03 Mar 2015
03 Mar 2015
Sediment budget in the Ucayali River basin, an Andean tributary of the Amazon River
W. Santini1,2, J.-M. Martinez1,2, R. Espinoza-Villar3, G. Cochonneau1,2, P. Vauchel1,2, J.-S. Moquet4, P. Baby1,2, J.-C. Espinoza5, W. Lavado6, J. Carranza6, and J.-L. Guyot1,2
W. Santini et al.
W. Santini1,2, J.-M. Martinez1,2, R. Espinoza-Villar3, G. Cochonneau1,2, P. Vauchel1,2, J.-S. Moquet4, P. Baby1,2, J.-C. Espinoza5, W. Lavado6, J. Carranza6, and J.-L. Guyot1,2
- 1IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement), France
- 2GET (Géosciences Environnement Toulouse), Casilla 18-1209, Lima 18, Peru
- 3UnB-IG (Universidade de Brasilia- Instituto de Geociencias), Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, Brasilia, Brazil
- 4USP (Universidade de São Paulo), Av. Prof. Almeida Prado, nº1280 - Butantã, São Paulo, Brazil
- 5IGP (Instituto Geofisíco del Perú), Calle Badajoz #169 - Mayorazgo IV Etapa - Ate Vitarte, Lima, Peru
- 6SENAMHI (Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología), Casilla 11-1308, Lima 11, Peru
- 1IRD (Institut de Recherche pour le Développement), France
- 2GET (Géosciences Environnement Toulouse), Casilla 18-1209, Lima 18, Peru
- 3UnB-IG (Universidade de Brasilia- Instituto de Geociencias), Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, Brasilia, Brazil
- 4USP (Universidade de São Paulo), Av. Prof. Almeida Prado, nº1280 - Butantã, São Paulo, Brazil
- 5IGP (Instituto Geofisíco del Perú), Calle Badajoz #169 - Mayorazgo IV Etapa - Ate Vitarte, Lima, Peru
- 6SENAMHI (Servicio Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología), Casilla 11-1308, Lima 11, Peru
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Keywords: Ucayali, Pachitea, Andes, Amazon, erosion, sedimentation, MODIS, Peru, hydrology
Formation of mountain ranges results from complex coupling between lithospheric deformation, mechanisms linked to subduction and surface processes: weathering, erosion, and climate. Today, erosion of the eastern Andean cordillera and sub-Andean foothills supplies over 99% of the sediment load passing through the Amazon Basin. Denudation rates in the upper Ucayali basin are rapid, favoured by a marked seasonality in this region and extreme precipitation cells above sedimentary strata, uplifted during Neogene times by a still active sub-Andean tectonic thrust. Around 40% of those sediments are trapped in the Ucayali retro-foreland basin system. Recent advances in remote sensing for Amazonian large rivers now allow us to complete the ground hydrological data. In this work, we propose a first estimation of the erosion and sedimentation budget of the Ucayali River catchment, based on spatial and conventional HYBAM Observatory network.