Spring erosional processes and small sapping valleys in southwestern lower Michigan, USA

Tributary valleys along the Pigeon River in southwestern Michigan USA possess many previously defined criteria for sapping valleys. Direct observations of seasonal variations in groundwater levels, hydraulic gradients and water temperatures confirm that perennial springs and their streams are presen...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Earth surface processes and landforms 2024-07, Vol.49 (9), p.2789-2808
Main Authors: Colgan, Patrick M., Larson, Eleanore A., Riemersma, Peter E., Szydlowski, Hanna V., Baker, Tyler
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bed load
Creeks & streams
Escarpments
Gradients
Grain size
Great Lakes
Groundwater
Groundwater availability
Groundwater levels
Holocene
Hydraulic gradient
Landforms
Michigan
Perennial springs
Pigeons
Rivers
Sand
Sand transport
sapping
Seasonal variation
Seasonal variations
Sediment transport
Spring
Spring (season)
Streams
Terraces
Transport rate
Valleys
Water discharge
Water springs
Water temperature
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Tributary valleys along the Pigeon River in southwestern Michigan USA possess many previously defined criteria for sapping valleys. Direct observations of seasonal variations in groundwater levels, hydraulic gradients and water temperatures confirm that perennial springs and their streams are present in these small valleys. Estimated spring‐fed stream discharges are low and variable, but continuous. Direct observations, grain‐size distributions and bedload transport estimates indicate that significant transport of fine to medium sand occurs in all seasons. We present a process‐form model for small‐scale sapping processes. Stream terraces and paleo‐meander scarps are being modified by sapping, and elongated valleys are likely being lengthened headward by groundwater sapping. Sapping processes have been occurring for at least the past ~4,500 years after Pigeon River adjusted to a fall in base level from the Nipissing high stand to the modern level of Lake Michigan. Sapping processes are currently producing a variety of small‐scale landforms dependent on four main factors: 1) hydraulic gradients and spring discharges, 2) available grain size of material being eroded, 3) transport rate of sand bedload by spring‐fed streams and finally 4) time available for groundwater sapping process to occur. Groundwater sapping is common along the Pigeon River in southwestern Michigan, USA. This image shows a small sapping alcove where spring flow is eroding and transporting eolian sand down a stream into a main trunk stream of a larger sapping valley. Groundwater sapping is likely a common process in similar sandy landscapes of the formerly glaciated Great Lakes region of North America.
ISSN:0197-9337
1096-9837
DOI:10.1002/esp.5858