You are here:
HYDROGEOLOGIC SETTING AND CHARACTERISTICS OF RIPARIAN MEADOW COMPLEXES IN THE MOUNTAINS OF CENTRAL NEVADA: A CASE STUDY
Citation:
TENNANT, C., V. MORGAN, C. MEANS, M. L. LORD, AND D. G. JEWETT. HYDROGEOLOGIC SETTING AND CHARACTERISTICS OF RIPARIAN MEADOW COMPLEXES IN THE MOUNTAINS OF CENTRAL NEVADA: A CASE STUDY. Presented at 55th Annual Meeting of Geological Society of America (Southeastern Section), Knoxville, TN, March 23 - 24, 2006.
Impact/Purpose:
To inform the public.
Description:
Riparian wet meadow complexes in the mountains of the central Great Basin are scarce, ecologically important systems threatened by stream incision. An interdisciplinary team from government and academia is investigating the origin, setting, and biological--physical interrelationships of the meadows. The Kingston Canyon meadow complex, located in the Toiyabe Range, has been the focus of an intense research, monitoring, and restoration studies. This work has yielded data on groundwater levels from 100 wells along 10 transects from shallow (~0.5 m) to deep (~8 m) piezometers; lithology, grain size distribution, and organic content from 12 sediment cores; hydraulic conductivity of key hydrostratigraphic units; stream discharge; groundwater and surface water chemistry; seismic and ground penetrating radar cross-sections; vegetation classifications; stream water-stream bed temperature patterns; and stream morphology and profiles.