LS is distributed in spatially heterogeneous ways throughout a landscape and accumulates to form various landforms. It can progress through the fluvial system through facies changes from hillslopecolluvium, to floodplain and wetlandalluvium, to fine-grained lacustrine and estuarine slackwater deposits.[1] The temporal nature of LS is time-transgressive, meaning that initiation and peak rates of deposition can take place at different times within a fluvial system, as well as at different times between regions. The intermittent transport of LS can be thought of as a cascading system that reworks LS deposits from hillslopes, into channels and onto floodplains, such that anthropogenic sediment will be mixed with and non-anthropogenic sediment.[24]
River systems record past and present imprints of anthropogenically-forced changes to the environment. LS is an element of change in this context, as it drives fluxes of energy and matter (connectivity) through fluvial systems and provides indication of past land-uses and river dynamics that can inform future trajectories of river response. In this sense, acknowledging the concept of LS can benefit informed policy development in stream restoration,[1] water quality [25] and sediment budget[26] management, protection of aquatic ecosystems,[27] and flood risk. Moreover, the implications of legacy effects associated with anthropogenically modified sediment dynamics are critical in the context of ecosystem services.[28]
^ abcJames, L. Allan (2013). "Legacy sediment: Definitions and processes of episodically produced anthropogenic sediment". Anthropocene. 2: 16–26. doi:10.1016/j.ancene.2013.04.001.
^Dotterweich, Markus (2008). "The history of soil erosion and fluvial deposits in small catchments of central Europe: Deciphering the long-term interaction between humans and the environment — A review". Geomorphology. 101 (1–2): 192–208. Bibcode:2008Geomo.101..192D. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2008.05.023.
^Sternberg, C. W. (1941-04-01). "Some Principles of Accelerated Stream and Valley Sedimentation. Stafford C. Happ , Gordon Rittenhouse , G. C. Dobson". The Journal of Geology. 49 (3): 334–335. doi:10.1086/624968. ISSN0022-1376.
^Wayne., Trimble, Stanley (2008). Man-induced soil erosion on the southern Piedmont, 1700-1970. Goudie, Andrew. (Enhanced ed.). Ankeny, Iowa: Soil and Water Conservation Society. ISBN9780976943259. OCLC191697291.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Megahan, W.F., Bohn, C.C. (1989). "Progressive, long-term slope failure following road construction and logging on noncohesive, granitic soils of the Idaho Batholith". Headwaters Hydrology, American Water Resources Association: 501–510.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Douglas, Ian; Spencer, Tom; Greer, Tony; Bidin, Kawi; Sinun, Waidi; Meng, Wong Wai (1992-03-30). "The impact of selective commercial logging on stream hydrology, chemistry and sediment loads in the Ulu Segama rain forest, Sabah, Malaysia". Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. B. 335 (1275): 397–406. doi:10.1098/rstb.1992.0031. ISSN0962-8436.
^Kasprak, Alan; Magilligan, Francis J.; Nislow, Keith H.; Renshaw, Carl E.; Snyder, Noah P.; Dade, W. Brian (2013). "Differentiating the relative importance of land cover change and geomorphic processes on fine sediment sequestration in a logged watershed". Geomorphology. 185: 67–77. Bibcode:2013Geomo.185...67K. doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2012.12.005.
^James, A. (1994). "Channel changes wrought by gold mining: northern Sierra Nevada, California. Effects of human-induced changes on hydrologic systems". American Water Resources Association: 629–638.
^Froehlich, W. (1991). "Sediment production from unmetalled road surfaces. Sediment and Stream Water Quality in a Changing Environment: Trends and Explanation". IAHS Publication. 203: 21–29.
^Lang, Andreas; Bork, Hans-Rudolf; Mäckel, Rüdiger; Preston, Nicholas; Wunderlich, Jürgen; Dikau, Richard (2003-11-01). "Changes in sediment flux and storage within a fluvial system: some examples from the Rhine catchment". Hydrological Processes. 17 (16): 3321–3334. Bibcode:2003HyPr...17.3321L. doi:10.1002/hyp.1389. ISSN1099-1085. S2CID128549460.