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Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons

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Sedimentology

VIMS Articles

Oregon Coast Range; Digital Elevation Models; New-Zealand; Gully Erosion; Sediment Discharge

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Full-Text Articles in Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Geomorphologic Controls On The Age Of Particulate Organic Carbon From Small Mountainous And Upland Rivers, El Leithold, Ne Blair, Dw Perkey Sep 2006

Geomorphologic Controls On The Age Of Particulate Organic Carbon From Small Mountainous And Upland Rivers, El Leithold, Ne Blair, Dw Perkey

VIMS Articles

To assess the role that erosion processes play in governing the character of particulate organic carbon (POC) discharged from small mountainous and upland rivers, a suite of watersheds from Oregon, California, and New Zealand was investigated. The rivers share similar geology, tectonic setting, and climate, but have sediment yields that range over 3 orders of magnitude. The (14)C age of the POC loads is highly correlated with sediment yield. Carbon isotope mass balances reveal that the rivers carry bimodal mixtures of modern-plant-and ancient-rock-derived OC. At lower yields, modern plant OC dominates the material delivered to the river by sheetwash and …