USGS Science⌕ Search

Geology topics

W. R. Osterkamp

Publications and source records attributed to W. R. Osterkamp.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2013

Vegetation ecogeomorphology, dynamic equilibrium, and disturbance

Early ecologists understood the need to document geomorphic form and process to explain plant species distributions. Although this relationship has been acknowledged for over a century, with the exception of a few landmark papers, only the past few decades have experienced intensive research on this interdisciplinary topic. Here the authors provide a summary of the intimate relations between vegetation and geomorphic/process on hillslopes and fluvial systems. These relations are separated into systems (primarily fluvial) in dynamic equilibrium and those that are in nonequilibrium conditions including the impacts of various human disturbances affecting landforms, geomorphic processes, and interrelated, attendant vegetation patterns and processes. The authors conclude with a conceptual model of stream regime focusing on sediment deposition, erosion, and equilibrium that can be expanded to organize and predict vegetation patterns and life history strategies.

Book chapter↗
USGS2010

Estimating soil turnover rate from tree uprooting during hurricanes in Puerto Rico

Soil turnover by tree uprooting in primary and secondary forests on the island of Puerto Rico was measured in 42 study plots in the months immediately after the passage of a Category 3 hurricane. Trunk basal area explained 61% of the variability of mound volume and 53% of the variability of mound area. The proportion of uprooted trees, the number of uprooted trees, or the proportion of uprooted basal area explained 84-85% of the variation in hurricane-created mound area. These same variables explain 79-85% of the variation in mound volume. The study indicates that the soil turnover period from tree uprooting by Puerto Rican hurricanes is between 1600 and 4800 years. These rates are faster than soil turnover by landslides and background treefall in the same area and provide a useful age constraint on soil profile development and soil carbon sequestration in these dynamic landscapes. ?? 2009 Elsevier B.V.

Forest Ecology and Management↗
USGS2009

The Vigil Network: A means of observing landscape change in drainage basins

Long-term monitoring of geomorphic, hydrological, and biological characteristics of landscapes provides an effective means of relating observed change to possible causes of the change. Identification of changes in basin characteristics, especially in arid areas where the response to altered climate or land use is generally rapid and readily apparent, might provide the initial direct indications that factors such as global warming and cultural impacts have affected the environment. The Vigil Network provides an opportunity for earth and life scientists to participate in a systematic monitoring effort to detect landscape changes over time, and to relate such changes to possible causes. The Vigil Network is an ever-increasing group of sites and basins used to monitor landscape features with as much as 50 years of documented geomorphic and related observations.

Hydrological Sciences Journal↗
USGS2007

A method for improving predictions of bed-load discharges to reservoirs

Effective management options for mitigating the loss of reservoir water storage capacity to sedimentation depend on improved predictions of bed-load discharges into the reservoirs. Most predictions of bed-load discharges, however, are based on the assumption that the rates of bed-load sediment availability equal the transport capacity of the flow, ignoring the spatio-temporal variability of the sediment supply. This paper develops a semiquantitative method to characterize bed-load sediment transport in alluvial channels, assuming a channel reach is non-supply limited when the bed-load discharge of a given sediment particle-size class is functionally related to the energy that is available to transport that fraction of the total bed-load. The method was applied to 22 alluvial stream channels in the USA to determine whether a channel reach had a supply-limited or non-supply-limited bed-load transport regime. The non-supply-limited transport regime was further subdivided into two groups on the basis of statistical tests. The results indicated the pattern of bed-load sediment transport in alluvial channels depends on the complete spectrum of sediment particle sizes available for transport rather than individual particle-size fractions represented by one characteristic particle size. The application of the method developed in this paper should assist reservoir managers in selecting bed-load sediment transport equations to improve predictions of bed-load discharge in alluvial streams, thereby significantly increasing the efficiency of management options for maintaining the storage capacity of waterbodies. ?? 2007 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Lakes and Reservoirs: Research and Management↗
USGS2007

Structure and composition of a watershed-scale sediment information network

A 'Watershed-Scale Sediment Information Network' (WaSSIN), designed to complement UNESCO's International Sedimentation Initiative, was endorsed as an initial project by the World Association for Sedimentation and Erosion Research. WaSSIN is to address global fluvial-sediment information needs through a network approach based on consistent protocols for the collection, analysis, and storage of fluvial-sediment and ancillary information at smaller spatial scales than those of the International Sedimentation Initiative. As a second step of implementation, it is proposed herein that the WaSSIN have a general structure of two components, (1) monitoring and data acquisition and (2) research. Monitoring is to be conducted in small watersheds, each of which has an established database for discharge of water and suspended sediment and possibly for bed load, bed material, and bed topography. Ideally, documented protocols have been used for collecting, analyzing, storing, and sharing the derivative data. The research component is to continue the collection and interpretation of data, to compare those data among candidate watersheds, and to determine gradients of fluxes and processes among the selected watersheds. To define gradients and evaluate processes, the initial watersheds will have several common attributes. Watersheds of the first group will be: (1) six to ten in number, (2) less than 1000 km2 in area, (3) generally in mid-latitudes of continents, and (4) of semiarid climate. Potential candidate watersheds presently include the Weany Creek Basin, northeastern Australia, the Zhi Fanggou catchment, northern China, the Eshtemoa Watershed, southern Israel, the Metsemotlhaba River Basin, Botswana, the Aiuaba Experimental Basin, Brazil, and the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed, southwestern United States.

International Journal of Sediment Research↗
USGS2007

Vision for a worldwide fluvial-sediment information network

The nations of the world suffer both from the deleterious effects of some natural and human-altered fluxes of fluvial sediment and a lack of consistent and reliable information on the temporal and spatial occurrence of fluvial sediments. Decades ago, this difficulty was unavoidable due to a lack of understanding of the magnitude and scope of environmental influences exerted by fluvial sediment coupled with a dearth of tools for monitoring and studying the data. Such is no longer the case. Fluvial sediment has a broad influence on the environment and humanity. Data needs that were once limited primarily to reservoir and channel maintenance now include issues associated with public water supply; contaminated sediment management; productivity of agricultural lands; stream restoration and watershed health; in-stream biotic stability; post-wildfire channel morphology; dam decommissioning, rehabilitation, or removal; and legal requirements for sediment management (Gray and Glysson, 2005). The adverse effects of poorly managed or unmanaged sediment movement related to these and other issues are well-known qualitatively, and in some cases quantitatively. For example, physical, chemical, and biological damages attributable to fluvial sediment in North America alone are now estimated to range between $20 billion and $50 billion annually (Pimental and others, 1995; Osterkamp and others, 1998; 2004). Capabilities for monitoring, analyzing, storing, and sharing fluvial-sediment data have been developed and, in many cases, are sufficiently mature for consideration for global utilization. Hence, there is not only a strong and expanding need for a global effort to gauge and understand fluvial-sediment characteristics and processes better, but the knowledge and tools to achieve these ends are largely available and ready for their applicability to be evaluated. Given the increasing importance of erosion and sediment processes for water-resources management, an International Sedimentation Initiative (ISI, 2007a), under the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization’s International Hydrologic Programme (IHP, 2007) was adopted in 2004. The ISI, the focus of which is on sustainable water-resources management on the global scale, features six major activities and projects, which are listed as part of the section entitled, “Relation of the WoFSIN concept to the thrusts of the International Sedimentation Initiative,” that precedes the “Conclusions” section of this paper. Based on the need for more, and more consistent and reliable fluvial-sediment information and on the existence of the ISI and other international and national sediment programs, we envision the need for a Worldwide Fluvial Sediment-Information Network (WoFSIN) with a focus on data acquisition, storage, and dissemination globally. Envisioned components of a WoFSIN, administered largely via the Internet and relying mostly on the benefits derived from existing resources and programs, follow that summary. The goal of the WoFSIN is to maximize the availability and usefulness of the world’s historical and current fluvial-sediment and ancillary data through collaboration with existing programs so as to require few additional resources in the long-term. Thus, the WoFSIN concept was developed recognizing that informed resource management is predicated on the availability of adequate and reliable information. The WoFSIN is described in the ensuing sections in stand-alone fashion, followed by a section that describes the complementary aspects of the WoFSIN and the International Sediment Initiative. Thus, our first objective is to describe the fundamental components of a WoFSIN. Our second objective is to identify overlap or gaps between the WoFSIN and ISI concepts that might be useful in refining the ISI’s ability to meet its global mission to develop decision support for sediment management at the global scale more fully, cost-effectively, and (or) with enhanced quality.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2006

Predicting water-surface fluctuation of continental lakes: A RS and GIS based approach in Central Mexico

Changes in the water-surface area occupied by the Cuitzeo Lake, Mexico, during the 1974-2001 period are analysed in this study. The research is based on remote sensing and geographic information techniques, as well as statistical analysis. High-resolution satellite image data were used to analyse the 1974-2000 period, and very low-resolution satellite image data were used for the 1997-2001 period. The long-term analysis (1974-2000) indicated that there were temporal changes in the surface area of the Cuitzeo Lake and that these changes were related to precipitation and temperatures that occurred in the previous year. Short-term monitoring (1997-2001) showed that the Cuitzeo Lake surface is lowering. Field observations demonstrated also that yearly desiccation is recurrent, particularly, in the western section of the lake. Results suggested that this behaviour was probably due to a drought period in the basin that began in the mid 1990s. Regression models constructed from long-term data showed that fluctuations of lake level can be estimated by monthly mean precipitation and temperatures of the previous year. ?? Springer Science + Business Media, Inc. 2006.

Water Resources Management↗
USGS2005

Development of partial rock veneers by root throw in a subalpine setting

Rock veneers stabilize hillslope surfaces, occur especially in areas of immature soil, and form through a variety of process sets that includes root throw. Near Westcliffe, Colorado, USA, data were collected from a 20 ?? 500 m transect on the east slope of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Ages of pit/mound complexes with rock fragments exposed at the surface by root throw ranged from recent (freshly toppled tree) to unknown (complete tree decay). Calculations based on dimensions of the pit/mound complexes, estimated time of free topppling, sizes of exposed rock fragments, and percentage rock covers at pit/mound complexes, as well as within the transect area, indicate that recent rates of root throw have resulted in only partial rock veneering since late Pleistocene deglaciation. Weathering of rock fragments prevent development of an extensive rock veneer and causes a balance, achieved within an estimated 700 years, between the rates of rock-fragment exposure by root throw and clast disintegration by chemical reduction. The estimated rate of rock-fragment reduction accounts for part of the fluvial sediment yields observed for forested subalpine areas of western North America. Copyright ?? 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Earth Surface Processes and Landforms↗
USGS2003

Bedload transport in alluvial channels

Hydraulic, sediment, land-use, and rock-erosivity data of 22 alluvial streams were used to evaluate conditions of bedload transport and the performance of selected bedload-transport equations. Transport categories of transport-limited (TL), partially transport-limited (PTL), and supply-limited (SL) were identified by a semiquantitative approach that considers hydraulic constraints on sediment movement and the processes that control sediment availability at the basin scale. Equations by Parker et al. in 1982, Schoklitsch in 1962, and Meyer-Peter and Muller in 1948 adequately predicted sediment transport in channels with TL condition, whereas the equations of Bagnold in 1980, and Schoklitsch, in 1962, performed well for PTL and SL conditions. Overall, the equation of Schoklitsch predicted well the measured bedload data for eight of 22 streams, and the Bagnold equation predicted the measured data in seven streams.

Journal of Hydraulic Engineering↗
USGS2003

Hazard mitigation related to water and sediment fluxes in the Yellow River basin, China, based on comparable basins of the United States

The Yellow River, north-central China, and comparative rivers of the western United States, the Rio Grande and the Colorado River, derive much of their flows from melting snow at high elevations, but derive most of their se diment loads from semiarid central parts of the basins. The three rivers are regulated by larg e reservoirs that store water and sediment, causing downstream channel scour and, farthe r downstream, flood hazard owing to re- deposition of sediment. Potential approaches to reducing continui ng bed aggradation and increasing flood hazard along the lower Yellow Ri ver include flow augmentation, retirement of irrigation that decreases flows and increas es erosion, and re-routing of the middle Yellow River to bypass large sediment i nputs of the Loess Plateau.

Yellow River Basin↗
USGS2003

A proposed international watershed research network

An “International Watershed Research Network” is to be an initial project of the Sino-U. S. Centers for Soil and Water Conservation and Environmental Protection. The Network will provide a fundamental database for research personnel of the Centers, as well as of the global research community, and is viewed as an important resource for their successful operation. Efforts are under way to (a) identify and select candidate watersheds, (b) develop standards and protocols for data collection and dissemination, and (c) specify other data sources on erosion, sediment transport, hydrology, and ancillary information of probable interest and use to participants of the Centers. The initial focus of the Network will be on water-deficient areas. Candidate watersheds for the Network are yet to be determined although likely selections include the Ansai Research Station, northern China, and the Walnut Gulch Experimental Watershed, Arizona, USA. The Network is to be patterned after the Vigil Network, an open-ended group of global sites and small drainage basins for which Internet-accessible geomorphic, hydrologic, and biological data are periodically collected or updated. Some types of data, using similar instruments and observation methods, will be collected at all watersheds selected for the Network. Other data from the watersheds that may reflect individual watershed characteristics and research objectives will be collected as well.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2002

Geoindicators for river and river-valley monitoring in the humid tropics

Geoindicators for rivers and river valleys in the humid tropics are suggested to indicate environmental change during periods of up to a century. Geoindicators suggested for upland areas of supply are rainfall-runoff relations, rates of soil movement and slope failure, and analyses of drainage density. Data applicable to sediment storage in lowlands are rates of sediment deposition as shown by monuments, short-lived radioisotopes, and pollen. Discharges of water, sediment, and dissolved solids are basic geoindicators for large streams, especially when analyses include flood frequency, stage-discharge relations, flow duration, sediment-rating curves, and comparisons of dissolved loads to sediment loads. The utility of geoindicators in the humid tropics may be greatest if observation sites are selected with a network design to permit comparisons of sites with similar conditions of climate and drainage-basin characteristics.

Environmental Geology↗
USGS2002

Effects of water use diversion regulation and conservation on sediemtn transport with comparisons from the United States

Too much sediment and too little water are related problems in China’s Yellow River Basin. Sediment yield in the basin averages about 2,100 t/(km 2 ·a), greatest is of the world’s large rivers although the Yellow River ranks 31st in mean flow. A quarter of the sediment deposited in the 780-km lower reach, causing bed levels to rise an average of a meter per decade wang and other. Sediment aggradation along this reach is concentrated between dikes, resulting in average river-bed elevations 5 m higher, and at Xinxiang as much as 10 m higher, than surrounding bottomlands. The dikes, which have breached nearly 1,600 times in the last 24 centuries, reduce the threat of flooding for 85-million people on 120,000 km 2 in five provinces of northeastern China (Decun, undated). This paper addresses some environmental and social factors related to this problem, and provides descriptions of two United States rivers that exhibit some analogous responses, albeit not to the extent of those associated with the Yellow River, “China’s Sorrow”.

Yellow River↗
USGS2001

U.S. Geological Survey programs and investigations related to soil and water conservation

The U.S. Geological Survey has a rich tradition of collecting hydrologic data, especially for fluxes of water and suspended sediment, that provide a foundation for studies of soil and water conservation. Applied and basic research has included investigations of the effects of land use on rangelands, croplands, and forests; hazards mapping; derivation of flood and drought frequency, and other statistics related to streamflow and reservoir storage; development and application of models of rainfall-runoff relations, chemical quality, and sediment movement; and studies of the interactive processes of overland and channel flow with vegetation. Networks of streamgaging stations and (or) sampling sites within numerous drainage basins are yielding information that extends databases and enhances the ability to use those data for interpretive studies.

International Journal of Sediment Research↗