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Spatially averaged stratigraphic data to inform watershed sediment routing: An example from the Mid-Atlantic United States

May 5, 2022

New and previously published stratigraphic data define Holocene to present sediment storage time scales for Mid-Atlantic river corridors. Empirical distributions of deposit ages and thicknesses were randomly sampled to create synthetic age-depth records. Deposits predating European settlement accumulated at a (median) rate of 0.06 cm yr−1, range from ∼18,000 to 225 yr old, and represent 39% (median) of the total accumulation. Sediments deposited from 1750 to 1950 (“legacy sediments”) accumulated at a (median) rate of 0.39 cm yr−1 and comprise 47% (median) of the total, while “modern sediments” (1950−present) represent 11% of the total and accumulated at a (median) rate of 0.25 cm yr−1. Synthetic stratigraphic sequences, recast as age distributions for the presettlement period, in 1900 A.D., and at present, reflect rapid postsettlement alluviation, with enhanced preservation of younger sediments related to postsettlement watershed disturbance. An averaged present age distribution for vertically accreted sediment has modal, median, and mean ages of 190, 230, and 630 yr, reflecting the predominance of stored legacy sediments and the influence of relatively few, much older early Holocene deposits. The present age distribution, if represented by an exponential approximation (mean age ∼300 yr), and naively assumed to represent steady-state conditions, implies median sediment travel times on the order of centuries for travel distances greater than ∼100 km. The percentage of sediment reaching the watershed outlet in 30 yr (a reasonable time horizon to achieve watershed restoration efficacy) is ∼60% for a distance of 50 km, but this decreases to <20% for distances greater than 200 km. Age distributions, evaluated through time, not only encapsulate the history of sediment storage, but they also provide data for calibrating watershed-scale sediment-routing models over geological time scales.

Publication Year 2023
Title Spatially averaged stratigraphic data to inform watershed sediment routing: An example from the Mid-Atlantic United States
DOI 10.1130/B36282.1
Authors James Pizzuto, Katherine Skalak, Adam Benthem, Shannon A. Mahan, Mahmoud Sherif, Adam Pearson
Publication Type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Series Title GSA Bulletin
Index ID 70236814
Record Source USGS Publications Warehouse
USGS Organization Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center; New England Water Science Center
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