Interpretation of the Sedimentological Behaviour of the Tocantins-Araguaia Basin
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Hydrology of Humid Tropical Regions with Particular Reference to the Hydrological Effects of Agriculture and Forestry Practice (Proceedings of the Hamburg Symposium, August 1983). 1AHS Publ. no. 140. Interpretation of the sedimentological behaviour of the Tocantins-Araguaia basin E, A, L. BÉQUI0 Eletronorte, Brazil W. C, LOU Engineering Department, Universidade Federal Rural do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil M, A, SICILIANO & 0, V, SILVEIRA Engevix SA - Estudos e Projetos de Engenharia, Brazil ABSTRACT The Tocantins-Araguaia basin in the Amazon region has in recent years been of increasing interest as a potential resource for power generation, agricultural and industrial water supplies and navigation; this has resulted in a better understanding of the physical processes governing the system. From a sedimentological point of view which considers the basin as a dynamic system, the present study takes all the available data into account, although morphological and hydraulic data are still being collected. The analytically developed approach allows qualitative and quantitative interpreta tions and emphasizes some aspects of basin behaviour which are important for solving practical river engineer ing problems. Finally, recommendations for future studies and field data collection are made to identify and prescribe controls for both natural and manmade changes in the system. Interpretation du comportement du bassin Tocantins- Araguaia en ce qui concerne la sédimentologie RESUME Le bassin Tocantins-Araguaia, représentant une partie de 1'Amazonie, a suscité récemment un regain très marqué d'intérêt pour son exploitation particulièrement pour la production d'énergie et pour la navigation. Ceci a contribué également au développement des études des phénomènes physiques du système. Du point de vue sedimentologiques, on doit régarder ce bassin comme un système dynamique, cette étude générale prend en considér ation toutes les données disponibles, quoique les caractéristiques morphologiques et hydrauliques soient encore en cours de mesure. L'approche de son étude par la voie analytique permet l'interprétation qualitative et quantitative en mettant en évidence quelques aspects du comportement du bassin, importants pour la résolution des problèmes pratiques de génie fluvial. On fait encore des recommendations pour les études futures afin d'identifier et de prévoir des contrôles pour un éventuel changement dans le système résultant, soit des activités humaines, soit d'événements naturels. 141 142 E.A.L.Bequio et al. INTRODUCTION Researchers have more and more recognized the importance of improving their knowledge relating sediment transport by rivers and sediment yield indicating the rate of erosion in the drainage basin. Since fluvial systems are among the most dynamic of all geomorphological forms this study presents a small contribution towards interpreting the sedimentological behaviour in the Tocantins-Araguaia basin. PHYSIOGRAPHICAL CONSIDERATION OF THE REGION AND THE AMAZON BASIN The basin of the Tocantins-Araguaia rivers (IBGE, 1977) is a hydrographical unit separate from the Amazon basin; however, a short description of that region is given considering various legal and political aspects of the Tocantins basin itself, which is even incorporated and as such called "Legal Amazon". The part of the Amazon basin in Brazil (Fig.1) has an area of 3 600 000 km , and is characterized by thick vegetation and a low population density. It constitutes a sedimentary plain of Tertiary origin delimited by two older PreCambrian shields, the Guiana Massif in the north and the Brazilian Plateau in the south. The climate of the Amazon region is equatorial, hot and humid, with average tempera tures greater than 25°C, with considerable diurnal amplitude and a low annual variation. The total annual precipitation surpasses 1500 mm reaching values over 3000 mm. However, there exists a dry season whose duration varies from one to five months depending upon location. The Amazon River has its source in the Peruvian Andes. Its main tributaries in Brazil are the Madeira, Japurâ, Purus, Negro, Tapajos, Xingu and Trombetas rivers. The river is 50 km wide in some regions during flooding and diminishes to 2600 m at Obidos, where the maximum depth is more than 50 m. The river bed is modified after each flood as the result of erosion and sedimentation processes. The presence of suspended particles causes differences in the colour of the Amazon and its tributaries: the white rivers such as the Madeira with higher suspended transport; the black rivers such as the Negro have a high dissolved organic matter content which makes the waters acid; the clear rivers such as the Tapajos and Xingu with lower proportions of clay s'ediments and higher in sand. THE TOCANTINS-ARAGUAIA BASIN The basin of the Tocantins-Araguaia rivers (IBGE, 1977) has a drainage area of more than 800 000 km (Fig.l). The main river, the Tocantins, being 2400 km long with considerable hydroelectric resources, is a typical plateau river, while its principal tributary the 2115-km-long Araguaia is a plains river. The upper and median courses of the Tocantins River have a large number of waterfalls and rapids intermingled with low-gradient reaches which allow regular navigation. In the lower course downstream from the Tucuruï dam site, it is similar to the other Amazon rivers in that it traverses Tertiary and Quaternary sediments. Sedimentology of the Tocantins-Araguaia basin 143 144 E.A.L.Bequio et al. The Araguaia River, despite being a plains river, still has a series of rapids caused by outcrops of the more resistant formations. In its mid course, the slope noticeably decreases and the river bed presents a flood plain 10-15 km wide and a minimum depth which guarantees year-round navigation. The Tocantins basin is influenced by the tropical morphogenetic process of the "cerrado" brush lands, a type of vegetation character istic of the tropical precipitation regime with a dry and wet season. The variation in heat and humidity exacerbates the morphogenetic processes like mechanical, chemical and biochemical processes which are intensified by the reduction in vegetal cover and affect erosion as well as the consolidation of soil cover, phenomena common to the "cerrado" and the African savanna. The northeastern and northern winds affect the region and are responsible for the stable weather conditions, disturbed by three circulation systems: the currents of the west-tropical instability lines mainly in the summer, the ITCZ system of currents of the Northern Hemisphere in the autumn, and anticyclones and polar fronts in the winter. The climate is semihumid tropical, with a rainfall season in the summer and a dry season with a duration of four to five months in the winter. There exists a weak thermal seasonal variation; there is a noticeable diurnal variation mainly in the winter. PRELIMINARY DIAGNOSIS Available data Sediment data, both suspended and bottom material, were obtained from studies undertaken by Eletronorte (the Northern Brazilian Electricity Company) at Itupiranga on the Tocantins River (Fig.1), in the periods 29 May-23 July 1975, 19 January-19 July 1979, and January-March 1982. A similar study was undertaken at Santa Isabel during the period 27 September 1981-25 August 1982. The main objectives of these studies were to collect sufficient information on total solid discharge, looking at the estimated live volume of the reservoirs of Tucuruî and Santa Isabel (Fig.l) and to establish methods of measuring the sediment in tropical rivers. Comparative studies Tables 1 and 2 (Eletronorte/Hidroesb, 1975, 1979; Eletronorte/ Hidrologia, 1982) present the solid transport at Itupiranga and Santa Isabel. From these values conclusions as to the solid transport of the Tocantins and Araguaia rivers can be drawn (Table 3). The values obtained in periods of high sediment transport show low material loads compared with average values of other large basins. It can be inferred that the annual average for these two rivers decreases noticeably when the months of low discharges are also taken into account in the computations of the mean. Comparing the annual sedimant loads of some rivers with these two rivers for periods of principally high transport, verifies that the sediment loads of the Tocantins and the Araguaia are very modest (Table 4). Sedimentology of the Tocantin-Araguaia basin 145 TABLE 1 Summary of sediment discharge - Itupiranga **Tl« COtKtM. SUSP StD Tom sto W»TEIt C&«tH. SUSB StD TOT*L SCO Dale f>iSC*»GE WSCM»PS-C MCTHOO OâTC tMSCM«^5t TIMHOM ascH»sû£ 0<SC«»»G£ SS4TMO0 IP»-! 1 t/a.yl Wee* ! I **/« J l**m t i t/davf It/*!*1 | 29/05 m 14.080 52,89 64.343 73.507 EINSTEIN 05/05/79 23.426 85,2 172.436 Î97.876J EINSTEIN 30/05/75 13.872 44.01 52.751 52.751 EINSTETN 07/05/79 21.190 57,1 104.616 123.600 EINSTEIN 31/05/75 13.048 56,61 63.843 74.415 EINSTEIN 09/05/79 20.337 61,9 108.774 126.527 EINSTEIN 10/06/75 9.835 65,07 55.292 62.226 EINSTEIN 11/05/79 19.347 55,6 92.998 108.119 ELNSTELN 11/06/75 8.749 29.59 22.166 27.520 ELNSITTN 11/05/79 17.122 56,3 81.211 94.302 EINSTEIN 14/06/75 8.646 36,04 26.921 31.076 EK-.IM 15/05/79 17.212 44,0 65.466 76.346 EINSTEIN 22/06/75 6.566 22,21 12.6CO 11.717 EPSTEIN 17/05/79 15.606 84,0 113.296 122.651 EINSTEIN 19/01/79 18.630 202,1 325.275 342.681 ETNSTEIN 19/05/79' 14.782 66,5 83.673 92.517 ELNNaLN 20/01/79 23.755 263,4 540.598 602.233 EINSVLBI 21/05/79 13.680 64,2 15.839 81.536 EINNLIN 21/01/79 24.512 273.7 580.310 631.916 EINSTEIN 23/05/79 12.879 54,1 60.201 65.464 EINSTEIN 23/01/79 2a.945 238,2 595.792 683.467 EINSTEIN 25/C5/79 11.549 49,5 49.354 52.135 ELNSTEIN 29/01/79 30.04S 195,4 507.359 587.105 EINSTEIN 27/05/79 11.309 71,5 69.653 71.9:o EINSTEIN 02/02/79 33.251 180,5 518.416 584.541 EE:STEIN 30/05/79 10.638 68,5 62.934 64.606 EINSTEIN 22/02/79 40.916 81,9 289.655 403.135 EINSTEIN 02/05/79 9.894 43,2 36.933 38.931 EINSTEIN 26/02/79 40.175 118,5 411.169 533.619 ELNSTEIH 05/06/79 8.994 59,1 45.962 46.965 EINSTEIN 28/02/79 41.101 84,1 298.473 493.170 EINSTEIN 07/06/79 8.114 58,9 41.307 42.153 EINSTEIN 04/01/79 37.051 73,2 214.287 364.433 EINSTEIN 09/06/79 8.085 66,5 46.462 47.378 EINSTEIN 06/01/79 36.576 107,2 3J8.718 443.478 EINSTEIN 12/06/79 7.663 49,8 12.851 34.