USING CHERNOBYL-DERIVED FALLOUT RADIONUCLIDES TO INVESTIGATE THE ROLE OF DOWNSTREAM CONVEYANCE LOSSES IN THE SUSPENDED SEDIMENT BUDGET OF THE RIVER SEVERN, UNITED KINGDOM

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Abstract
The sediment budget concept offers a valuable tool for interpreting the processes of erosion and sediment yield operating in a drainage basin. However, it is often difficult to assemble the information necessary to establish a reliable sediment budget. Fallout radionuclides offer considerable potential for this purpose. This contribution describes how measurements of the fate of Chernobyl-derived 134Cs have been used to investigate the role of downstream conveyance losses associated with channel and floodplain storage in the suspended sediment budget of the 6850 km2 basin of the River Severn above Upton on Severn. The results relate to a 3-year period, 1986–1989, and indicate that conveyance losses associated with floodplain and channel storage respectively accounted for 23% and 2% of the total suspended sediment load passing through the main channel system. [Key words: sediment budget, floodplain storage, channel storage, suspended sediment, radionuclides, cesium-134, Chernobyl.]