Thomas Buffin-BélangerUniversité du Québec à Rimouski UQAR | uqar · Département de Biologie, Chimie et Géographie
Thomas Buffin-Bélanger
Ph.D.
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157
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Introduction
Publications
Publications (157)
River systems are increasingly under stress and pressure from agriculture and urbanization in riparian zones, resulting in frequent engineering interventions such as bank stabilization or flood protection. This study provides guidelines for a more sustainable approach to river management based on hydrogeomorphology concepts applied to three contras...
Résumé
L'hydrogéomorphologie étudie la dynamique des rivières en se concentrant sur les interactions liant la structure des écoulements, la mobilisation et le transport des sédiments et les morphologies qui caractérisent les cours d'eau et leur bassin‐versant. Elle offre un cadre d'analyse et des outils pour une meilleure intégration des connaissan...
Integrating hydrogeomorphological (HGM) principles into the restoration of degraded rivers can achieve sustainable results and provide various human benefits. HGM principles mainly involve understanding the context and processes that shape a fluvial system before any intervention, in order to support its dynamism and to align with its potential fun...
Soil and Water Bioengineering (SWBE) for river management is a viable alternative to civil engineering when bank stabilization is needed. Unlike riprap, SWBE techniques support bank stabilization while promoting the development of riparian vegetation. The preservation of vegetation biodiversity on riverbanks helps maintain and create essential ecos...
Fluvial hazards of river mobility and flooding are often problematic for road infrastructure and need to be considered in the planning process. The extent of river and road infrastructure networks and their tendency to be close to each other creates a need to be able to identify the most dangerous areas quickly and cost‐effectively. In this study,...
Contrairement aux techniques traditionnelles de protection des berges telles que les enrochements, les techniques de génie végétal (GV) favorisent la stabilisation des berges tout en encourageant le développement de la végétation riveraine. La préservation de la biodiversité végétale sur les rives des cours d’eau contribue au maintien et à la créat...
Published paper: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/rra.4304
Integrating hydrogeomorphological principles into the restoration of degraded rivers can achieve sustainable results for a variety of objectives and human benefits that are consistent with the potential functioning of rivers as well as their uses. Despite recent management approaches inspired by...
Fluvial hazards of river mobility and flooding are often problematic for road infrastructure and need to be considered in the planning process. The extent of river and road infrastructure networks and their tendency to be close to each other creates a need to be able to identify the most dangerous areas quickly and cost-effectively. In this study w...
Integrating hydrogeomorphological principles in the restoration of degraded rivers can allow achieving sustainable results to a variety of objectives and benefits that are consistent with potential functioning of rivers as well as their uses. Despite recent management approaches inspired by these principles (e.g. freedom space for rivers), they are...
Rivers act as a source of CO2 to the atmosphere and some of the implied inorganic carbon comes from the aquifer-river connectivity through groundwater discharges to surface water. This study aims to quantify groundwater discharge entering the stream and to estimate this external input to the riverine inorganic carbon cycle, as both dissolved inorga...
L’hydrogéomorphologie étudie la dynamique des rivières en se concentrant sur les interactions liant la structure des écoulements, la mobilisation et le transport des sédiments et les morphologies qui caractérisent les cours d’eau et leur bassin-versant. Elle offre un cadre d’analyse et des outils pour une meilleure intégration des connaissances sur...
Le canal Saint-Georges est un cours d’eau d’origine anthropique construit en 1898 lors de l’installation d’Henri Menier sur l’île d’Anticosti. Depuis, il a été aménagé pour l’adapter à différents usages. À partir de la fin des années 1970, les processus fluviaux ont graduellement façonné le cours d’eau, entraînant une morphologie plus naturelle. Un...
La restauration des cours d’eau s’est imposée dans les dernières décennies comme une composante centrale de la gestion des cours d’eau au Québec. Il existe toutefois une certaine confusion dans la distinction entre la restauration et l’aménagement des cours d’eau, ainsi que dans les bonnes pratiques à appliquer pour une restauration durable des cor...
Riparian areas are important ecosystems that need to be restored and protected in the Anthropocene era. In Quebec, Canada, conservation laws and management strate- gies focus on ecological services provided by riparian communities, such as erosion and flood control, carbon sequestration, and pollutants filtration. However, there is a need to incorp...
Le Conseil de l'eau du nord de la Gaspésie (CENG) a pour mission d'assurer la concertation et la gouvernance participative de l'eau en réunissant les acteurs de l'eau actifs sur son territoire. Une collaboration fructueuse entre le CENG et les Université du Québec à Rimouski (UQAR) et à Chicoutimi (UQAC) a permis aux partenaires du CENG d'identifie...
It is essential for river restoration to integrate hydrogeomorphological principles and human benefits. They can allow achieving a variety of objectives that are consistent with potential functioning of rivers as well as their uses. However, due to some operational limitations, the projects carried out in the province of Quebec still take little ac...
In agricultural watersheds, human interventions such as channel straightening have disrupted the hydrologic connectivity between headwater streams and their riparian environment and have thus undermined the ecological services provided by these small streams. Knowledge of the hydrologic connectivity between these streams and their immediate environ...
Le canal Saint-Georges est un cours d’eau d’origine anthropique situé au centre de Port- Menier et construit en 1898 lors de l’installation de Henri Menier sur l’île d’Anticosti. Depuis sa construction, il a traversé trois périodes distinctes en termes d’usages et d’aménagement, qui ont chacune influencé de différentes manières la dynamique et la m...
Il est nécessaire d’intégrer les principes de l’hydrogéomorphologie et les bénéfices humains dans la restauration des cours d’eau. Ils peuvent permettre d’atteindre une diversité d’objectifs cohérents au fonctionnement potentiel des cours d’eau ainsi qu’à leurs usages. Toutefois, dû à certaines limites opérationnelles, les projets réalisés au Québe...
Although hydraulic infrastructure such as levees remain important for flood risk management in the USA, France, and Quebec (Canada), there is increasing emphasis on nonstructural measures, such as regulatory flood maps, to reduce exposure and vulnerability, for example, preventing people from building in high hazard areas. One key concept related t...
Preuve de concept d'un indice automatisé pour évaluer l'état hydrogéomorphologique des cours d'eau du Québec (livrable 5) Réalisé dans le cadre du projet de Développement et adaptation d'un indice de l'état hydrogéomorphologique des cours d'eau pour le Québec méridional.
In this study, we combined radon in water activity (222Rn), stable isotopes of inorganic carbon (δ13CDIC), water stable isotopes (δ18O; δ2H) as well as major and trace ions measured in 161 private wells to develop a conceptual hydrogeochemical model of the groundwater flow in this region. More specifically, the applied method consists of (1) analys...
Confluences are sites of intense turbulent mixing in fluvial systems. The large‐scale turbulent structures largely responsible for this mixing have been proposed to fall into three main classes: vertically orientated (Kelvin‐Helmholtz) vortices, secondary flow helical cells and smaller, strongly coherent streamwise orientated vortices. Little is kn...
Floods are among natural disasters that increasingly threaten society, especially with current and future climate change trends. Several tools have been developed to help planners manage the risks associated to flooding, including the mapping of flood-prone areas, but one of the major challenges is still the availability of detailed data, particula...
Large-scale flood modelling approaches designed for regional to continental scales usually rely on relatively simple assumptions to represent the potentially highly complex river bathymetry at the watershed scale based on digital elevation models (DEMs) with a resolution in the range of 25–30 m. Here, high-resolution (1 m) LiDAR DEMs are employed t...
Hydrosedimentary connectivity refers to the potential fluxes of water and sediment moving throughout a catchment. In forested catchments, these fluxes are altered by anthropogenic and natural disturbances. In this study, we modelled the interannual spatiotemporal evolution of hydrosedimentary connectivity influenced by forest cover change over the...
This animated GIF displays the evolution of the interannual evolution of hydrosedimentary connectivity in Mont-Louis catchment (Quebec, Canada), calculated from an adapted index of connectivity which takes into account vegetation height and recovery as a spatio-temporally dynamic impedance.
Hydrosedimentary connectivity is a key concept referring to the potential fluxes of water and sediment moving throughout a catchment. In forested catchments, these fluxes are prone to alterations caused by anthropogenic and natural disturbances. In this study, we modelled the interannual spatiotemporal evolution of hydrosedimentary connectivity inf...
The study is based on a complex and unique data set of ²²²Rn activity, water stable isotopes, and physicochemical parameters (i.e., temperature, electrical conductivity, pH) produced to better understand the hydrogeochemical connectivity between groundwater and river water in a meander floodplain of the Matane River, QC, Canada. Using an array of 2...
The consensus around the need for a shift in river management approaches to include more natural processes is steadily growing amongst scientists, practitioners, and governmental agencies. The freedom space for rivers concept promotes the delineation of a single space that integrates multiple fluvial dynamics such as floods, lateral migration, chan...
Confluences are key nodes of river systems that have the potential of disrupting downstream longitudinal trends in the main river through inputs of water, sediment, wood or ice delivered from tributaries. From a geomorphological perspective, confluence zones are particularly active and thus susceptible to increased flooding and bed instability, whi...
The study is based on a complex and unique data set of radon-222 activity (i.e., 222Rn), water stable isotope (i.e., _18O), and ancillary physicochemical parameters (i.e., temperature, electrical conductivity, pH) undertaken to better understand the hydrogeochemical connectivity between groundwater and river water in a meander floodplain (Matane Ri...
River confluences are characterized by a complex mixing zone with three‐dimensional (3D) turbulent structures which have been described as both streamwise‐oriented structures and Kelvin‐Helmholtz (KH) vertical‐oriented structures. The latter are visible where there is a turbidity difference between the two tributaries, whereas the former are usuall...
Groundwater provides the primary source of water supply in the eastern part of the Bas -Saint-Laurent region (BSL), a region shaped by the Appalachians, a strong Quaternary glacial heritage, and coastal dynamics from the St. Lawrence Estuary. Groundwater hydrogeochemistry of the BSL aquifer system was extensively studied over the last 5 years as pa...
Understanding the extent and the nature of groundwater-surface water connectivity is crucial for sustainable management of water resources. This connectivity implies a mixing zone between water located above and below the surface that corresponds to the hyporheic corridor. The direction and magnitude of water exchanges within the hyporheic corridor...
In many areas of the world, flood risk assessment is either out of date or completely lacking. In Quebec (Canada), one of the challenges to map flood risk is the very large territory combined with very few datasets on river bathymetry, which are required to run hydraulic models. The objective of this study is to assess the precision and accuracy of...
The Saint-Jean River (SRJ) in Eastern Canada is prone to the formation of very large rafts of wood. Managers of the SJR suspected these jams to influence salmon migration and carried out a dismantling operation to remove large wood accumulated in a 1.2 km long wood raft. This operation became a great opportunity to address key issues relating to la...
River confluences are characterized by a complex mixing zone with three-dimensional turbulent structures, which can be affected by the presence of an ice cover during the winter. The objective of this study is to characterize the flow structure in the mixing zone at a medium-size (~ 40 m) river confluence with and without an ice cover. Detailed vel...
In order to promote community accountability for flood risks, the involvement of non-governmental actors and citizens is increasingly valued. The emergence of participatory approaches is consolidated by optimism about the possibility of improving the quality and scope of decisions, managing conflicts, facilitating the implementation of non-structur...
This study presents the first regional groundwater hydrogeochemical portrait of the Bas-Saint-Laurent region (BSL), a region shaped by the Appalachians, a strong Quaternary glacial heritage, and coastal dynamics from the St. Lawrence Estuary. The proximity of BSL’s aquifers to St. Lawrence Estuary and its geological history with the past Goltwait S...
Are Flood Zones Atlas (AZI; Atlas de Zones Inondables) by hydrogeomorphological (HGM) approach effective in communicating flood hazard? What changes are possible to promote the dissemination of this approach? A survey carried out among semi-experts and non-experts and an analysis of legend contents of flood zone atlas allow us to highlight the main...
In a carbon global budget, rivers are generally considered as passive vectors convoying terrestrial carbon to the ocean. This fluvial transport, with a flux estimated at 0,9 Gt.C.an-1, represents the main link between continents and oceans. However, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) is convoyed in a dynamic open fluvial system controlled by catchmen...
There is growing support amongst scientists worldwide about the need for a shift in river management approaches to include hydrogeomorphic processes. However, the degree to which these concepts are transferred to governmental agencies and practitioners varies widely. In Quebec, for example, many stream restoration projects are based on the (incorre...
Large wood (LW) is a ubiquitous feature in rivers of forested watersheds worldwide, and its
importance for river diversity has been recognized for several decades. Although the role of
LW in fluvial dynamics has been extensively documented, there is a need to better quantify
the most significant components of LW budgets at the river scale. The p...
Les embâcles de bois jouent un rôle dans la fréquence et l'intensité des aléas fluviaux et améliorent la qualité des habitats et la biodiversité. On connaît peu la dynamique du bois mort dans les rivières de l’est du Québec, ce qui limite la mise en place de mesures permettant une gestion adéquate des risques fluviaux tout en valorisant les service...
For more than 20 years, hydrogeomorphological mapping in France has been considered as an efficient method of flood mapping that contributes to sustainable land development by taking into account occurrences of extreme events. The European Floods Directive (2007/60/CE) requires the production of maps showing water depths during extreme flood events...
Abstract Semi-alluvial rivers of the Gaspé Peninsula, Québec, are prone to produce and transport vast quantities of large wood (LW). The high rate of lateral erosion owing to high energy flows and noncohesive banks is the main process leading to the recruitment of large wood, which in turn initiates complex patterns of wood accumulation and reentra...
Une coulée de slush (bouillie de neige fondante) est un écoulement rapide constitué d’un mélange de neige fondante, d’eau, de boue et de débris de toutes sortes. Les sept sites analysés démontrent que les coulées de slush peuvent survenir dans des contextes topographiques fort différents qui présentent toutefois des similitudes au niveau du mode d’...
Key Messages
Bank erosion and old‐growth upstream riparian forest stands have been identified as key factors for large wood (LW) recruitment in the river system.
The concentration of LW jams is greater in the first 12 km of the study reach and gradually decreases downstream because of the widening and deepening of the channel.
To manage LW jams, th...
There is great interest worldwide to reconnect floodplain wetlands to their rivers. Whilst the surface water connection between rivers and wetlands is fairly well understood, the linkages via groundwater are not well known. In this study, it is hypothesized that the significance of the groundwater pathways between rivers and wetlands is largely det...
Hydrogeomorphological mapping is used in France since almost 20 years to carry out the Atlas de Zones Inondables. These atlases can be used to draw up the Plan de Prévention des Risques d'Inondation. We tackle the implementation of the hydrogeomorphological method, we analyze the checks on the development of this method and we suggest some directio...
This study analyses the daily processes leading to the creation and evolution of the ice cover in a riffle-pool sequence of a medium-sized river. The study also documents the effects of channel morphology and of hydrometeorological conditions on ice cover creation and evolution. Digital photographs taken perpendicularly to the channel were used to...
In gravelly floodplains, streamflood events induce groundwater floodwaves that propagate through the alluvial aquifer. Understanding groundwater floodwave dynamics can contribute to groundwater flood risk management. This study documents groundwater floodwaves on a flood event basis to fully assess environmental factors that control their propagatio...
The gravel-bed rivers of the Gaspé Peninsula, Québec (Canada), a coastal drainage system of the St. Lawrence estuary, receive and transport vast quantities of large wood. The rapid rate of channel shifting caused by high-energy flows and noncohesive banks allows wood recruitment that in turn greatly influences the river morphodynamics. The delta of t...
Large-scale variations of bed morphology, channel slope, bed material size and flow depth along a sedimentary link were related to river ice dynamics and ice distribution (Bergeron et al., 2011). It was suggested that upstream variations of river ice processes affect downstream river ice dynamics. Similar large-scale variations of fluvial environme...
The semi-alluvial rivers of the Gaspé Peninsula, Québec (Canada), recruit and transport vast quantities of large wood. The rapid rate of channel shifting due to high-energy flows and non-cohesive banks allows the recruitment of large quantities of wood that in turn greatly influence river dynamics. The delta of the Saint-Jean River has accumulated...
Un suivi des processus géomorphologiques en activité dans le nord de la Gaspésie depuis 1979 couplé à des analyses morphométriques et à l’analyse statistique des données de précipitations colligées par les stations d’Environnement Canada ont permis de mieux cerner les conditions climato-édaphiques propices au déclenchement des coulées de débris, de...
La tempête post-tropicale Arthur a débuté sous la forme d’une dépression au-dessus de l’océan Atlantique au large de la Caroline du Sud le 30 juin 2014. Le 3 juillet, Arthur a touché la côte de la Caroline du Nord sous la forme d’un ouragan de catégorie 2. Par la suite, le système a perdu de son intensité en remontant vers les provinces maritimes d...
Assistants Nancy Martel (étudiante bacc. UQAR) Sophie Delormes (étudiante bacc. UQAR) Catherine Tremblay (étudiante M.Sc. UQAR) Marise Bélanger (étudiante DESS UQAR) Éric Fillion (étudiant M.Sc. UQAR) Mathilde Gauthier –Pinsonneault (étudiante bacc. UQAR) Mélodie Denis (étudiante bacc. UQAR) Simon Claveau (étudiant bacc. UQAR) Gwendoline Tomi-Morin...
2015) Programme d'acquisition de connaissance sur les eaux souterraines du nord-est du Bas-Saint-Laurent (PACES-NEBSL): Rapport synthèse. 42 pages.
Abstract This study aims to investigate ice-jam regimes on the Mistassini River by
analyzing the impacts of ice-jams on riverbank morphologies and ecosystems. The Mistassini
River experienced severe ice-jams in May 2011, which caused the destruction of 20
riverside houses. Geomorphological and ecological descriptions of riverbanks helped
identify a...
Abstract This study aims to investigate ice-jam regimes on the Mistassini River by analyzing the impacts of ice jams on riverbank morphologies and ecosystems. The Mistassini River experienced severe ice-jams in May 2011, which caused the destruction of 20 riverside houses. Geomorphological and ecological descriptions of riverbanks helped identify a...
La cartographie hydrogéomorphologique est utilisée à plusieurs niveaux depuis
plus d'une décennie en France, mais son utilisation demeure spatialement hétérogène. L'objectif
de ce travail est de présenter la place qu'occupe la cartographie hydrogéomorphologique dans la
réalisation de PPRI (Plan de Prévention des Risques d'Inondation). La méthodolog...