Sand mining across the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna catchment; assessment of activity and implications for sediment delivery

A. Daham, G. S. Sambrook Smith, Andrew P. Nicholas, Andrea Gasparotto, Julian Clark, Tahmina Yasmin
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Abstract

While issues of pollution, floods and drought in our rivers are widely studied, there is a hidden crisis with respect to the widespread global extraction of sand. Large volumes of sand are needed in the construction industry to make concrete. So far, calls for greater monitoring of sand mining activity have largely gone unmet. This is due to the fact mining is extensive, often hidden (e.g. underwater) and thus very difficult to properly assess. To meet this challenge, we use remote sensing methods to detect and monitor sand mining activities at the catchment scale, across the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna river system (catchment size 1.72 million km2). Based on this analysis, here we show that mining activity is diverse and pervasive across the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna catchment system for our study period of 2016-2021, with rates of extraction increasing within some of the rivers. Results show the total estimate for sand extraction is ~ 115 MTyr-1 +/- 20 MTyr-1, which is of a similar order of magnitude to the natural bedload flux of the catchment. While there are some limitations to deriving estimates based solely on imagery, this work highlights both the widespread spatial extent and large magnitude of sand mining for one of the world’s biggest catchments. Furthermore, given our estimated scale of sand extraction, it demonstrates the need to properly account for mining activities when considering delivery of sediment to deltas in terms of the management of these vulnerable systems in the face of rising sea-levels. Overall, this work stresses the urgent requirement for further similar studies of sand extraction in the world’s large rivers, which is vital to underpin sustainable management plans for the global sand commons.
恒河-布拉马普特拉河-梅格纳河流域的采砂活动;活动评估及对沉积物输送的影响
在人们广泛研究河流污染、洪水和干旱问题的同时,全球范围内广泛采砂也隐藏着危机。建筑业需要大量的沙子来制造混凝土。迄今为止,加强对采砂活动监督的呼吁基本上没有得到回应。这是因为采砂活动范围广,而且往往很隐蔽(如在水下),因此很难进行适当的评估。为了应对这一挑战,我们使用遥感方法探测和监测恒河-布拉马普特拉河-梅格纳河流域(流域面积 172 万平方公里)的采砂活动。基于这一分析,我们在此表明,在 2016-2021 年的研究期间,恒河-布拉马普特拉河-额尔古纳河流域系统内的采矿活动多种多样且普遍存在,部分河流的采砂率有所上升。结果表明,采砂总量估计为约 115 公吨/年-1 +/- 20 公吨/年-1,与集水区的天然床面负荷通量数量级相近。虽然仅根据图像进行估算有一定的局限性,但这项工作凸显了世界上最大的集水区之一的采沙活动的广泛空间范围和巨大规模。此外,考虑到我们估计的采砂规模,这表明在考虑向三角洲输送沉积物时,需要适当考虑采矿活动,以便在海平面上升的情况下管理这些脆弱的系统。总之,这项工作强调了对世界大河采砂进行进一步类似研究的迫切要求,这对支持全球砂公域的可持续管理计划至关重要。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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