The scale relationship of sediment discharge, erosion amount and sediment delivery ratio in drainage basin: A case study in the Ganjiang River Basin
输沙量 、侵蚀量与泥沙输移比的流域尺度关系——以赣江流域为例

The research of sediment discharge, erosion amount and sediment delivery ratio is known as frontier topics in the field of soil erosion and sediment yield in a drainage basin, with the hope that the research results of slope or runoff plot could be transformed into much larger areas according to the theory of scale transformation. Based on the measured sediment discharge, calculated erosion amounts and sediment delivery ratio in the Ganjiang River Basin, this paper discusss the relationships of the three variables at a basin scale, and analyzs the possibilities of scale transformation of the three variables. Both the scatter diagrams and correlation equations of the three variables and drainage areas reflected the fact that the three variables are not correlative with the drainage area and against the conclusion that the three variables have inverse relations with the drainage area presented by some scholars. It also describs the connotation of basin area and its relationship with the influencing factors of sediment discharge, erosion amount and sediment delivery ratio. The result reveals that there is no scaling effect between the influencing factors of the three variables and basin areas. Therefore, there is little possibility for scale transformation in sediment discharge, erosion amount and sediment delivery ratio in the Ganjiang River Basin. Further research work should be done to find out if this conclusion could be reliable and have a universal meaning.