Scientific article
OA Policy
English

Subaquatic slope instabilities: the aftermath of river correction and artificial dumps in Lake Biel (Switzerland)

Published inSedimentology, vol. 67, no. 2, p. 971-990
Publication date2020
Abstract

River engineering projects are developing rapidly across the globe, drastically modifying water courses and sediment transfer. Investigation of the impact of engineering works focuses usually on short-term impacts, thus a longer-term perspective is still missing on the effects that such projects have. The ‘Jura Water Corrections' – the largest river engineering project ever undertaken in Switzerland – radically modified the hydrological system of Lake Biel in the 19th and 20th Century. The deviation of the Aare River into Lake Biel more than 140 years ago, in 1878, thus represents an ideal case study to investigate the long-term sedimentological impacts of such large-scale river rerouting. Sediment cores, along with new high-resolution bathymetric and seismic reflection datasets were acquired in Lake Biel to document the consequences of the Jura Water Corrections on the sedimentation history of Lake Biel. Numerous subaquatic mass transport structures were detected on all of the slopes of the lake. Notably, a relatively large mass transport complex (0_86 km2) was observed on the eastern shore, along the path of the Aare River intrusion. The large amount of sediment delivered by the Aare River since its deviation into the lake likely caused sediment overloading resulting in subaquatic mass transport. Alternatively, the dumping since 1963 in a subaquatic landfill of material excavated during the second phase of river engineering, when the channels flowing into and out of Lake Biel were widened and deepened, might have triggered the largest mass transport, dated to 1964 or 1965. Additional potential triggers include two nearby small earthquakes in 1964 and 1965 (MW 3_9 and 3_2, respectively). The data for this study indicate that relatively large mass transports have become recurrent in Lake Biel following the deviation of the Aare River, thus modifying hazard frequency for the neighbouring communities and infrastructure.

Keywords
  • High-resolution bathymetry
  • Lake sedimentology
  • Mass-transport deposits
  • River engineering
  • Slope stability
  • Subaquatic landfill
  • Lake Biel
  • Switzerland
  • 21st century
  • 19th century
  • 20th century
  • Lake dumping
  • Jura water corrections
  • Aare river
  • Lake hazard
Funding
  • Swiss National Science Foundation - 200020‐146889
  • Swiss National Science Foundation - 200021‐121666
Citation (ISO format)
DUBOIS, Nathalie et al. Subaquatic slope instabilities: the aftermath of river correction and artificial dumps in Lake Biel (Switzerland). In: Sedimentology, 2020, vol. 67, n° 2, p. 971–990. doi: 10.1111/sed.12669
Main files (1)
Article (Published version)
accessLevelPublic
Identifiers
Journal ISSN1365-3091
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203downloads

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Creation11/09/2020 10:36:00
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