Morphology Characteristics of Southern Appalachian Wilderness Streams1

Abstract

Zink, Jason M., Gregory D. Jennings, and G. Alexander Price, 2012. Morphology Characteristics of Southern Appalachian Wilderness Streams. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(4): 762‐773. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752‐1688.2012.00647.xAbstract: Watersheds without urbanization or impacts from logging are rare in the southern Appalachian Mountains. The Joyce Kilmer/Slickrock Wilderness of North Carolina and Tennessee contains 24 km2 of old‐growth forest, with the balance of the wilderness in a mature second‐growth forest. The watersheds of Little Santeetlah and Slickrock Creek are located within the wilderness. Morphological information, including channel dimensions and longitudinal profiles, was gathered from 14 alluvial stream reaches in these watersheds. The study sites had drainage areas from 0.25 to 41.6 km2 and stream slopes from 0.014 to 0.104 m/m. Bankfull cross‐section dimensions of the study stream reaches were strongly correlated to drainage area across the observed range of slopes and bed morphology. Cross‐section area and width relationships for the streams in this study did not differ significantly from regional curves for the mountain physiographic region of North Carolina. Observations of these reaches did not suggest a definitive rule regarding the proportion of steps and riffles in streams. Pools occupied greater than 50% of the length in all stream reaches with slopes less than 0.07 m/m. Significant correlation existed between step height ratio and slope, suggesting that step height can be approximated as the product of channel width and slope. Riffle length and riffle slope ratios were also significantly correlated with slope, though pool spacing was not.