Sediment fingerprinting to delineate sources of sediment in the agricultural and forested Smith Creek Watershed, Virginia, USA
The sediment fingerprinting approach was used to apportion fine‐grained sediment to cropland, pasture, forests, and streambanks in the agricultural and forested Smith Creek, watershed, Virginia. Smith Creek is a showcase study area in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, where management actions to reduce nutrients and sediment are being monitored. Analyses of suspended sediment at the downstream and upstream sampling sites indicated streambanks were the major source of sediment (76% downstream and 70% upstream). Current management strategies proposed to reduce sediment loadings for Smith Creek do not target streambanks as a source of sediment, whereas the results of this study indicate that management strategies to reduce sediment loads in Smith Creek may be effective if directed toward managing streambank erosion. The results of this study also highlight the utility of sediment fingerprinting as a management tool to identify sediment sources.
Citation Information
| Publication Year | 2018 |
|---|---|
| Title | Sediment fingerprinting to delineate sources of sediment in the agricultural and forested Smith Creek Watershed, Virginia, USA |
| DOI | 10.1111/1752-1688.12680 |
| Authors | Allen C. Gellis, Lillian Gorman Sanisaca |
| Publication Type | Article |
| Publication Subtype | Journal Article |
| Series Title | Journal of the American Water Resources Association |
| Index ID | 70216175 |
| Record Source | USGS Publications Warehouse |
| USGS Organization | Maryland-Delaware-District of Columbia Water Science Center |
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Sediment-sample and climate data for the agricultural and forested parts of Smith Creek watershed, Virginia (2012-2015)
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- Data
Sediment-sample and climate data for the agricultural and forested parts of Smith Creek watershed, Virginia (2012-2015)
This metadata record covers 5 comma delimited ascii files that contain sediment source sample data, sediment target sample data, quantitation limits for samples, and daily temperature data. This data release is a companion to the journal article Sediment fingerprinting to delineate sources of fine-grained sediment in the agricultural and forested Smith Creek watershed, Virginia (2012-2015). - Connect