2015/01/08 by Lucas J. Reusser, Paul R. Bierman, Dylan H. Rood · 1 citation
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Soil erosion and sediment transport #Hydrology and Sediment Transport Processes #Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
paper · doi:10.1130/g36272.1
openalex publication_date 2015/01/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31
Research Article| February 01, 2015 Quantifying human impacts on rates of erosion and sediment transport at a landscape scale Lucas Reusser; Lucas Reusser 1Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, and Department of Geology, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Paul Bierman; Paul Bierman * 1Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, and Department of Geology, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA *E-mail: [email protected] Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Dylan Rood Dylan Rood 2Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK3Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Lucas Reusser 1Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, and Department of Geology, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA Paul Bierman * 1Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, and Department of Geology, University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont 05405, USA Dylan Rood 2Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK3Center for Accelerator Mass Spectrometry, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California 94550, USA *E-mail: [email protected] Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 13 Sep 2014 Revision Received: 23 Nov 2014 Accepted: 08 Dec 2014 First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 © 2015 Geological Society of America Geology (2015) 43 (2): 171–174. 10.1130/G36272.1 Article history Received: 13 Sep 2014 Revision Received: 23 Nov 2014 Accepted: 08 Dec 2014 First Online: 09 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Lucas Reusser, Paul Bierman, Dylan Rood; Quantifying human impacts on rates of erosion and sediment transport at a landscape scale. Geology 2015;; 43 (2): 171–174. doi: 10.1130/G36272.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Establishing background (geologic) rates of erosion is prerequisite to quantifying the impact of human activities on Earth's surface. Here, we present 10Be estimates of background erosion rates for ten large (10,000–100,000 km2) river basins in the southeastern United States, an area that was cleared of native forest and used intensively for agriculture. These 10Be-based rates are indicative of the pace at which the North American passive-margin landscape eroded before European settlement (∼8 m/m.y.). Comparing these background rates to both rates of post-settlement hillslope erosion and to river sediment yields for the same basins, we find that following peak disturbance (late 1800s and early 1900s), rates of hillslope erosion (∼950 m/m.y.) exceeded 10Be-determined background rates more than one-hundred fold. Although large-basin sediment yields during peak disturbance increased 5–10× above pre-settlement norms, rivers at the time were transporting only ∼6% of the eroded material; work by others suggests that the bulk of historically eroded material remained and still remains as legacy sediment stored at the base of hillslopes and along valley bottoms. Because background erosion rates, such as we present here, reflect the rate at which soil is generated over millennial time scales, they can inform and enhance landscape-management strategies. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.