Case Studies of Sediment Mining Activity

Sand and gravel are the most mined commodities and mainly for construction purposes. Surges of sand mining follows the development of the regions, so it is no surprise that the main sand mining market is located at this moment in East Asia. Nevertheless, historical mining which occurred during development periods in Europe and North America still leave traces, and this past activity may cause catastrophic events due to long-term alteration of the morphology of minded rivers. We show three cases, two in East Asia (Indonesia and Mekong delta) and one in Europe (Portugal). The three cases have in common unregulated or poorly regulated sand mining activities and the fact that mining rates were higher than sediment supply from upstream, causing a sand deficit in the rivers.