DTIC ADA445525: Geomorphic and Vegetative Recovery Processes Along Modified Stream Channels of West Tennessee

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1. REPORT DATE 2. REPORT TYPE 3. DATES COVERED
1992 N/A -
4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER
Geomorphic and Vegetative Recovery Processes Along Modified Stream
5b. GRANT NUMBER
Channels of West Tennessee
5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER
6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER
5e. TASK NUMBER
5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER
7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION
U.S. Department of the Interior 1849 C Street, NW Washington, DC REPORT NUMBER
20240
9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S ACRONYM(S)
11. SPONSOR/MONITOR’S REPORT
NUMBER(S)
12. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT
Approved for public release, distribution unlimited
13. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES
14. ABSTRACT
15. SUBJECT TERMS
16. SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF: 17. LIMITATION OF 18. NUMBER 19a. NAME OF
ABSTRACT OF PAGES RESPONSIBLE PERSON

a. REPORT b. ABSTRACT c. THIS PAGE SAR 153
unclassified unclassified unclassified
Standard Form 298 (Rev. 8-98)
Prescribed by ANSI Std Z39-18
Cover: Modified profiles of projected
channel bed-level lowering over
time for North Fork of the Forked
Deer River. (See page 52 for
detailed illustration.)
GEOMORPHIC AND VEGETATIVE RECOVERY
PROCESSES ALONG MODIFIED STREAM
CHANNELS OF WEST TENNESSEE
By Andrew Simon and Cliff R. Hupp
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Open-File Report 91402
Prepared in cooperation with the
TENNESSEE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
Nashville,Temesee
1992
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
MANUEL LUJAN, JR., Secretary
U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY
Dallas L. Peck, Director, Director
Any use of trade, product, or firm name in this report is for identification
purposes only and does not constitute endorsement by the U.S.
Geological Survey.
First printing 1992
Second printing 1995
For additional information write to: Copies of this report may be purchased from:
District Chief U.S. Geological Survey
U.S. Geological Survey Earth Science Information Center
810 Broadway, Suite 500 Open-File Reports Section
Nashville, Tennessee 37203 Box 25288, MS 517
Denver Federal Center
Denver, Colorado 80225
CONTENTS
Abstract 1
Introduction 2
Historical background 3
purpo=~~scope 6
Study area 7
Acknowledgments 11
Consequenceso f channel modifications 11
Channel adjustment--general 12
Vegetation response 14
Examples from West Tennessees tudies 14
Channel bed-level adjustments 15
Lateral adjustments 20
Methods of investigation 23
Site selection 23
Data collection, compilation, and analysis 23
Channel morphology 23
Channel-bed elevations 28
Channel width, bank height, and bank angles 30
Volumetric changes in channel size 30
Geomorphic surfaces and stage identification 32
Shear strength and bank stability 34
Analysis of bank stability 37
Factors of safety 37
Critical-bank conditions 39
Dendrogeomorphic analyses 40
Channel widening 40
Bank accretion 44
Woody vegetative cover 45
Timing of restabilizing bank conditions 45
plant ecology analyses 45
Detailed accretion analyses 46
Geomorphic and vegetative recovery processes 46
Channel bed-level changes 47
Theoretical considerations 47
Empirical data by river mile 48
Degradation 49
Aggradation 58
. . .
111
Geomorphica nd vegetativer ecoveryp rocesses--Continued
Rankp rocessesa nd evolution 62
Rank-materiapl roperties 63
Ranke volution--general 65
StageI - premodified 66
StageI I - constructed 66
StageI II - degradation 68
StageI V - threshold 68
Rotationalc ompareda gainstp lanarf ailures 69
StageV - aggradation 71
StageV I - restabilization 73
Critical bank conditions 73
Channelw idening 76
Recentw idening 77
Total widening 81
Volumeso f bank erosion 82
Projectedw idening 84
Obion-ForkedD eer River Forks 85
Obion River main stem 88
CaneC reek 88
Wolf River 90
Cub and PortersC reeks 90
Hoosiera nd Pond Creeks 91
System-widec hannelr ecovery--fromd endrogeomorphiacn d plant
ecologicale vidence 91
Rank-stabilityin dex 97
Accretiona nd channelp attern 102
Developmeno) f long-termc hannelg eometry 109
Riparian-vegetatiorne covery 116
Speciesd istribution--six-stagme odel 125
Vegetationr ecoverya nd life history 127
Specieso rdination 131
Summarya nd conclusions 134
Selectedre ferences 137
iv
ILLUSTRATIONS
Figure 1. Map showing extent of recent channel work in West Tennessee 5
2. Map showing surficial geology of West Tennessee 10
3. Relation of channel-bed elevation and time since channel modification
for selected stream sites in West Tennessee 16
4. Graph showing model of channel bed-level response to channel
disturbance in the Obion River System 20
5. Sketch showing generalized streambank section showing
typical geomorphic surfaces 21
6. Map showing location of sites in study area 24
7-9. Graphs showing:
7. Red degradation trends in the Cane Creek and Forked Deer River
basins, West Tennessee 29
8. Example of estimated trends of degradation when time of initial
adjustment is unknown, Lick Creek, Crockett County, Tenn. 29
9. Idealized example showing determination of change in channel
volume using cross-sectionala rea data 32
10. Schematic drawings of borehole shear-testa ssembly and detail of shear
head in borehole 35
11. Graph showing idealized relation between normal stress and shear stress
as derived from borehole shear-testd ata 37
12. Graph showing shear failure along a planar slip-surface through the toe 38
13. Sketch showing rotational failure surface 40
14. Graph showing stability number as a function of bank angle for a failure
surface passing through the toe 41
15. Graph showing example of slope-stability chart giving critical-bank heights
for various bank angles 41
16-18. Sketchess howing:
16. Generalized bank cross section of modified channel after extensive
channel-bed degradation and channel widening 42
17. Types of botanical evidence associatedw ith typical geomorphic
disturbances 43
18. Generalized buried sapling showing timing and depths of sediment
deposition 44
19-29. Graphs showing:
19. Relation between indicator of nonlinear rate of degradation and
river mile for selected streamsi n Mississippi and Tennessee 50
20. Projected channel bed-level lowering for North Fork, South Fork,
and Rutherford Fork of the Obion River 51
21. Projected channel bed-level lowering for South Fork and North Fork
of the Forked Deer River 52
22. Projected channel bed-level lowering for Cane Creek, Hyde Creek,
and Hoosier Creek 53
23. Changes in bank heights by degradation along the North Fork, South
Fork, and Rutherford Fork Obion River, 1964, 1965, and 1987 57
V
24. Changesin bank heightsb y degradationa longt he North Fork and South
Fork Forked Deer River, 1966, 1974,a nd 1987 57
25. Changesin bank heightsb y degradationa long CaneC reek, 1970
and 1987 57
26. Trendso f channel-bede levationw ith time for two siteso n the lower
Wolf River 62
27. Frequencyh istogramso f soil-mechanicdsa ta 63
28. Relationb etweenn ormal stressa nd shears tressf or loessa t various
degreeso f soil saturation 64
29. Factorso f safetyf or mass-bankfa iluresa nd rate of channelw idening
by stageo f channele volution 65
30. Sketchs howings ix-stagem odelo f bank-sloped evelopmenitn disturbed
channels 67
31. Graph showingf actorso f safetya nd recentw ideningr atesa long the
Wolf River 68
32. Graph showingf actorso f safetya nd recentw ideningr ates alongt he
Obion River main stem 68
33. Photographs howings lickensidesa longv ertical face after differential
movementa nd failure, CaneC reek 70
34. Photographs howingt ypical planarf ailure, SouthF ork Obion River 71
35-49. Graphss howing:
35. Slope-stabilityc hartsf or unstable,a t risk, and stableb ank-slope
configurations 74
36. Critical bank-slopec onfigurationsfo r variousr angeso f cohesive
strengthsu nder saturatedc onditions 76
37. Channelw idening,b ank accretiond epth, and percentageo f vegetative
cover at selectedlo cationsi n the Obion River systema nd the
Forked Deer River system 79
38. Relationb etweenb ed degradationa nd recentc hannelw idening,
CaneC reek 80
39. Channelw idening,b ank accretiond epth, and percentageo f vegetative
cover at selectedlo cationsa longt he Wolf River 81
40. Channelw idening,b ank accretiond epth, and percentageo f vegetative
cover at selectedlo cationsa longt he HatchieR iver a2
41. Changesin channelt op width along the North Fork Obion, SouthF ork
Obion,R utherfordF ork Obion,N orth Fork ForkedD eer, SouthF ork
ForkedD eer Rivers,a nd CaneC reek 83
42. Projectedw ideninga long the Obion River and Forked Deer River systems 88
43. Projectedw ideninga long CaneC reeka nd Wolf River 89
44. Projectedw ideninga long Cub and PortersC reeks 90
45. Projectedw ideninga longH oosiera nd Pond Creeks 91
46. Trendso f dendrogeomorphivca riablesw ith stageo f channele volution
reflecting the effect of bank instabilitieso n vegetativec over,
maximumt ree age, and bank-accretionra te 93
47. Mean bank-stabilityi ndex reflectingv ariation in relative stability over the
courseo f channele volution 98
.
vi
48. Rank-stability index along adjusting stream channels in the Obion River
system, Forked Deer River system, Cane Creek, and Hatchie River
and Wolf River 102
49. Typical bank on outside bend in channel and bank on inside bend
in channel for aggradation stage reaches 104
50. Photograph showing point-bar development along a reach during late
aggradation stage, Porters Creek at Hebron, ‘Penn. 105
5 l-54. Graphs showing:
51. Variation in location of depositional surface by stage of channel
evolution 107
52. Channel-bank accretion characteristics for site 07026000 along
the Obion River main stem 107
53. Variation in bank angles and depths of bank accretion on the
depositional surface through stageso f channel evolution 109
54. Representation of channel-bed responset o channel disturbance
including secondary aggradation and idealized oscillatory
channel response 111
55. Standardizedr esiduals for each site-variable category showing site
“preferences” for 12 selectedr iparian plants 122
56. Photograph showing upstream view of Davidson Creek near U.S.
Highway 5 1; site is a typical reach during degradation stage 126
57-59. Graphs showing:
57. Vegetation-recovery patterns for 16 speciesb y stage of channel
evolution 128
58. Results of specieso rdination from detrended correspondence
analysis 132
59. Results of site-variable ordination from detrended correspondence
analysis 133
vii