HR: 08:00h
AN: B51F-01 INVITED     [Abstracts]
TI: Sediment Flux in First Order Basins in the Mid-Atlantic Piedmont
AU: * Smith, S M
EM: ssmith7520@aol.com
AF: Maryland Department of Natural Resources, Ecosystem Restoration Center 580 Taylor Ave, E2, Annapolis, MD 21401 United States
AU: Wilcock, P R
EM: wilcock@jhu.edu
AF: Johns Hopkins University, Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering 3400 N. Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218 United States
AB: The flux of sediment within and from headwater basins in the Piedmont of the Mid-Atlantic has historically been poorly documented. Most available sediment data have been obtained from alluvial channels at the outlets from third order or higher watersheds. This has hindered prediction of sediment yield in large basins, such as the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Three years of flow and suspended sediment monitoring in the headwaters of the Upper Patuxent River watershed in Maryland have provided a new dataset that allows for the investigation of the relative roles of hillslopes and first order gullies in producing sediment yield from first order watersheds. Measurements from three primary settings, including cropped land, forest, and suburban land cover conditions with similar lithologies and slopes, provides a new opportunity to evaluate mass flux of sediment within a region undergoing rapid land use transitions. The results have implications to watershed management strategies including storm water management, erosion control, and water quality modeling in the suburbanizing region between Washington D.C. and Baltimore.
DE: 0400 BIOGEOSCIENCES
DE: 1803 Anthropogenic effects (4802, 4902)
DE: 1815 Erosion
DE: 1817 Extreme events
DE: 1860 Streamflow
SC: Biogeosciences [B]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005