RAPID: Characterizing floodplain deposition from Hurricane Irene along the Lower Connecticut River

该项目将记录飓风艾琳在康涅狄格河下游沿着洪泛区环境中的沉积，以深入了解这些罕见事件在构建低梯度河流系统景观中的意义。这项工作将通过在六个先前取样的地点收集样芯来完成。将使用BERREX-7来确定这些岩心中的近期沉积。 此外，该项目还将评价艾琳沉积物中的成分和污染物水平，并与在六个地点中的每一个已经获得的较深沉积物进行比较。河流景观演变的准确理解包括了解极端洪水的作用，在分布和/或沉积物的再动员沿着河流的洪泛区。由于此类事件的罕见性，获取此类信息往往具有挑战性。 与飓风艾琳相关的高降水量为美国东部沿海河流提供了一个罕见的例子（事实上，艾琳造成的极端洪水提供了一个机会，可以重新审视1955年飓风相关沉积对沿着康涅狄格河下游洪泛区演变的贡献这一未解问题）。 从土地利用的角度来看，大多数东海岸的河流都有污染物的遗产，现在储存在洪泛区沉积物中。对艾琳飓风后沉积的沉积物进行取样？的洪水将提供一个机会，以评估极端事件在存储和/或再动员这种材料的作用。

This project will document sedimentation from Hurricane Irene in floodplain environments along the Lower Connecticut River to gain insight into the significance of these rare events in building the landscape of a low-gradient river system. The work will be done by collecting transects of cores at six previously sampled sites. Beryllium-7 will be used to identify recent sedimentation in these cores. In addition, the project will evaluate the composition and contaminant levels in the Irene deposits relative to deeper sediments already obtained at each of the six locations. An accurate understanding of the evolution of fluvial landscapes involves knowing the role of extreme flooding in the distribution and/or remobilization of sediment along a river's floodplain. Such information is often challenging to acquire due to the rarity of such events. The high precipitation associated with Hurricane Irene offers one such rare example for eastern US coastal rivers (indeed, extreme flooding by Irene presents an opportunity to revisit unanswered questions on the contribution of 1955 hurricane-related sedimentation to floodplain evolution along the Lower Connecticut River). From a land use perspective, most east coast rivers have a legacy of contaminants now stored in floodplain sediments. Sampling sediment deposited after Irene?s flooding will provide an opportunity to assess the role extreme events play in the storage and/or remobilization of this material.