A FLUVIAL RECORD OF HISTORICAL LAND USE CHANGE, OTTER CREEK BASIN, VERMONT

As part of the Otter Creek Integrated Watershed Study, this project aims to bridge the gap between historical geographic information concerning industry and land-use changes in the Otter Creek Basin and the geologic sediment record by analyzing sediment cores taken in the Otter Creek Delta. Objectives include analysis of changes in sedimentation rate, grain size and character, nutrient loading and trace metal compositions. Significant wood-chip layers were observed occurring randomly down the length of a 3 meter core taken from the modern delta. These wood layers consist of chips and not naturally occurring organic debris. We speculate that these wood chip layers correspond to flooding events in the Otter Creek Basin and may represent re-suspension from sawmills that existed on Otter Creek. Further research will include grain-size analysis, heavy metal analysis, and 210Pb dating of sediment samples and flood frequency parameters.