Sediment Dynamics in Irrawaddy River, Myanmar

Abstract

The Irrawaddy River (length 2170km; drainage area 413,710 km?) is one of the great rivers of Asia. It is ranked fifth largest for suspended sediment load (265MT/year) among global rivers. However, there is limited data on the sediment budget of large river basins in this region. Previous studies which have analyzed the water and sediment flux are derived from an original 19th Century dataset by Gordon (1885) (261MT/year). A modern discharge and sediment load measurements suggests that the 19th century data underestimated the actual sediment load Robinson et al. (2007) suggest the sediment load is (364 ? 60 x 106 t/year). The thesis examines soil erosion and sediment yield in the Lower Irrawaddy. The relationship of land use change effect on water discharge and sediment flux at the basin is crucial for examination. The Thornes erosion model provides a method to investigate the sediment dynamics of the Lower Irrawaddy Basin.