Using unsupported lead-210 measurements to investigate soil erosion and sediment delivery in a small Zambian catchment

Traditional techniques used to assemble information on rates of erosion and soil redistribution possess many important limitations. As a result, the use of environmental radionuclides, and more particularly ¹³⁷Cs measurements, has attracted increasing attention in recent years as a means of obtaining spatially distributed information on rates of erosion and deposition. The application of the ¹³⁷Cs approach is, however, hampered in some areas of the world where ¹³⁷Cs inventories are low and the low concentrations of ¹³⁷Cs found in soils and sediments cause problems for laboratory analysis. These problems will increase as time progresses due to the radioactive decay of the existing inventory, most of which was deposited as fallout ca. 40 years ago. This contribution explores the potential for using another fallout radionuclide, namely unsupported ²¹⁰Pb, as an alternative to ¹³⁷Cs, in the small (63 km²) Upper Kaleya catchment in southern Zambia where ¹³⁷Cs inventories are already very low. The approach employed with unsupported ²¹⁰Pb is similar to that used for ¹³⁷Cs, although the essentially constant fallout of unsupported ²¹⁰Pb through time means that the resulting estimates of erosion and soil redistribution rates reflect a longer period of time (ca. 100 years rather than ca. 40 years). The estimates of erosion and deposition rates derived from the unsupported ²¹⁰Pb measurements are used to construct typical sediment budgets for the three main land-use types in the Upper Kaleya catchment, namely, commercial cultivation, communal cultivation and bush grazing. The results obtained from the unsupported ²¹⁰Pb are compared with equivalent results based on ¹³⁷Cs measurements provided by a previous investigation undertaken in the study catchment. The two sets of results are highly consistent. The study reported confirms the viability of using unsupported ²¹⁰Pb as an alternative to ¹³⁷Cs in this environment and demonstrates that conjunctive use of both radionuclides can provide additional information on the erosional history of a study area.     

Preliminary results of usingCs to study wind erosion in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The world fallout of caesium-137 (¹³⁷Cs) associated with nuclear weapons testing during the 1950s and 1960s has provided a valuable man-made tracer for studies of soil erosion and sediment delivery. But relatively few researchers have used it to estimate wind erosion. In this paper, the¹³⁷Cs technique is introduced into the study of wind erosion and its modern processes in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Two¹³⁷Cs reference inventories of 982·11 and 2376·04 Bq m⁻²was established preliminarily, which distribute in the south and mid-north parts of the study area respectively. By analysing the patterns of¹³⁷Cs depth profiles from sampling sites, the aeolian processes of erosion and deposition along nearly 40 years has been revealed, i.e. the shrub coppice dunes(S1) and semi-fixed dunefields (S3) had experienced the alternation of erosion and deposition, while the grasslands (S4, S6 and S7) and dry farmlands (S5) suffered erosion only. By using the¹³⁷Cs model, the average wind erosion rates for shrub coppice dune (S1), semi-fixed dunefields (S3), dry farmlands (S5) and grasslands (S4, S6 and S7) were estimated to be 84·14, 69·43, 30·68 and 21·84 tha⁻¹a⁻¹respectively, and for the whole Plateau, averaging 47·59 ha⁻¹a⁻¹which can be regarded as the medium erosion standard. These results derived from¹³⁷Cs for the first time have significant implications for the further research of wind erosion and desertification control in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.     

Application of210Pb in soils

The spectroscopic measurement of soil samples is described.²¹⁰Pb data from a soil survey in western-Europe are briefly reviewed. The average²¹⁰Pb flux from the atmosphere, as determined from²¹⁰Pb _exc soil inventories, is 90 Bq m^–2a^–1. A simple one-dimensional box-chain model is described. The model simulates the vertical, post depositional transport of natural and fall-out radionuclides in the soil. Simulation of measured²¹⁰Pb _exc ,¹³⁴Cs,¹³⁷Cs, and²⁴¹Am soil profiles shows that mixing (bioturbation) is a very efficient transport mechanism. Lead seems to be strongly fixed to organic and clay particles. It is transported by the displacement of the organic and clay carrier substances. The mean residence time of lead, caesium, plutonium and americium in organic rich forest soils is in the order of 250–1000 years. An applicability study in investigate the use of²¹⁰Pb in erosion problems showed erosion rates from 60–180 g m^–2a^–1 on organic rich forest and meadow sites with 10°–25° slopes.This is the eighth of a series of papers to be published by this journal following the 20 ^th anniversary of the first application of²¹⁰Pb dating of lake sediments. Dr P. G. Appleby is guest editing this series.     

Quantifying sediment transport across an undisturbed prairie landscape using cesium-137 and high resolution topography

Soil erosion is a global environmental problem, and anthropogenic fallout radionuclides offer a promising tool for describing and quantifying soil redistribution on decadal time scales. To date, applications of radioactive fallout to trace upland sediment transport have been developed primarily on lands disturbed by agriculture, grazing, and logging. Here we use ¹³⁷Cs to characterize and quantify soil erosion at the Konza Prairie Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) site, an undisturbed grassland in northeastern Kansas. We report on the small scale (< 10 m) and landscape scale (10 to 1000 m) distribution of fallout ¹³⁷Cs, and show significant variability in the concentrations and amounts of ¹³⁷Cs in soils at our site. ¹³⁷Cs soil concentrations and amounts typically vary by 10% to 30% on small scales, which most likely represents the spatial heterogeneity of the depositional processes. Landscape scale variability of soil ¹³⁷Cs was significantly higher than small scale variability. Most notably, soils collected on convex (divergent) landforms had ¹³⁷Cs inventories of 2500 to 3000 Bq m^− 2, which is consistent with the expected atmospheric inputs to the study area during the 1950s and 1960s. Concave landforms, however, had statistically lower inventories of 1800 to 2300 Bq m^− 2. The distribution of ¹³⁷Cs on this undisturbed landscape contrasts significantly with distributions observed across disturbed sites, which generally have accumulations of radioactive fallout in valley bottoms. Because the upslope contributing area at each sampling point had a significant negative correlation with the soil inventory of ¹³⁷Cs, we suggest that overland flow in convergent areas dominates soil erosion at Konza on time scales of decades. Very few points on our landscape had ¹³⁷Cs inventories significantly above that which would be predicted from direct deposition of ¹³⁷Cs on the soil surface; we conclude therefore that there is little net sediment storage on this undisturbed landscape.     

Post-depositional 137Cs Mobility in the Sediments of Three Shallow Coastal Lagoons, SW England

We present ¹³⁷Cs profiles for three low lying coastal lagoons in Southwest England that show a decline in activity with sediment depth. ¹³⁷Cs inventories are lower than expected by comparison with local reference inventories despite the fact that sampling was undertaken in the deep-water zone of each lake where sediment and ¹³⁷Cs focusing would be expected. At all three locations, lake sediment ⁷Be and unsupported ²¹⁰Pb (²¹⁰Pb_un) inventories are not significantly lower than the local reference inventory. ¹³⁷Cs inventories in the study cores range from 38 to 95% of local reference inventories. The standing water level and mud: water interface at two sites are below maximum tide level and, at all three sites, salinity increases significantly in the water columns between low and high tide and in the pore waters of the underlying sediments. We suggest that the difference in hydrostatic pressure between sea level and standing water levels in the lagoons forces salt water up through the sediment column and that monovalent cations (especially Na⁺ and K⁺) replace ¹³⁷Cs on exchange sites leading to the upward migration and loss of ¹³⁷Cs. Rising sea levels may therefore contribute to remobilisation and release of ¹³⁷Cs to the aquatic environment from the sediments of coastal lagoons.     

Difficulties in interpreting fast mixing in the radiometric dating of sediments using 210Pb and 137Cs

²¹⁰Pb geochronologies should be validated with independent tracers such as ¹³⁷Cs. In the cases with constant ²¹⁰Pb activity in the topmost sediments, the presence of a distinct ¹³⁷Cs peak within the ²¹⁰Pb plateau has been used as a definitive demonstration of acceleration (increase in the sedimentation rate in recent years) versus fast mixing. Nevertheless, some limitations can be identified in the use of semiquantitative arguments, and a global understanding of the whole ¹³⁷Cs activity profile is then required. Particularly, the incomplete mixing within the top sediment zone (described through the Incomplete Mixing Zone model) can explain quantitatively and simultaneously the ¹³⁷Cs peak and the flattening in the ²¹⁰Pb activity profile. This is demonstrated using selected examples from literature data. Thus, measured constant ²¹⁰Pb activities in the top 6 cm of a sediment core from Lake Zürich. Nevertheless, they found ⁷Be only in the uppermost layer, the distinct ¹³⁷Cs maximum at 6 cm depth, and undisturbed varves. The fast mixing seemed then opposed to common sense. The constant rate of supply model shows acceleration and it adequately matches the position of the 1963 ¹³⁷Cs peak. Nevertheless it fails to explain the whole ¹³⁷Cs profile when handling time series of ¹³⁷Cs atmospheric deposition. Finally, it is shown how the incomplete mixing of the activity (through the pore water) over a certain mass depth at the top sediment, with a finite value of the mixing coefficient, can quantitatively explain the whole activity versus mass depth profiles of ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb, and the presence of ⁷Be only in the uppermost sediment layer. A further validation of these ideas is presented from other literature data.     

Evaluating the mobility of137Cs,239+240Pu and210Pb from their distributions in laminated lake sediments

Post-depositional mobility of¹³⁷Cs,^239+240Pu and²¹⁰Pb was assessed in six small lake basins by comparing sedimentary nuclide profiles with their known fallout history. Laminae couplets, when present, were determined to be varves because the¹³⁷Cs and^239+240Pu 1963 fallout peaks are present in laminae couplets corresponding to years 1962–1964. There is no evidence of mobility of²¹⁰Pb, because 1) mass accumulation rates based on²¹⁰Pb agree with those based on¹³⁷Cs and^239+240Pu peak depths and with those based on varve counts, and 2)²¹⁰Pb ages agree with varve ages. Significant mobility of¹³⁷Cs is evident from the penetration of¹³⁷Cs to depths 15–20 cm deeper than^239+240Pu. Deep penetration of¹³⁷Cs in spite of a sharp gradient below the peak is interpreted by a numerical model to suggest that¹³⁷Cs is present in two distinct forms in these sediments, 67–82% as an immobile form and 18–33% reversibly adsorbed with a K _d of approximately 5000. The profiles can be interpreted equally well assuming a small portionof the total¹³⁷Cs was present as an extremely mobile phase (K _d 5000) in the months to years following peak fallout, slowly becoming more strongly adsorbed. High NH ₄ ⁺ concentrations in porewaters may enhance diffusion of the mobile form of¹³⁷Cs, but not of the immobile form of¹³⁷Cs that defines the sharp gradient. Mobility of¹³⁷Cs is likely also enhanced by the low clay content and the high porosity of these sediments. Thus the first detection of¹³⁷Cs in the sediments cannot automatically be assumed to correspond to a date of 1952 (initial testing of thermonuclear weapons), although the depth of the peak can be assumed to correspond to 1963 (the year of maximum fallout from testing of thermonuclear weapons).^239+240Pu is a more reliable sediment chronometer than¹³⁷Cs because it is significantly less mobile.This is the sixth of a series of papers to be published by this journal following the 20 ^th anniversary of the first application of²¹⁰Pb dating of lake sediments. Dr P.G. Appleby is guest editing this series.     

~(137)Cs示踪法土壤侵蚀量估算的本底值问题

137Cs示踪法因能快速、相对简便地估算土壤侵蚀量而在土壤侵蚀定量研究中得到广泛应用。本底值获取是137Cs示踪法的关键和基础。在具有空间异质性多因素综合作用下,本底值呈现高度的空间异质性。针对本底值空间变异性,从气候气象要素、地形、土壤属性、土地利用/覆被四个方面阐明各因素与本底值空间变异的作用机理。分析了当前137Cs示踪法应用中在本底值获取时参考点存在性及选点的准确性、单个或几个本底值对研究区本底值的代表性和参考点采样设计。提出划分侵蚀测定单元、建立多本底值体系和进行地形校正解决当前137Cs示踪法中本底值存在问题的对策。侵蚀测定计算单元的划分原则和方法、根据已有参考点的137Cs本底值推算各单元137Cs本底值的技术方法、定量化研究各因素对137Cs的作用是今后需要深入的工作。     

Sediment deposition in the flood plain of Stemple Creek Watershed, northern California

Over the past 150 years, major land use changes have occurred in the Stemple Creek Watershed in northern California that have caused erosion to move soils from the upland to the flood plain, stream channels, and the bay. The purpose of this study is to document the recent (1954 to present) sediment deposition patterns in the flood plain area adjacent to Stemple Creek using the ¹³⁷Cesium technique. Sediment deposition ranged from 0.26 to 1.84 cm year⁻¹ for the period from 1964 to 2002 with an average of 0.85±0.41 cm year⁻¹. Sediment deposition rates were higher for the 1954 to 1964 period with a range of 0.31–3.50 cm year⁻¹ and an average of 1.29±1.04 cm year⁻¹. These data indicate that sediment deposition in the flood plain has decreased since the middle 1950s, probably related to reduction in row crop agriculture and an increase in pasturelands. This study shows that the flood plains in the Stemple Creek Watershed are a significant sink for the soils being eroded from the upland area. Given the significance of the flood plain for trapping eroded materials before they reach the stream channels or the bay, efforts need to be made to manage these flood plain areas to insure that they do not change and become a source rather than a sink for eroded materials as improved management practices on the upland areas reduce sediment input to the flood plain.     

Mixing, sediment accumulation and focusing using 210Pb and 137Cs

The Portil lagoon is a natural freshwater reservoir located at the southwest of Spain, near the coast. In its surroundings an important tourist complex has been developed since the earlier 1970s. This has resulted in increased loads of nutrients, specially during summer months. In order to evaluate the impact from humans on the lagoon caused by anthropogenic activities, we have determined vertical profiles of excess ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs in a sediment core taken from its bottom. Vertical profile of excess ²¹⁰Pb seems to indicate that the sediment core was affected by large-scale mixing processes. Nevertheless this possibility was ruled out based on the shape of the ¹³⁷Cs vertical distribution after modelling the ¹³⁷Cs profile considering large-scale mixing. The chronology developed from ²¹⁰Pb and ¹³⁷Cs has allowed us to calculate the temporal evolution of the mass sedimentation rate during the last century. This mass sedimentation rate increased in 1973: from 0.08(2) g cm^-2 a^-1 in the period 1900-1973 to 0.17(5) g cm^-2 a^-1 in the period 1973-1995. This increase could be related to land-movements in the drainage area and to permitted sewage inputs into the lagoon, both with its origin in the growing/running of the surrounding tourist complex.     

Assessing Soil Remobilisation in Catchments using a 137Cs-sediment Hillslope Model

Soil redistribution studies are important, especially in water supply catchments, because the rate at which denudation is occurring has implications for offsite water quality. However, the extent to which soil is redistributed within the landscape can be difficult to determine. This challenge can be overcome using fallout caesium-137 (¹³⁷Cs). This paper describes the rates of soil loss and remobilisation in two sub-catchments within the Sydney Basin region, namely Kembla and Kentish Creeks, which drain to the Cordeaux reservoir. The total inventories of ¹³⁷Cs in catchment soils were determined, a ¹³⁷Cs-regression equation and a theoretical diffusion and migration model were used to established relationships between ¹³⁷Cs inventories and the rates of soil loss. These relationships revealed relatively low occurrence of soil loss in Kentish Creek, but two slopes in the Kembla Creek sub-catchment had losses that appear to be moderate. However, there was no clear evidence to suggest whether slopes in upper and lower reaches of catchments had specific patterns of soil remobilisation. Qualitative categorisation of the slope elements using a ¹³⁷Cs-sediment hillslope model can be a useful sentinel for land users and decision makers even if absolute rates of soil loss or gain are not certain. The findings suggest that sediments mobilised in the study sub-catchments are not likely to impact significantly on the water quality in the Cordeaux reservoir.     

From water to tillage erosion dominated landform evolution

While water and wind erosion are still considered to be the dominant soil erosion processes on agricultural land, there is growing recognition that tillage erosion plays an important role in the redistribution of soil on agricultural land. In this study, we examined soil redistribution rates and patterns for an agricultural field in the Belgian loess belt. ¹³⁷Cs derived soil erosion rates have been confronted with historical patterns of soil erosion based on soil profile truncation. This allowed an assessment of historical and contemporary landform evolution on agricultural land and its interpretation in relation to the dominant geomorphic process. The results clearly show that an important shift in the relative contribution of tillage and water erosion to total soil redistribution on agricultural land has occurred during recent decades. Historical soil redistribution is dominated by high losses on steep midslope positions and concavities as a result of water erosion, leading to landscape incision and steepening of the topography. In contrast, contemporary soil redistribution is dominated by high losses on convex upperslopes and infilling of slope and valley concavities as a result of tillage, resulting in topographic flattening. This shift must be attributed to the increased mechanization of agriculture during recent decades. This study shows that the typical topographical dependency of soil redistribution processes and their spatial interactions must be accounted for when assessing landform and soil profile evolution.     

海南岛滨海沙地风沙活动的137Cs示踪初步研究

 采用¹³⁷Cs示踪法研究了海南岛滨海地区风沙活动特征，初步查明：由于¹³⁷Cs沉积量有限，海南岛¹³⁷Cs背景值含量较低，距海越近沙地中¹³⁷Cs含量越低，在植被覆盖较好的草地与林地土壤中¹³⁷Cs含量稍高；根据灌丛沙丘及丘间地剖面的137Cs分布态势，丘间地剖面¹³⁷Cs含量趋于微量的均匀化，表现出长期稳定沉积特征，而灌丛沙丘具有人为扰动剖面的特征；海南岛西部沙地风沙沉积速率约为1.25 cm·a^-1。     

Sediment focusing in six small lakes inferred from radionuclide profiles

Sediment focusing in six small lake basins is inferred from sedimentary radionuclide profiles. The activities of¹³⁷Cs and⁹⁺²⁴⁰Pu do not decrease to zero above the sub-surface maximum but tail off gradually. Similar behavior is observed in the sediments of three lakes for¹³⁴Cs and⁶⁰Co, which were added only to the lake. This upward tailing is not caused by bioturbation or erosion from the watershed. Sediment focusing is the likely cause, further substantiated by inventories in deep sediments of⁹⁺²⁴⁰Pu and²¹⁰Pb that are twice as high as expected from atmospheric fallout. Inventories in deep sediments of¹³⁷Cs are in several cases lower than expected from atmospheric fallout, and cannot be explained by hydraulic flushing from the lakes, as this would require unreasonable flushing rates. The low¹³⁷Cs inventories and the sedimentary profiles of the¹³⁷Cs/⁹⁺²⁴⁰Pu ratio are consistent with¹³⁷Cs removal from the water column by boundary scavenging to shallow sediments. The profiles and inventories of all three nuclides could be reproduced with a simple three box model, assuming focusing of shallow sediments (50–60% of total sediment area) to deep sediments with a rate constant of 5–10% yr^–1.This is the seventh of a series of papers to be published by this journal following the 20 ^th anniversary of the first application of²¹⁰Pb dating of lake sediment. Dr P. G. Appleby is guest editing this series.     

Variability in soil redistribution in the northern Chihuahuan Desert based on Cesium measurements

A hypothesis for understanding the stability of northern Chihuahuan Desert landscapes is that the distribution of soil resources changes from spatially homogeneous in arid grasslands to spatially heterogeneous in invading shrublands. Since radioactive fallout ¹³⁷Cesium (¹³⁷Cs) was deposited uniformly across the landscape during the 1950s and 1960s and was quickly adsorbed to soil particles, any redistribution of ¹³⁷Cs across the landscape would be due to soil redistribution or instability at either plant-interspaces or on a landscape scale. The concentration of ¹³⁷Cs in soils collected from different vegetation communities (black grama grass, tarbush, tobosa grass, and mesquite) at the USDA-ARS Jornada Experimental Range in the Northern Chihuahuan Desert in New Mexico was determined. At the black grama grass and tobosa grass sites, ¹³⁷Cs was uniformly distributed at the plant interspace scale. At the mesquite sites, ¹³⁷Cs was concentrated in the dune area under mesquite shrubs with little to no ¹³⁷Cs in the interdune areas. ¹³⁷Cs data support the hypothesis that significant soil redistribution has occurred at dune sites created by invading mesquite. In the arid grassland-shrub sites with black grama grass, tobosa grass, and tarbush the ¹³⁷Cs data support the hypothesis of spatially homogeneous distribution of soil resources. High concentrations of ¹³⁷Cs in the biological soil crusts (0–5 mm) at the tarbush sites indicate that biological soil crusts can contribute to the stability of these sites.     

Chronology of Sediment Deposition in Upper Klamath Lake, Oregon

A combination of tephrochronology and ¹⁴C, ²¹⁰Pb, and ¹³⁷Cs measurements provides a robust chronology for sedimentation in Upper Klamath Lake during the last 45 000 years. Mixing of surficial sediments and possible mobility of the radio-isotopes limit the usefulness of the ¹³⁷Cs and ²¹⁰Pb data, but ²¹⁰Pb profiles provide reasonable average sediment accumulation rates for the last 100–150 years. Radiocarbon ages near the top of the core are somewhat erratic and are too old, probably as a result of detrital organic carbon, which may have become a more common component in recent times as surrounding marshes were drained. Below the tops of the cores, radiocarbon ages in the center of the basin appear to be about 400 years too old, while those on the margin appear to be accurate, based on comparisons with tephra layers of known age.Taken together, the data can be combined into reasonable age models for each site. Sediments have accumulated at site K1, near the center of the basin, about 2 times faster than at site CM2, on the margin of the lake. The rates are about 0.10 and 0.05 cm/yr, respectively. The chronological data also indicate that accumulation rates were slower during the early to middle Holocene than during the late Holocene, consistent with increasing wetness in the late Holocene.     

Assessing the accumulation of sorbed isotope <Superscript>137</Superscript>Cs within the upper components of the fluvial network in the zone of Chernobyl contamination

We examine the use of two alternative techniques for assessing the redistribution volumes of sorbed ¹³⁷Cs within the upper components of the fluvial network, based on the concept of catchment as a lithodynamical system. In terms of one of them, we made a substantive analysis of changes in reserves on accumulative positions where the ¹³⁷Cs distribution curves showed a significant increase in radionuclide content levels. We carried out a typization o the accumulation surfaces in order to extrapolate data, obtained for a group of soil profiles, to the territory of the entire catchment and to make a direct assessment of the increases in accumulation. An alternative technique was used to assess the volumes of accumulated sediment loads on accumulative positions by analyzing the ¹³⁷Cs distribution curves, and to correlate with denudation zones in the drainage area under consideration. Values of the wash-out rates for the period 1986–2012 have been obtained, which are necessary for the formation of the accumulative layer observed. We calculated the volume of ¹³⁷Cs swept away during 26 years after the Chernobyl accident, based on information regarding the volumes of initial reserves in the denudation zones and a correlation between the erosion rate and a specific reduction in reserves. It is established that the technique on the basis of analyzing the wash-out zones featuring high economical efficiency can be used in assessing ¹³⁷Cs migration for larger territories with relatively low labor-consuming effort.     

滇西和黔中表土中7Be与137Cs分布特征对比研究

滇西和黔中28个表土剖面分层土样^7Be、^137Cs比活度对比分析可见：滇西地区表土层顶部^7Be/^137Cs为100－1000，而黔中地区仅10－100；两地区表土层中^7Be的表观比活度和最大渗透深度总体相近；^137Cs在黔中表土层中的比活度总体较滇西地区略高。而黔中表土中^7Be累计值的偏低现象，映射了该地区强烈的水土流失。为解释滇西和黔中地区之间表土层顶部^7Be/^137Cs的地区差异，需进一步讨论两核素的湖泊沉积物蓄积特征。     

Bank Erosion in Fifteen Tributaries in the Glaciated Upper Susquehanna Basin of New York and Pennsylvania

The proportional contributions of cultivated lands and stream banks as sources of fine sediment loads were quantified in 15 rural watersheds in the Glaciated Appalachian Plateau region of the Susquehanna River basin of New York and Pennsylvania. We utilized a relatively simple method of fingerprinting sediment sources by comparing the concentrations of the nuclear bomb-derived radionuclide ¹³⁷ Cs in fluvial sediment samples collected from channel margins with sediment from cultivated fields and stream banks. The proportion of fine sediment from bank erosion ranged from none to 100% in the study tributaries, with a median contribution of 53% across the 15 study streams. In one stream with no evidence of bank sediment, anomalously high ¹³⁷ Cs levels in the samples indicated that the sources were pasture or forest, probably scoured from marshy floodplains upstream of the sampling sites. In the 14 other streams, cultivated lands accounted for an average of 42% of the fine sediment. We discuss sources of eroded bank material and the processes driving stream bank erosion in this glaciated region, and examine the impact of historic mill-dam deposits on bank erosion.