Missouri River
Suspended Load of the Missouri River & Tributaries
How much suspended load do the James, Vermillion, and Big Sioux Rivers contribute to the Missouri River? This long-term monitoring project began in the summer of 2012 with the goal of measuring summer suspended load concentrations. Suspended load contributes to water quality and nutrients for aquatic life. This project began with support from the Missouri River Institute, and more recently through the NSF-sponsored Sustainable RIVER REU. Graduate student Jason Emmick is continuing this work by evaluating the impacts of land use change on the sediment load of tributaries.
Undergraduate Students involved: Ruthie Wetzel, 2012-2014; Bethany Vazquez Maestre (University of Puerto Rico- Rio Piedras), 2017; Marcella Jurotich (pictured at right, Carleton College), 2018; Nathan Cardona (Miami Univ. of Ohio), 2019.
Graduate student involved: Jason Emmick, 2021-
Publication:
Jurotich, M., Cardona, N., Vazquez, B., Wetzel, R., Cowman, C., and Sweeney, M., 2021,
Contributions of suspended load from Missouri River tributaries, southeast South Dakota, and northeast Nebraska: Building a sediment budget. River Research and Applications, v. 37, p. 511-521, doi:10.1002/rra.3767.
Wind Erosion of Missouri River Sand Bars
The Flood of 2011 generated many large sand bars along the the Missouri River near Vermillion. These bars provide critical habitat to endangered and threatened birds, but are also a source of dust and wind-blown sand. Before the dams, did the flashy discharge and the dynamic nature of the river construct sand bars that were sources of dust for the loess mantling the bluffs in Nebraska and Iowa? The PI-SWERL was used to measure the potential for the sand bars to produce dust. The amount of erosion by wind and water was also compared for several bars using repeat satellite and LiDAR imagery. Our results revealed the proportion of bars eroded by eolian vs. fluvial processes.
Undergraduate students involved: Karen Herrig (pictured), 2012-2014; Ben Fischer, 2016-2017
Publication
Sweeney, M.R., Fischer, B., Wormers, K., Cowman,T., 2019, Eolian and fluvial modification of Missouri River sandbars deposited by the 2011 flood, USA. Geomorphology, v. 327, p. 111-125.
Geomorphology & Sediment Sources of the Lewis and Clark Lake Delta
The Lewis and Clark reservoir behind Gavins Point Dam near Yankton, SD, is predicted to fill by 2175. This study measured suspended load and estimated bedload of tributaries potentially contributing sediment to the delta in order to determine a more accurate sediment budget. Provenance studies revealed that ~55% of the sand in the delta is from the Niobrara River, while ~35% is from the Missouri River. This research was funded by the Missouri Sediment Action Coalition.
Undergraduate student involved: Juan Correal (pictured), 2015
Report
Sweeney, M., Cowman, T., Dixon, M., and Wesner, J., 2016, Characterization of the geomorphology, sediment sources, vegetation, and macroinvertebrate diversity of the Lewis and Clark Lake delta. Prepared for the Missouri Sedimentation Action Coalition, Nov. 20, 2016, 53p.
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