Study of sediment transport in the Jordão River, located in the mesoregion of the Triângulo Mineiro-MG

Abstract

Hydrosedimentological studies are fundamental for the adequate management of water resources. The Jordão River, the research study area, has the potential to generate electricity to serve a region of the TriânguloMineiro and Alto Paranaí­ba. In this sense, the understanding of sediment transport resources is important, since it represents a fundamental contribution for ensuring adequate management of water resources in the region. This research study has the general objective of examining sediment transport in the Jordão River, with the aim of obtaining a preliminary understanding into the dynamics of solid particles in this water body. To this end, the determination of the key curves of Flow vs Sediment concentration, the characterization of the sediment granulometry and the hydraulic and geometric aspects of the studied stations, as well as the analysis of the factors that influence the dynamics of sediments in the river, will be carried out. For this purpose, four sampling stations were established, fourteen campaigns were carried out for flow measurements and water and sediment collections for the analysis of suspended and bed sediments in dry and rainy seasons from August 2017 to December 2018. A relationship between suspended sediment concentration and liquid discharge is found in the literature as Css = α·Q^β, at the four stations on the Jordan River during the measured period, with a value of 14.593 <α <26.904 and 0.6722 <β <0.9462, along with the graph representing all values Css = 22.944·Q^0.6991. Noteworthy from the collections carried out is the relationship between rainy and dry seasons, where there is no increase verified in the filming of sediments with the increase in the flow of the river. Regarding the bed solids obtained through granulometric curves, there is a noted deposit of sediments with less granulometry in the dry season, mainly in seasons 3 and 4.