Suspended sediment yield transportation by rivers of the Kamchatsky Krai into the Pacific Ocean, the sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea

ABSTRACT

The amount of suspended sediments transported by rivers of the Kamchatsky Krai into the Pacific Ocean, the Sea of Okhotsk and the Bering Sea was estimated. The suspended sediment yield from ungauged territories was also assessed on the basis of geography-hydrology generalization and regression equations. The total suspended sediment yield from the Kamchatsky Krai territory is estimated as 11.4 Mt per year. Most part of these sediments (73.9%) are transported by rivers of the eastern coast and only 26.1% is transported by rivers of the western Kamchatka coast. Such distribution of suspended sediment yield in the Kamchatsky Krai territory is explained by position of active volcanoes there. About one third of the total suspended sediment yield is delivered by two major rivers – the Penzhina River (flows into the sea of Okhotsk, covers 16.1% of the drainage area) and the Kamchatka River (flows into the Pacific Ocean, covers 12.3% of the drainage area).

KEYWORDS:

• Suspended sediment yield
• Kamchatsky Krai
• regression equation
• suspended sediment concentration
• factors of suspended sediment yield formation
• volcanic activity

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to V.V. Kovbasyuk and the head of Hydrology Department of Kamchatka DHMS for their help in the creation of an information base for this study. I'd like to say many thanks to my supervisor N.I. Alexeevsky for his valuable ideas and advice and great support of this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research [grant number 16-35-00202 mol_a]; RF President's Grant No. [grant number MK-5835.2016.5, Chapter 3]; the Russian Science Foundation [grant number 17-77-10047, Chapter 4].