Sedimentation patterns across a Coastal Plain floodplain: The importance of hydrogeomorphic influences and cross-floodplain connectivity

Abstract

The floodplains of large Coastal Plain rivers in the southeastern U.S. are important long-term storage sites for alluvial sediment and nutrients. Yet considerable uncertainty surrounds sediment dynamics on many large river floodplains and, in particular, the local scale factors that affect the flux of sediment and nutrients from rivers onto their floodplains and their subsequent deposition. This research quantifies short-term rates of sediment deposition from 2012 to 2014 on floodplain sites at Congaree National Park using feldspar pads. Sediment deposition rates ranged from 0.1 to 15.6cm (median=1.46cm) and were closely associated with inundation frequency and geomorphic position. Cross-floodplain distributary channels served as particularly important conduits for moving sediment onto the floodplain. Physical and chemical analyses of soil samples demonstrated that the most flood-exposed sites had higher major nutrient and micronutrient levels (especially of phosphorus) and more diverse nutrient compositions. This research advances current understandings of lateral floodplain connectivity by demonstrating the complex effects of regional hydrology and local floodplain environmental characteristics on the supply of sediment and nutrients.