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Science 18 January 2008:
Vol. 319. no. 5861, pp. 299 - 304
DOI: 10.1126/science.1151716
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Research Articles

Natural Streams and the Legacy of Water-Powered Mills

Robert C. Walter*{dagger} and Dorothy J. Merritts*{dagger}

Gravel-bedded streams are thought to have a characteristic meandering form bordered by a self-formed, fine-grained floodplain. This ideal guides a multibillion-dollar stream restoration industry. We have mapped and dated many of the deposits along mid-Atlantic streams that formed the basis for this widely accepted model. These data, as well as historical maps and records, show instead that before European settlement, the streams were small anabranching channels within extensive vegetated wetlands that accumulated little sediment but stored substantial organic carbon. Subsequently, 1 to 5 meters of slackwater sedimentation, behind tens of thousands of 17th- to 19th-century milldams, buried the presettlement wetlands with fine sediment. These findings show that most floodplains along mid-Atlantic streams are actually fill terraces, and historically incised channels are not natural archetypes for meandering streams.

Department of Earth and Environment, Franklin and Marshall College, Post Office Box 3003, Lancaster, PA 17604–3003, USA.

* These authors contributed equally to this work.

{dagger} To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: robert.walter{at}fandm.edu (R.C.W.); dorothy.merritts{at}fandm.edu (D.J.M.)

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Increased mid-twentieth century riverbank erosion rates related to the demise of mill dams, South River, Virginia.
J. Pizzuto and M. O'Neal (2009)
Geology 37, 19-22
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E-Letters:

Read all E-Letters

Dammed, You Say...
Keith D. Johnson
Science Online, 18 Mar 2008 [Full text]
R. C. Walter and D. J. Merritts' Response to K. D. Johnson's E-Letter Comment
Robert C. Walter, et al.
Science Online, 25 Mar 2008 [Full text]

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