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Combining sediment fingerprinting with age-dating sediment using fallout radionuclides for an agricultural stream, Walnut Creek, Iowa, USA

  • Sediment Fingerprinting in the Critical Zone
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

The main purpose of this study was to demonstrate the utility of the sediment fingerprinting approach to apportion surface-derived sediment, and then age date that portion using short-lived fallout radionuclides. In systems where a large mass of mobile sediment is in channel storage, age dating provides an understanding of the transfer of sediment through the watershed and the time scales over which management actions to reduce sediment loadings may be effective.

Materials and methods

In the agricultural Walnut Creek watershed, Iowa, the sediment-fingerprinting approach with elemental analysis was used to apportion the sources of fine-grained sediment (croplands, prairie, unpaved roads, and channel banks). Fallout radionuclides (7Be, 210Pbex) were used to age the portion of suspended sediment that was derived from agricultural topsoil. Age dating was performed at two different scales: 210Pbex which can date sediment to ~ 85 years and 7Be to ~ 1 year.

Results and discussion

Sediment fingerprinting results indicated that the majority of suspended sediment is derived from cropland (62%) with streambanks contributing 36%, and prairie, pasture, and unpaved roads each contributing ≤ 1%. The topsoil–derived portion of sediment (primarily agriculture) dated using 210Pbex has ages ranging from 1 to 58 years, and using 7Be, a component of much younger sediment that yields ages ranging from 44 to 205 days. The occurrence of 7Be indicates that some portion of the sediment is young, on the order of months, whereas the dating based on 210Pbex indicates that some of the surface-derived sediment has been in channel storage for decades. Published studies in Walnut Creek indicate that a large component of sediment is stored in the channel bed.

Conclusions

We conclude that the 210Pbex-based ages are a reasonable estimate for the mean age of the surface-derived fraction and that 7Be activities are evidence that there is a smaller fraction of very young sediment in the stream. We propose a geomorphic model where agricultural soil is delivered to the channel and conveyed to the watershed outlet at three time scales: a geologic-millennial time scale, decades, and a young time scale (< 1 year).

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Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the following individuals for their assistance in site selection, data collection, and handling: Jeffrey Frey and Stephen Kalkhoff, USGS and Kailyn Pederson, Justin D' Souza, and Lucas Tenborg, Iowa State University. For lab preparation and database management, we thank Lillian Gorman Sanisaca, Jeffrey Klein, and Lucas Nibert of USGS, and for GIS assistance, we thank Shannon Jackson, USGS. Staff at the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge are also acknowledged for help with GIS coverages and site selection. Kelly McVicker for editing the manuscript and Kristin Jaeger for USGS colleague review. Data are available through U.S. Geological Survey Science Data Release https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/item/59889f04e4b05ba66e9ffea7. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government.

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Gellis, A.C., Fuller, C.C., Van Metre, P. et al. Combining sediment fingerprinting with age-dating sediment using fallout radionuclides for an agricultural stream, Walnut Creek, Iowa, USA. J Soils Sediments 19, 3374–3396 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-018-2168-z

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