"Lyell" Gully, a Record of a Century of Erosion

Abstract

Sir Charles Lyell, when he visited the United States in 1846, published a description and a woodcut of a gully which he observed near Milledgeville, Georgia. Several photographs and statements give subsequent information on the gully since 1846. Similar gullies are widespread in the Piedmont area, many of which have been studied by the writer. An accurate survey and detailed study of the gully using physiographic evidence, the age of old pine trees in the gully, and the details of Lyell's description make it possible to reconstruct the conditions of 1846 and to interpret the changes since that date. As the gully was 20 years old when Lyell saw it, there is thus a documented history of over no years of erosion.