Articles | Volume 14, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-14-95-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-14-95-2026
Research article
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05 Feb 2026
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 05 Feb 2026

Investigating controls on fluvial grain sizes in post-glacial landscapes using citizen science

Anya H. Towers, Mikael Attal, Simon M. Mudd, and Fiona J. Clubb

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Cited articles

Abeshu, G. W., Li, H.-Y., Zhu, Z., Tan, Z., and Leung, L. R.: Median bed-material sediment particle size across rivers in the contiguous US, Earth System Science Data, 14, 929–942, https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-14-929-2022, 2022. a, b
Attal, M. and Lavé, J.: Changes of bedload characteristics along the Marsyandi River (central Nepal): Implications for understanding hillslope sediment supply, sediment load evolution along fluvial networks, and denudation in active orogenic belts, Special Paper of the Geological Society of America, 398, 143–171, https://doi.org/10.1130/2006.2398(09), 2006. a, b, c, d, e, f, g
Attal, M. and Lavé, J.: Pebble abrasion during fluvial transport: Experimental results and implications for the evolution of the sediment load along rivers, Journal of Geophysical Research: Earth Surface, 114, https://doi.org/10.1029/2009JF001328, 2009. a
Attal, M., Mudd, S. M., Hurst, M. D., Weinman, B., Yoo, K., and Naylor, M.: Impact of change in erosion rate and landscape steepness on hillslope and fluvial sediments grain size in the Feather River basin (Sierra Nevada, California), Earth Surface Dynamics, 3, 201–222, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-3-201-2015, 2015. a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m
Ballantyne, C. K.: A general model of paraglacial landscape response, Holocene, 12, 371–376, https://doi.org/10.1191/0959683602hl553fa, 2002. a
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How does grainsize vary along rivers, and what are the controls? Based on an extensive dataset compiled in a citizen-science survey across Scotland, Towers et al. find that in post-glacial landscapes commonly used global environmental factors provide little explanation. Instead, the local sediment input from glacially sculpted landforms and emplaced deposits largely determine the high spatial variability of grainsizes.
Short summary
We explore controls on channel sediment characteristics in post-glacial landscapes. In contrast to other studies that have focused on landscapes with little glacial influence, we find no apparent controls. We propose that Scotland's post-glacial legacy drives the lack of sedimentological trends, and that changes in landscape morphology and sediment sources caused by glacial processes lead to a decoupling between fluvial sediment grain size and environmental variables.
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