Gravel transport by ice in a subarctic river from accurate laser scanning

- TLS and MLS were used for detecting gravel transport by ice in a subarctic river.
- Erosion dominated, and stones up to 2 m in size had been moved, tilted or rotated.
- Bed elevation changes did not correlate with the fastest ice decay.
- River ice had more significant role in gravel transport than flowing water.
- TLS and MLS were highly accurate and applicable in ice and channel change detection.

For decades the importance of ice and the effects of cold-region processes on river channel morphology have been discussed, with a general consensus as to their importance emerging only recently. River ice cover, anchor ice, frazil ice, and ice jams may not only scour the channel bed and banks but also pick up, transport, and deposit fine sediments and gravels during winter, especially during the spring ice breakup period. However, knowledge of the interactions between coarse sediment transport and ice processes remains insufficient, particularly in rockier river reaches, with a lack of accurate and sufficiently extensive data hindering their quantification.The aim of this study was to quantify and analyse the impact of river ice on gravel transport in a subarctic river during one winter via the acquisition of laser scanning data for the river channel and ice surface. Terrestrial and mobile laser scanning were performed in 2012-2013 on the Tana River in northern Finland. Both of these techniques are considered accurate and applicable for detecting elevation and volumetric changes in river bed, defining gravel clast sizes, and detecting the movement of individual clasts. More importantly, ice surface, thickness, and decay during spring were also captured via laser scanning.In the winter of 2012-2013, a period characterised by an absence of ice jams and mid-winter ice-decay periods, with spring ice breakup discharges close to average yearly conditions, ice had the most significant role, greater than that of flowing water, in erosion and transport of coarse sediment from the channel bed and gently sloping banks. Changes in river bed elevation and volume were recorded throughout the study site, and erosion predominated. In addition to broader scale erosion, the movement of single clasts up to 2 m in size occurred. However, the observed overall channel change patterns did not coincide with the areas of fastest ice decay. The obtained results could also be applied to the enhancement of riverine planning in subarctic environments.