Eleanor Griffin (Former Employee)
Science and Products
Erosion and Invasive Saltcedar
Formation of arroyos in the late 1800s greatly increased erosion across the southwestern United States. Since the 1930s, however, this erosion has decreased, partly because of bank stabilization by introduced saltcedar. With Isleta Pueblo Indian Nation, the Aquatic Systems Branch developed a new sediment dating method using saltcedar tree rings. We applied the method in a landmark study of...
Cottonwood management at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
This data release consists of sex ratio data from cottonwood trees at random points on the floodplain; tree core and tree ring data; floodplain and riparian cottonwood forest areas as shapefiles (SHP); and edges of water, channel centerline, valley bottom centerline, extent of valley bottom, and estimated bankfull channel data as shapefiles (SHP).
Cottonwood management at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
This data release consists of the following components:Sex ratio data from cottonwood trees at random points on the floodplain in the North and South units of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, ND. These data were used to investigate the effects of age, height above, and distance from the channel on mortality of male and female trees of plains...
Friedman, Jonathan M.; Griffin, Eleanor R. Management of plains cottonwood at Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota
Establishment of cottonwood trees is driven by flood-induced channel migration, which provides the new surfaces necessary for successful germination and survival. Along the Little Missouri River the largest floods typically result from snowmelt in March or April. Seed release occurs in early summer, and seedlings usually germinate in moist, open...
Friedman, Jonathan M.; Griffin, Eleanor R. Decreased runoff response to precipitation, Little Missouri River Basin, northern Great Plains, USA
High variability in precipitation and streamflow in the semiarid northern Great Plains causes large uncertainty in water availability. This uncertainty is compounded by potential effects of future climate change. We examined historical variability in annual and growing season precipitation, temperature, and streamflow within the Little Missouri...
Griffin, Eleanor R.; Friedman, Jonathan M. Contributions of moderately low flows and large floods to geomorphic change in the Rio Puerco Arroyo, New Mexico
Abstract—From the mid-1800s to around 1930, monsoonal floods incised an arroyo roughly 100 m wide and 10 m deep along the lower Rio Puerco, NM, from the confluence with the Rio San Jose downstream to the mouth at the Rio Grande, causing sedimentation and flooding downstream. Since the 1930s, the channel has greatly narrowed, a densely vegetated...
Griffin, Eleanor R.; Friedman, Jonathan M. Lower Rio Puerco geospatial data, 1935 - 2014
A long-term study of the geomorphic history of the lower Rio Puerco arroyo in north-central New Mexico included the collection of high-precision (Real-time kinematic) GPS survey data (2002, 2007, 2010, and 2014), registration and rectification of historical aerial photographs (1935, 1950s, 1970s, and 1996), an aerial LiDAR survey (2005) with...
Griffin, Eleanor R. Alternative standardization approaches to improving streamflow reconstructions with ring-width indices of riparian trees
Old, multi-aged populations of riparian trees provide an opportunity to improve reconstructions of streamflow. Here, ring widths of 394 plains cottonwood (Populus deltoids, ssp. monilifera) trees in the North Unit of Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota, are used to reconstruct streamflow along the Little Missouri River (LMR), North...
Meko, David M.; Friedman, Jonathan M.; Touchan, Ramzi; Edmondson, Jesse R.; Griffin, Eleanor R.; Scott, Julian A. Processes limiting depth of arroyo incision: Examples from the Rio Puerco, New Mexico
We examined channel flow and suspended sediment transport processes within the lower Rio Puerco arroyo, located in semi-arid north-central New Mexico, in an attempt to answer the question: Why did arroyo incision stop by about 1936? Channel flow model results show that in the narrow, incised channel of 1936, the boundary shear stress during a...
Griffin, Eleanor R.; Friedman, Jonathan M. Processes of arroyo filling in northern New Mexico, USA
We documented arroyo evolution at the tree, trench, and arroyo scales along the lower Rio Puerco and Chaco Wash in northern New Mexico, USA. We excavated 29 buried living woody plants and used burial signatures in their annual rings to date stratigraphy in four trenches across the arroyos. Then, we reconstructed the history of arroyo evolution by...
Friedman, Jonathan M.; Vincent, Kirk R.; Griffin, Eleanor R.; Scott, Michael L.; Shafroth, Patrick B.; Auble, Gregor T. Mummy Lake: An unroofed ceremonial structure within a large-scale ritual landscape
The structure at Mesa Verde National Park known historically as Mummy Lake and more recently as Far View Reservoir is not part of a water collection, impoundment, or redistribution system. We offer an alternative explanation for the function of Mummy Lake. We suggest that it is an unroofed ceremonial structure, and that it serves as an essential...
Benson, Larry V.; Griffin, Eleanor R.; Stein, J.R.; Friedman, R. A.; Andrae, S. W. Effects of woody vegetation on overbank sand transport during a large flood, Rio Puerco, New Mexico
Distributions of woody vegetation on floodplain surfaces affect flood-flow erosion and deposition processes. A large flood along the lower Rio Puerco, New Mexico, in August 2006 caused extensive erosion in a reach that had been sprayed with herbicide in September 2003 for the purpose of saltcedar (Tamarix spp.) control. Large volumes of sediment,...
Griffin, Eleanor R.; Perignon, Mariela C.; Friedman, Jonathan M.; Tucker, Gregory E. Effects of riparian vegetation on topographic change during a large flood event, Rio Puerco, New Mexico, USA
The spatial distribution of riparian vegetation can strongly influence the geomorphic evolution of dryland rivers during large floods. We present the results of an airborne lidar differencing study that quantifies the topographic change that occurred along a 12 km reach of the Lower Rio Puerco, New Mexico, during an extreme event in 2006....
Perignon, M. C. ; Tucker, G.E.; Griffin, Eleanor R.; Friedman, Jonathan M. Progression of stream bank erosion dudring a large flood, Rio Puerco, New Mexico
In August 2006, a large flood following saltcedar control efforts through a 12-km long segment of the Rio Puerco arroyo resulted in extensive lateral erosion of the streambanks. Almost all woody vegetation on the floodplain and channel banks had been killed by aerial spraying with herbicide in September 2003. During the flood, dead woody bank...
Griffin, Eleanor R.; Smith, J. Dungan; Friedman, Jonathan M.; Vincent, Kirk R.