GREAT III Erosion and Sediment Inventory (Saverton, Missouri to Cairo, Illinois).
Abstract
Erosion and sediment data for the Mississippi River and for 12 adjacent Water Resource Hydrologic Units from Saverton, Missouri, to Cairo, Illinois, were gathered and analyzed. At present, an estimated 115 million tons of sediment on the average annually passes by St. Louis, Missouri. In statistical analyses of suspended sediment concentrations at Hermann, Missouri, and Hannibal, Missouri, only 50 percent of the annual variation in sediment concentration could be explained by discharge. Untreated and treated analyses for grain size determinations of suspended sediment taken from the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers were significantly different. Specific surface area of sediment samples ranged from 87 to 203 square meters per gram. Surface area determinations using ethylene glycol monoethyl ether (EGME) were not significantly different for treated samples vs. native water samples. Aggregate size distribution measured from native water samples is not useful in computing surface area. Of four chemicals added during water treatment at the St. Louis, Missouri, and Alton, Illinois, water treatment plants to facilitate filtering and settling or impurities, only ferric sulfate correlated with suspended solids.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1982
- Accession Number
- ADA122630