MAN AND GEOMORPHIC PROCESS IN THE CHEMUNG RIVER VALLEY, NEW YORK AND PENNSYLVANIA

Abstract

ABSTRACT Observation of flood effects, and stratigraphic and other evidence, including a C14 date, indicate that overbank deposition on the Chemung floodplain has accelerated in very recent geologic time, principally within the last one thousand years. Human interference is believed to be the main cause of this change. Clearing and cultivation are known to have increased runoff, erosion, and flood heights in the Chemung Valley. Such increases are believed to have been associated with more extensive flooding, higher stream sediment loads, and more rapid overbank deposition on the floodplain. These effects seem primarily attributable to American settlement, although Indians probably initiated the sequence of changes centuries ago.