Abstract
Efforts to predict sediment flux must identify and quantify sediment availability within a catchment, analyzing the caliber and volume of sediments in differing stores/sinks, their accessibility/ease of reworking, and the distribution of features that inhibit rates of sediment conveyance through landscapes (i.e. landscape connectivity). These relationships are greatly influenced by the catchment-specific pattern of accommodation space - those parts of landscapes where sediments are stored (over differing timeframes). Landscape memory exerts a primary control upon the differing forms and patterns of accommodation space within a catchment. This reflects arrange of geologic, climatic and anthropogenic considerations. The variable imprint of landscape memory results in marked differences in lagged and off-site response to disturbance events from catchment to catchment. Understanding of the combined role of these factors is a critical issue in the prediction of sediment disasters and in river conservation/rehabilitation initiatives.
