Hydrodynamics and sediment transportation in the Branco river basin, afluente do rio Paraguai, Pantanal Mato-grossensse

Abstract

Studies on hydrodynamics and sediment transport make it possible to understand how pressures occur in the environment and the relationship between the environmental elements. The objective of this research was to analyze the hydrodynamic variables and sediment transport in the watershed of Rio Branco, a tributary of the mato-grossense Pantanal. Sixteen sections were selected to obtain information on hydrodynamics and sediment transport. In order to obtain the bathymetry, the echo sounder was used. Flow velocity verification was performed using the fluviometric windlass. In order to collect the suspended sediments, Van Dorn bottle was used; for bottom sediments, we used Van Veen dredger.  The fractionation of the bottom sediment samples was performed by the pipette method, with total dispersion and sieving. Channel flow ranged from 0.005 to 4,861m³/s in the dry season and from 0.11 to 126.42 m³/s in the rainy season. The suspended sediment remained between 12 and 288 mg/L^-1. The solid suspended load was between 0.02 and 3146 t/day^-1. In the granulometric composition of bottom sediments, the fine sand fractions predominated. Through this study, it was possible to observe the water behavior and the sediment disposition between the periods of flood and drought.