Het Zeescheldebekken: verleden - heden - toekomst: een ecologisch maatschappelijke studie variaties in de waterkwantiteit in het Zeescheldebekken: oorzaken en gevolgen
Vanesch, J. (2012). Het Zeescheldebekken: verleden - heden - toekomst: een ecologisch maatschappelijke studie variaties in de waterkwantiteit in het Zeescheldebekken: oorzaken en gevolgen. MSc Thesis. Universiteit Antwerpen. Instituut voor Milieu & Duurzame Ontwikkeling: Antwerpen. XI, 59 + appendices pp.
The Scheldt catchment is situated in one of the most densely populated regions in the world. Therefore, changes in water quantity in the Scheldt estuary can be due to an increasing human pressure in the whole catchment. This human pressure translates into land use changes which can cause higher erosion rates. This results in the implementation of erosion measures. Both land use changes and erosion measures in the Scheldt catchment can influence the discharge and the sediment concentration in the Scheldt estuary. The discharge in the estuary is expected to increase due to recent land use changes, because the amount of impervious surface is increasing. Erosion measures on the other hand, tend to decrease the discharge. The discharge is not the only parameter that is subjected to anthropogenic pressure. The sediment concentration also depends on the amount of human influence. The flux of sediment to the river can both decrease or increase due to land use changes, dependent on the amount of arable land in the catchment. In case of an increased sediment flux, erosion measures can be implemented which decrease the sediment concentration. Our results show that the sediment concentration and discharge in the Scheldt estuary are barely influenced by human intervention in the whole Scheldt catchment. The discharge is mainly dependent on rainfall, while the sediment concentration mostly depends on the discharge. In the future, the human influence in the catchment is expected to increase, but whether or not this will affect the discharge or the sediment concentration in the Scheldt estuary remains unclear.
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