U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey A Summary Report of Sediment Processes in Chesapeake Bay and Watershed Water-Resources Investigations Report 03-4123 Cover. Image provided by ORBIMAGE. © Orbital Imaging Corporation and processing by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey A Summary Report of Sediment Processes in Chesapeake Bay and Watershed edited by Michael Langland and Thomas Cronin Water-Resources Investigations Report 03-4123 New Cumberland, Pennsylvania 2003 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR GALE A. NORTON, Secretary U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Charles G. Groat, Director Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. For additional information Copies of this report may be write to: purchased from: District Chief U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Geological Survey Branch of Information Services 215 Limekiln Road Box 25286, Federal Center New Cumberland, Pennsylvania 17070 Denver, Colorado 80225-0286 Email: [email protected] Telephone 1-888-ASK-USGS ii CONTENTS Page Executive summary, by Michael Langland, Thomas Cronin, and Scott Phillips . 1 Sediment and suspended solids . 3 Suspended sediment, water clarity, and submerged aquatic vegetation . 4 Watershed sources and transport of sediment . 6 Sediment sources and transport to the bay and tributaries . 7 Shoreline erosion . 12 Natural processes and variability in sediment transport . 15 Sediment deposition and storage. 17 List of sediment workgroup members and affiliation. 18 Workgroup members . 19 Acknowledgments . 20 Abstract . 20 Chapter 1. Introduction, by Thomas Cronin and Michael Langland . 21 Background . 21 Sediment workgroup . 21 Report objectives and scope . 21 Terminology for sediment and total suspended solids. 23 TSS variability . 23 TSS, light, and SAV. 27 Chapter 2. Watershed sediment sources, by Allen Gellis, Sean Smith, and Steven Stewart . 29 Upland sediment sources . 29 Urban sediment sources . 31 Channel corridor sources . 33 Chapter 3. Watershed sediment transport, by Sean Smith, Michael Langland, and Robert Edwards . 34 Channel hydraulics and sediment transport . 34 Channel morphology and hydraulics . 34 Channel shaping processes and sediment flux . 35 Channel sediments . 38 Suspended-load and wash-load transport . 38 Bedload transport . 39 Reach-specific sediment-transport characteristics. 40 Chapter 4. Watershed sediment deposition and storage, by Julie Herman, Clifford Hupp, and Michael Langland . 42 Upland storage . 42 Floodplain and banks. 43 Reservoirs. 45 Susquehanna River reservoirs . 46 C ONTENTS | iii CONTENTS—Continued Page Chapter 5. Estuarine sediment sources, by Thomas Cronin, Jeffrey Halka, Scott Phillips, and Owen Bricker . 49 Estimates of major sediment sources. 49 Watershed sources . 50 Shoreline erosion. 51 Oceanic input . 56 Internal sources of sediment . 58 Direct atmospheric input . 59 Chapter 6. Estuarine sediment transport, deposition, and sedimentation, by Thomas Cronin, Lawrence Sanford, Michael Langland, Debra Willard, and Casey Saenger. 61 Sediment transport pathways. 61 Estuarine turbidity maxima zone. 61 Influence of climate . 64 Long-term processes . 64 Centennial, decadal, and interannual time scales . 65 Short-term extreme events. 66 Deposition and sedimentation rates . 67 Sediment resuspension . 77 Chapter 7. Integrated approaches to sediment studies, by Sean Smith, Julie Herman, Thomas Cronin, Gregory Schwarz, Michael Langland, Kenn Patison, and Lewis Linker. 80 Sediment budgets: Watershed and estuary . 80 Watershed components . 80 Estuarine budgets . 82 Model-derived sediment estimates . ..