Identifying and Quantifying Sediment Sources and Sinks in the Root River, Southeastern Minnesota

Fine sediment, normally understood to refer to sand, silts, and clays; is a natural constituent in all rivers. When in excess this fine sediment can degrade the habitat for aquatic life in these rivers, and carry with it many pollutants and nutrients which can cause adverse effects on wildlife and human populations. Understanding how this fine sediment moves through a river system, from erosion off of hillslopes, transport through the river, and finally export from the mouth of the system is vital part to land and river management. However, predicting how fine sediment moves through a system is a difficult project, and to do so adequately many lines of evidence regarding the movement is needed. Research done in the Root River has been concluded to build a body of information regarding the dynamics of fine sediment movement in this river system. Data sets collected during this research project provide information regarding how river flows have changed over the last half century and that the movement of fine sediment is dependent on the sequence of floods. Other datasets indicate that there are many sources of sediment near the river and that these banks are likely contributing a large amount of sediment to overall amount of sediment in the river. Through the use of geochemical tracers, the research indicates that upland areas are contributing alot of sediment to the river, but that this fine sediment is being exchanged with the floodplains. This data set collected also provides a strong base for future work in the Root River