Research Task: 832797V.6.0
Task Manager: Jonathan Friedman
In the late 1800's, arroyos (incised channels) developed along the Rio Puerco, New Mexico, and many other streams of the southwestern United States. These arroyos drained the surface water and alluvial groundwater that formerly supported marshlands, riparian forests and associated grazing lands; destroyed bridges and irrigation works; and deposited large amounts of sediment in downstream rivers and reservoirs. Subsequent arroyo cutting and filling have been attributed to temporal shifts in the intensity of precipitation, changes in livestock grazing intensity, or invasion by tamarisk. Congress has declared the Rio Puerco watershed an Impaired Basin, making it a national focus for research on the arroyo cycle. This study examines the processes of channel change in arroyos at the reach and regional scales. Reach-Scale work focuses on reconstructing the last 70 years of channel change at four sites in northern New Mexico by combining trench stratigraphy with tree-ring counts on buried stems. Regional-scale work relates changes at these sites to contemporaneous changes across the southwestern U.S. using a Sediment Transport Capacity Index.
For more information contact Jonathan Friedman
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://www.fort.usgs.gov/Research/research_tasks.asp
Page Contact Information: AskFORT@usgs.gov
Page Last Modified: 9:27:54 PM
