M. Soler),
jlatron@ija.csic.es (J. Latron), fgallart@ija.csic.es (F. Gallart).
0169-555X/$ - see front matter © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2007.02.032
precipitation characteristics and antecedent conditions,
which may correspond to changes in the spatial
distribution of water and sediment source areas (Gallart
et al., 2002; Seeger et al., 2004; Gallart et al., 2005a).
The continuous monitoring of discharge (Q) and
suspended sediment concentration (SSC) in streams allows
not only an improved estimation of sediment yield (Walling
and Webb, 1988), but may also provide some help for
understanding the runoff and sediment production process-
es active in the catchment (e.g. Williams, 1989; Sammori
et al., 2004).

Please cite this article as: Soler, M. et al. Relationships between suspended sediment concentrations and discharge in two small research basins
in a mountainous Mediterranean .... Geomorphology (2007), doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2007.02.032
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2 M. Soler et al. / Geomorphology xx (2007) xxx–xxx

Clockwise SSC–Q hysteretic loops appear when
sediment concentration transported in suspension is higher
during the rising limb. This is usually caused by the
flushing of sediments previously deposited in the channel
and brought into suspension because of the increase of
flow energy, often associated with the breakdown of the
armouring of bed sediments. Counter-clockwise SSC–Q
hysteretic loops occur when a higher sediment concentra-
tion occurs after the discharge peak, showing that the
sediment comes from a more remote source (e.g. Klein,
1984; García Ruiz et al., 2000; Regüés et al., 2000a,
Steegen et al., 2000).
In a small catchment in the Central Pyrenees, Seeger
et al. (2004) showed that usual runoff conditions led to
clockwise loops, whereas less frequent counter-clockwise
loops were related to events with very wet antecedent
conditions, when most of the catchment area was
hydrologically connected and contributing to runoff and
sediment production. In this catchment eight-shaped
loops were shown to be related to more complex events
occurring after dry antecedent conditions. In a small
mountainous basin in the Dolomites, however, Lenzi
and Marchi (2000) did not detect any relationship be-
tween seasonal characteristics and the type of hysteresis
loops.
The purpose of this paper is to explore discharge and
SSC characteristics at the event scale in two adjacent
small catchments with distinct land use, in order to
establish the relationships between the different kinds of
SSC–Q loops, the characteristics of the events and the
hydrological and geomorphic processes operating within
the catchment. This study was undertaken using data from
October 1999 to September 2004.
2. The study area
The Vallcebre experimental catchments (Fig. 1) are
located in the headwaters of the Llobregat River, in the
south-eastern Pyrenees, at altitudes between 1100 and
1650 m a.s.l. The bedrock in this area consists mainly of
a continental formation, attributed to the Cretaceous–
Palaeocene transition (Feist and Colombo, 1983) and
dominated by smectite-rich clays that facilitate mass
movements and badland erosion. Mean annual precip-
itation is 890 mm, with a mean annual temperature of
9 °C. Autumn and spring are the more rainy seasons,
whereas winter is the season with the least precipitation
(Gallart et al., 2002).
The Ca l'Isard sub-catchment (1.32 km2) is mostly
forested (70%), while scattered vegetation and meadows

Fig. 1. Location of the Vallcebre basins.

Please cite this article as: Soler, M. et al. Relationships between suspended sediment concentrations and discharge in two small research basins
in a mountainous Mediterranean .... Geomorphology (2007), doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2007.02.032
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
M. Soler et al. / Geomorphology xx (2007) xxx–xxx
on old agricultural areas cover 10% of the area, and
badlands 4.5%. The bedrock of half the catchment area
(54%) consists of moderately karstified limestones, whose
bare outcrops account for 7.1% of basin area (Latron,
2003). Stream length is 1.7 km, with a mean hillslope
gradient of 33%.
Can Vila (0.56 km2) is a sub-catchment mainly
covered by meadows on old agricultural fields (52%).
Forest is the second most common land cover (33%). The
limestone bedrock outcrops in scarce bare rocky areas
(3%), and the extent of badland-like eroded landscapes
(0.9%) is smaller than in the Ca l'Isard catchment. Stream
length is 1.1 km, with a mean hillslope gradient of 25%.
The most common plant communities in the Vallcebre
catchments are Pinus sylvestris forests and pastures,
ranging from xerophilous to mesophilous types in relation
to slope aspect and topographic position. In the past, most
of the south-facing areas were deforested and terraced
for agricultural purposes, while at present they support
pastures mainly composed of short shrubs and xerophi-
lous grass. In contrast, denser pine stands and more
mesophilous pastures develop on north-facing slopes.
The hydrological functioning of the Vallcebre catch-
ments is largely controlled by antecedent wetness condi-
tions (Gallart et al., 2002; Latron, 2003). During summer,
impervious areas and badlands are the only runoff sources
for small ephemeral floods when intense rainstorms fall on
dry soils. At the end of the dry season, large rainfall events
produce significant runoff, because of the formation of
patches of soil saturation by local perched aquifers. Finally,
during most of the year, saturated areas occur in downslope
locations and are the main source of runoff (Latron and
Gallart, 2007). Baseflow may account for about 50% of the
total annual flow.
Sediment yield from these catchments is very low
(4 Mg km− 2 year− 1) when eroded areas are small and
disconnected from the drainage net, and when both the
good condition of vegetation cover and the old terraced
structure reduce erosion processes (Llorens et al., 1997).
Nevertheless, when there are heavily eroded clayey
outcrops (badlands) of sufficient size, sediment yield is
about three orders of magnitude higher. The activity of
these badlands is closely related to physical weathering
in winter and erosion by intense rainstorms in summer,
when large amounts of silty sediments are delivered to
the stream network (Regüés et al., 1995; 2000b; Soler
et al., 2003). However, there is a delay in the sediment
conveyance, as the main sediment transporting events at
the catchment scale occur during the wet season,
especially in autumn when high discharge events are
produced by saturation mechanisms (Gallart et al., 2002;
2005b).
Please cite this article as: Soler, M. et al. Relationships between suspended sediment concentrations and discharge in two small research basins
in a mountainous Mediterranean .... Geomorphology (2007), doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2007.02.032
3
3. Materials and methods
For this study, two gauging stations equipped for
monitoring water and sediment discharge were used. The
gauging station of the Ca l'Isard sub-catchment is a
concrete rectangular weir, equipped with water level and
temperature sensors, an automatic ISCO 2700 water sam-
pler, and an OBS-3 D&A infra-red backscattering tur-
bidity sensor. In addition, a Mobrey MSM 40 ultrasonic
beam attenuation suspended sediment sensor allowed the
continuous recording of sediment concentrations up to
240 g l− 1. A DT Data Electronics data-logger was used to
record the readings, at 20 min time step during dormant
spells and at 2 min time step during events; it was also
used to trigger the water sampler during events. At Can
Vila the gauging station is a V-notch control weir, with the
same equipment as at Ca l'Isard. The use of an ultrasonic
sensor was, however, not necessary here as the highest
sediment concentrations were correctly measured by the
infra-red turbidity sensor.
The turbidity and ultrasonic sensors were calibrated in
the laboratory using samples taken from the streams and
considering the expected range of sediment grain sizes
(Regüés et al., 2002). These calibrations were periodically
revised using stream water samples taken during the study
events. Sediment transport was calculated using the con-
tinuous readings from the sensors, or integrating the
concentrations of water samples when the sensors mal-
functioned. All events that transported more than 10 kg of
suspended sediment were considered in the analysis.
This study was undertaken using data from October
1999 to September 2004, which included one dry year
(1999–2000) and one wet year (2003–2004). The
characteristics of the events were described using common
hydrological variables, as well as some time features of the
hydrographs and sedigraphs:
Flood time (Tf): is the time duration (minutes)
between the rise of the hydrograph and the return
point to the level before the event.
Response time (Tr): is the time (minutes) between the
gravity centre of the hyetograph and the peak of the
hydrograph.
Sediment precedence time (Ts): is the time (minutes)
between the peak of the sedigraph and the peak of the
hydrograph. It may be negative when the peak of
concentration arrives after the peak of discharge.
The rainfall kinetic energy was calculated with the
Wischmeier and Smith formula (Regüés et al., 2000b).
Statistical analyses, such as analysis of variance, was
carried out using SPSS software. The analysis of the
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4 M. Soler et al. / Geomorphology xx (2007) xxx–xxx

relationships between discharge (Q) and suspended 4. Results

sediment concentration (SSC) was performed using the
hysteretic patterns described by Williams (1989). Com-
plex multi-peaked floods were not included in the
analysis.
In the text, wet periods refer to autumn and spring
and dry periods to summer and winter.
The main runoff and sediment transport events
measured in both catchments may be observed in Fig. 2.
During summer, runoff was limited but sediment transport
was relevant because of the high intensity of the
rainstorms. Sediment concentrations were irregular, as

Fig. 2. Runoff and suspended sediment transport events during the five years 1999 to 2004.

Please cite this article as: Soler, M. et al. Relationships between suspended sediment concentrations and discharge in two small research basins
in a mountainous Mediterranean .... Geomorphology (2007), doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2007.02.032
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
M. Soler et al. / Geomorphology xx (2007) xxx–xxx 5

Table 1
Annual values of the hydrological response at the gauging stations
Hydrological year 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004
Isard Vila Isard Vila Isard Vila Isard Vila Isard Vila
Days with runoff 218 265 279 282 272 278 293 275 361 354
Runoff (mm) 156.7 206.3 91.9 347.5 78.4 208.9 81.1 221.3 134.4 330.2
Runoff (%) 21.0 29.5 10.7 40.6 9.6 25.6 10.6 29.0 13.6 33.4
Daily discharge (l s− 1) 6.5 3.8 3.8 6.2 3.3 3.0 3.1 4.9 5.7 5.9
Chemical denudation (Mg ha− 1 year− 1) 0.4 1.2 1.4 4.3 1.2 3.0 1.2 2.9 1.9 4.4
Sediment yield (Mg ha− 1 year− 1) 0.4 0.1 3.0 0.1 5.6 0.2 4.1 0.3 6.6 0.4
Maximum concentration (g l− 1) 25.7 3.2 95.7 1.9 173.3 7.2 155.9 6.3 174.2 8.6
Days with precipitation 94 94 133 133 117 117 122 122 131 131
Precipitation (mm) 698.9 698.9 856.6 856.6 815.6 815.6 764.5 764.5 990.0 990.0

shown by the varying transport–runoff ratios. Looking at
longer term records, most sediment transport takes place
during autumn (Gallart et al., 2002; 2005b) although
during the period analysed, there were no severe autumn
events (according to a log-normal distribution the
maximum suspended sediment transport recorded would
have had a recurrence of 0.6 years, Soler et al., in press).
At Ca l'Isard, the maximum suspended sediment
concentration, observed in June 2004, was 174 g l− 1
and eight events have transported more than 100 Mg
km− 2 representing 62% of total sediment load during the
five year period. The extreme event of 26th February 2003
transported 35% of the sediment load for the whole period
at Can Vila and 19% at Ca l'Isard.

Table 2
Correlation coefficients between the analysed variables
Ca l'Isard
P Ke Ix Qb Qx R Rc S Cx Ft Rt St
P precipitation 1 0.96 − 0.12 0.04 0.39 0.60 0.15 0.55 0.16 0.48 0.17 0.55
Ke kinetic energy 0.96 1 0.08 0.04 0.44 0.56 0.14 0.56 0.23 0.40 0.09 0.50
Ix maximum intensity − 0.12 0.08 1 − 0.21 0.00 − 0.24 −0.25 − 0.01 0.40 −0.33 − 0.28 − 0.19
Qb baseflow 0.04 0.04 − 0.21 1 0.47 0.39 0.51 0.17 − 0.07 −0.02 − 0.11 − 0.02
Qx peak discharge 0.39 0.44 0.00 0.47 1 0.77 0.75 0.57 0.11 0.05 − 0.09 0.23
R runoff 0.60 0.56 − 0.24 0.39 0.77 1 0.77 0.47 0.01 0.45 0.07 0.53
Rc runoff coefficient 0.15 0.14 − 0.25 0.51 0.75 0.77 1 0.22 − 0.13 0.15 − 0.05 0.18
S sediment load 0.55 0.56 − 0.01 0.17 0.57 0.47 0.22 1 0.51 0.12 − 0.05 0.16
Cx maximum concentration 0.16 0.23 0.40 − 0.07 0.11 0.01 −0.13 0.51 1 −0.24 − 0.22 − 0.05
Ft flood time 0.48 0.40 − 0.33 − 0.02 0.05 0.45 0.15 0.12 − 0.24 1 0.32 0.34
Rt response time 0.17 0.09 − 0.28 − 0.11 − 0.09 0.07 −0.05 − 0.05 − 0.22 0.32 1 0.23
Ts sediment precedence time 0.55 0.50 − 0.19 − 0.02 0.23 0.53 0.18 0.16 − 0.05 0.34 0.23 1

Can Vila
P Ke Ix Qb a Qx R Rc S Cx Ft Rt St
P precipitation 1 0.98 0.08 0.15 0.56 0.66 0.44 0.39 0.15 0.39 − 0.10 0.30
Ke kinetic energy 0.98 1 0.25 0.06 0.54 0.57 0.35 0.36 0.28 0.34 − 0.16 0.23
Ix maximum intensity 0.08 0.25 1 − 0.41 0.08 − 0.15 −0.21 0.02 0.59 −0.04 − 0.36 − 0.19
Qb baseflowa 0.15 0.06 − 0.41 1 0.65 0.54 0.71 0.61 0.19 −0.30 0.09 0.04
Qx peak discharge 0.56 0.54 0.08 0.65 1 0.82 0.78 0.89 0.50 0.02 − 0.26 0.17
R runoff 0.66 0.57 − 0.15 0.54 0.82 1 0.91 0.72 0.15 0.32 − 0.11 0.43
Rc runoff coefficient 0.44 0.35 − 0.21 0.71 0.78 0.91 1 0.66 0.12 0.34 − 0.18 0.25
S sediment load 0.39 0.36 0.02 0.61 0.89 0.72 0.66 1 0.54 0.00 − 0.10 0.30
Cx maximum concentration 0.15 0.28 0.59 0.19 0.50 0.15 0.12 0.54 1 −0.09 − 0.27 − 0.02
Ft flood time 0.39 0.34 − 0.04 − 0.30 0.02 0.32 0.34 0.00 − 0.09 1 0.13 0.18
Rt response time − 0.10 −0.16 − 0.36 0.09 − 0.26 − 0.11 −0.18 − 0.10 − 0.27 0.13 1 0.52
Ts sediment precedence time 0.30 0.23 − 0.19 0.04 0.17 0.43 0.25 0.30 − 0.02 0.18 0.52 1
Coefficients in bold are significant at the 0.01 level and coefficients in italics at the 0.05 level.
a
One event with small precipitation and very high antecedent baseflow was discarded.

Please cite this article as: Soler, M. et al. Relationships between suspended sediment concentrations and discharge in two small research basins
in a mountainous Mediterranean .... Geomorphology (2007), doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2007.02.032
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Table 3 the variables considered. Runoff coefficient was well

Cross-correspondence between the number and types of hysteresis
loops of the events recorded at both stations
Can Vila
Positive Negative Eight No event Total
Ca l'Isard Positive 12 2 1 7 22
Negative 4 2 0 15
Eight 11 1 3 9 24
Total 27 5 4 31
The months of November and April saw the greatest
number of flood event. In contrast, none occurred in
January and February except the exceptional flood noted
above.
4.1. Ca l'Isard
Table 1 shows the annual values of the hydrological
response of the basin for each year. During the study
period, mean annual runoff from the Ca l'Isard sub-basin
was 108.5 mm, mean daily discharge was 4.5 l s− 1 and
mean runoff coefficient was 13.1%. The low runoff
coefficient was attributable to the loss through deep
percolation in the limestone area. Over the period of
5 years, total sediment transport was 4.3 Mg, from that,
44% was produced in wet periods and 56% in dry periods,
although these figures were strongly affected by the
unusual event of February 2003.
During the study period, 69 floods were registered at
Ca l'Isard, 46 in the wet season and 23 in the dry season.
Mean flood duration was 22 h, being on average 27 h
during the wet season and 13 during the dry season.
Table 2 shows the linear correlation coefficients between
correlated with antecedent baseflow but not with rainfall
characteristics, confirming the role of antecedent hydro-
logical conditions.
The larger the event precipitation, the longer the
resultant floods, with higher peak discharge, larger runoff
21 volume and sediment load, positive sediment precedence
time and longer response time. By contrast, with a higher
67
rainstorm intensity, the response was shorter duration
floods of small magnitude, though the sediment concen-
tration was larger with uncertain sediment precedence
time. Antecedent baseflow was correlated with both peak
discharge and runoff coefficient. Maximum sediment
concentration was correlated with rainfall intensity and
kinetic energy but not with peak discharge, whereas
sediment load was significantly correlated with rainfall
depth, peak discharge and runoff.
4.1.1. Discharge–sediment concentration relationships
At Ca l'Isard, 22 floods showed positive loops, 21
negative loops and 24 eight-shaped loops, while the
remaining 2 floods were multi-peaked events (Table 3).
Positive hysteretic loops (Fig. 3a) occurred in 19 events
in the wet period, whereas in the dry period these loops
only happened on three occasions. These patterns occurred
when baseflow was significant and peak discharges were
the more important of the whole year. Sometimes sediment
concentrations exceeded the mean annual value (21 g l− 1)
and also the grain size of the suspended sediment was
rather coarse (Soler et al., 2003). Mean event duration was
only about 1 h longer than the annual average (22 h).
Eight-shaped hysteretic loops (Fig. 3b) were ob-
served throughout the year but more frequently during

Fig. 3. Examples of the clockwise, eight-shaped and counter-clockwise loops.

Please cite this article as: Soler, M. et al. Relationships between suspended sediment concentrations and discharge in two small research basins
in a mountainous Mediterranean .... Geomorphology (2007), doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2007.02.032
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M. Soler et al. / Geomorphology xx (2007) xxx–xxx 7

the transition from dry to wet periods. During the wet
period these loops occurred during 16 events as opposed
to 8 occasions during the dry period. These patterns
usually occurred when baseflow was below the mean.
Sediment concentration usually did not exceed the mean
annual value. Mean event duration was about 2 h longer
than the annual average.
Most of the negative (counter-clockwise) hysteretic
loops (Fig. 3c) occurred during dry periods (18) while
during the wet period only three were observed. These
patterns always happened when baseflow was below the
mean and smaller than 4 l s− 1. Sediment concentrations
usually did not exceed the mean annual value, although
two exceptional events reached the highest maximum
sediment concentration (173 g l− 1) of the whole study
period; these floods occurred in summer of 2004,
following a rainy spring season. Mean flood time for
negative loops was about 15 h, 5 h less than the annual
average. Within the group of negative hysteresis loops,
the only significant correlation was, negative, between
sediment precedence time and antecedent baseflow (r =
− 0.54, p b 0.05).
Response times showed a log-normal distribution,
therefore we used medians instead of mean values for
the analysis. The median value for all the events was
80 min; eight-shaped loops showed the slowest
responses (121 min), positive loops had intermediate
responses (61 min) and the fastest corresponded to
negative loops (40 min). Sediment precedence time was
38 min on average; negative loops had a mean sediment
precedence time (Ts) of 15 min, whereas positive loops
had a mean of 48 min and a median of 26 min.
The analysis of variance (Table 4) showed that floods
with positive loops had higher precipitation, kinetic

Table 4
Results of the analysis of variance between the different types of hysteresis loops
Variable Groups Ca l'Isard Can Vila
Average difference Average error Average difference Average error
Precipitation Negative Positive − 18.38 5.47 − 16.14 8.81
Negative Eight − 11.93 4.00 − 7.47 9.33
Positive Eight 6.44 6.06 8.67 6.03
Kinetic energy Negative Positive − 312.13 97.87 − 185.66 177.98
Negative Eight − 202.08 84.07 − 56.84 183.26
Positive Eight 110.05 113.20 128.82 109.40
Maximum intensity Negative Positive 16.93 5.33 31.58 8.55
Negative Eight 13.97 5.73 24.48 12.66
Positive Eight − 2.96 4.41 − 7.09 9.94
Baseflow Negative Positive − 9.59 2.89 − 7.85 2.34
Negative Eight − 5.70 2.19 − 2.10 1.32
Positive Eight 3.89 3.61 5.74 2.64
Peak discharge Negative Positive −404.48 124.63 − 176.35 33.39
Negative Eight − 138.97 65.46 − 29.28 12.17
Positive Eight 265.51 139.41 147.07 35.18
Runoff Negative Positive − 29.08 40.81 − 7.82 1.86
Negative Eight − 18.77 32.40 − 3.53 2.33
Positive Eight 10.31 41.34 4.29 2.83
Runoff coefficient Negative Positive − 17.39 6.06 − 15.61 2.85
Negative Eight − 10.20 4.40 − 10.16 5.11
Positive Eight 7.19 7.43 5.45 5.69
Sediment load Negative Positive − 39.00 23.83 − 3.84 1.43
Negative Eight − 2.87 17.35 − 0.15 0.25
Positive Eight 36.13 24.19 3.69 1.44
Maximum concentration Negative Positive 2.15 13.12 − 1.19 0.46
Negative Eight 9.04 12.15 0.19 0.31
Positive Eight 6.90 8.99 1.38 0.41
Flood time Negative Positive − 7.63 4.60 − 13.85 9.51
Negative Eight − 9.77 4.91 − 4.79 10.99
Positive Eight − 2.14 5.58 9.06 7.18
Response time Negative Positive 79.35 68.80 − 171.21 61.40
Negative Eight 71.96 67.64 − 13.14 60.34
Positive Eight − 7.39 32.89 158.07 63.59
Differences in bold are significant at the 0.01 level and differences in italics at the 0.05 level.

Please cite this article as: Soler, M. et al. Relationships between suspended sediment concentrations and discharge in two small research basins
in a mountainous Mediterranean .... Geomorphology (2007), doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2007.02.032
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8 M. Soler et al. / Geomorphology xx (2007) xxx–xxx
energy, peak discharge, antecedent baseflow and runoff
coefficients, but lower rainfall intensity than negative
loops. Floods with negative loops had lower precipita-
tion and antecedent baseflow than eight-shaped loops.
No significant differences were found between floods
with positive and eight-shaped loops.
4.2. Can Vila
Table 1 shows the annual values of the hydrological
characteristics of the basin for each year of study.
During the whole study period, mean annual runoff from
the Can Vila sub-basin was 263 mm, and mean daily
discharge was 4.8 l s− 1. Over the 5 year period, total
sediment export was 128 Mg, about 61% was produced
during the wet period and 39% during the dry period.
This value was again strongly affected by the event on
February 2003 that mobilized 30% of the total amount
of sediment exported during the study period (Fig. 2).
The maximum suspended sediment concentration,
observed in August 2004, was 7.8 g l− 1.
During the study period, 42 floods were registered, 29
during the wet season and 13 during the dry season. Overall
mean flood duration was 29 h where mean duration was
33 h and 12 for the wet and dry periods respectively.
Table 2 shows the linear correlation coefficients between
the different variables considered. The larger the event
precipitation, the longer the flood duration and higher the
peak discharge, runoff volume, runoff coefficient and
sediment load. By contrast, when rainstorm intensity was
higher, the result was shorter flood response with larger
sediment concentrations. Antecedent baseflow influenced
peak discharge, runoff, runoff coefficient and sediment
transport. Maximum sediment concentration was correlated
significantly with rainfall intensity and peak discharge.
Events with large runoff or long response time had delayed
sediment peaks.
4.2.1. Discharge–sediment concentration relationships
In the Can Vila catchment, 27 floods showed positive
hysteretic loops, 5 negative loops and 4 eight-shaped
loops, while the remaining 6 floods were multi-peaked
events (Table 3). Positive loops occurred in 24 events
during the wet period, whereas during the dry period these
loops only happened on six occasions. As for the Ca
l'Isard catchment, these patterns occurred when baseflow
before the event was significant and peak discharges were
the most important of the whole year. Sediment
concentrations usually did not exceed the mean annual
value (1.7 g l− 1) and mean event duration was only about
3 h longer than the annual average (29 h). For floods with
positive hysteresis loops, peak concentration was well
Please cite this article as: Soler, M. et al. Relationships between suspended sediment concentrations and discharge in two small research basins
in a mountainous Mediterranean .... Geomorphology (2007), doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2007.02.032
correlated with peak discharge (r = 0.62, p b 0.01) and
rainfall kinetic energy (r = 0.57, p b 0.01). Sediment pre-
cedence time was well correlated with runoff (r = 0.52.
p b 0.01).
Eight-shaped hysteretic loops happened on 3 occa-
sions: two events corresponded to the wet period and one
to the dry period. These patterns usually occurred when
baseflow was below the mean. Sediment concentration
never exceeded the mean annual value and mean event
duration was about 3 h longer than the annual average.
Negative (counter-clockwise) hysteretic loops hap-
pened on seven occasions. Most of them (5) occurred
during the dry period. These patterns always occurred
when baseflow was zero or below the mean. Sediment
concentrations were rather irregular, usually not ex-
ceeding the mean annual value. Mean event duration
was about 18 h, 11 h less than the annual average.
Within the group of floods with negative hysteresis
loops, significant correlations appeared between peak
concentration and runoff coefficient (r =0.69, p b 0.01)
and peak discharge (r= 0.84, p b 0.05). Sediment prece-
dence time was well correlated with the runoff coefficient
(r= 0.70, p b 0.05).
Response time showed a median value of 222 min.
Faster responses (median 137 min) were associated with
negative loops and slower ones (median 259 min) with
positive loops, during the wet period. Mean sediment
precedence time was 33 min.
The analysis of variance (Table 4) showed that floods
with positive loops had higher peak discharge, runoff,
runoff coefficient, antecedent baseflow, sediment con-
centration, sediment load and longer response time but
lower rainfall intensity than negative loops. Floods with
negative loops had lower runoff than eight-shaped
loops. Floods with positive loops had higher peak
discharge, sediment concentration and sediment load
than eight-shaped loops.
5. Discussion and conclusions
The comparison between the responses of the two
catchments allows the identification of the role of
catchment characteristics and the analysis of the processes
involved. Firstly, the hydrological response of the two
basins showed clear differences. In spite of the lower
runoff produced by Ca l'Isard, there were many more
observed events (67 compared to 36). The main difference
corresponded to the counter-clockwise (from 21 events of
this type at Ca l'Isard only 6 were simultaneously regis-
tered at Can Vila, as shown on Table 3) and eight-shaped
events. The events that were observed only at Ca l'Isard,
compared with those observed at both stations, were
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
M. Soler et al. / Geomorphology xx (2007) xxx–xxx
produced by smaller but more intense precipitations, and
were shorter and with smaller runoff and sediment load.
At Ca l'Isard, the median response time for floods with
negative hysteresis loops was 40 min; for a small
1.32 km2 basin this means that half of these events may
be attributed to Hortonian runoff generation processes,
according to the relationships between catchment size and
response time proposed by several authors (for example
Anderson and Burt, 1990), where these events were
triggered by high intensity storms (mean 42 mm h− 1).
When floods with positive hysteresis loops were analysed,
only one third had response times below 40 min.
Nevertheless, the main response of the catchment is still
driven by saturation mechanisms, as shown by the
significant correlation between antecedent baseflow and
runoff coefficient and the fair but negative correlation
between rainfall intensity and runoff coefficient. The fact
that negative hysteresis loops were related to events driven
by Hortonian runoff generation may be attributed, in this
case, to the relatively remote location of the sediment
sources in the catchment, as the right branch is
infrequently active as it drains the limestone area (Fig. 1).
In contrast, response times at Can Vila were much
longer in spite of the smaller size of the basin. There
were only two events at Can Vila that had response
times shorter than 30 min, but the characteristics of
these events that occurred in spring (mild rainfall
intensity, high antecedent baseflow and high runoff
coefficients) showed that they should be attributed to
saturation rather than Hortonian mechanisms. Seven
events with response times between 43 and 122 min,
which should be attributed to saturation mechanisms
according to the relationships between catchment size
and response time cited above, were triggered by storms
with high rainfall intensity (42–77 mm h− 1) during low
antecedent baseflow conditions; yet, four of them had
counter-clockwise loops and two of them showed the
highest sediment concentrations of the record. In this
catchment, the sediment source areas are also located
near the headwaters (Fig. 1).
When sediment concentrations and loads were com-
pared, the differences between the basins were not only
due to the average values but also to the dynamics. At Ca
l'Isard, both the diverse kinds of hysteresis loops and the
lack of relationship between sediment concentration and
peak discharge confirmed the complexity of the sediment
dynamics already evidenced when erosion rates were
compared at different scales (Gallart et al., 2005b). At Can
Vila, events showed less diversity and sediment concen-
tration was correlated with both rainfall intensity and peak
discharge, a more common behaviour of catchments of
this size (McGuiness et al., 1971; Williams, 1989).
Please cite this article as: Soler, M. et al. Relationships between suspended sediment concentrations and discharge in two small research basins
in a mountainous Mediterranean .... Geomorphology (2007), doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2007.02.032
9
The above analysis, therefore, confirmed and nuanced
the former findings on the varying water and sediment
sources in these catchments (Latron, 2003; Gallart et al.,
2005a,b). At Can Vila, the limited extent of badlands did
not notably modify the hydrological response of the
catchment, driven by saturation and subsurface mechan-
isms, although it provided the stream with a greater
sediment load, when compared with basins devoid of
badlands in the same area (Llorens et al., 1997).
Nevertheless, there were some events with features
characteristic of Hortonian runoff generation, but with
long response times; the delayed response of floods in this
basin has been tentatively attributed to the role of
agricultural terraces (Gallart et al., 2005a).
Conversely, at Ca l'Isard, the role of badlands was
able to modify its hydrological response, in spite of their
small relative extent (4.5%). The main aspect of the
modification was the addition of a relevant number of
events of small size in response to intense rainstorms.
The overall result was a complex hydrological behaviour
as runoff generation mechanisms and contributing areas
varied depending on antecedent moisture and rainfall
characteristics, whereas the sediment concentration–
discharge relationships took diverse forms, showing
positive hysteretic loops typically for large hydrological
events (large precipitation, runoff and peak discharge)
and negative loops for small events.
Acknowledgements
This research was carried with the support of the
projects PIRIHEROS (REN 2003-08678/HID), CANOA
(CGL2004-04919-C02-01),TEMPQSIM (EVK1-CT-
2002-00112) and the agreement CSIC-DGCONA
(RESEL). The authors are indebted particularly to X.
Huguet and D. Regüés for their assistance. J. Latron have
benefited from a CSIC research contract (I3P programme).
Comments by Varyl Thorndycraft have improved the final
version of the paper.
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