Monday, September 23, 2013

Allerton Park may have a wetland based on these hydrology Indicators


Drift deposits and sediment deposits along with a concave, geomorphic surface with stunted vegetation and some true aquatic plants.




Yup, it's gorgeous with it's mucky, drift/sediment deposit filled beauty!

Hydrogen Sulfide Odor


We definitely smelled the hydrogen sulfide, so we tried to capture that with pictures of it bubbling to the surface.  I highlighted some of them with the red arrows below!


Inundation/Saturation Visible on Aerial Imagery


Aerial imagery showed saturation and inundation visible.

Presence of Reduced Iron


It's hard to see, but there were several small pockets of reduced iron.



The iron is easier to see when zoomed in and brightened!

Drainage Patterns



These were taken near the banks of the pond.  All the grasses were matted down in the same direction from when the water overflowed.

Stunted Growth/FAC-Neutral Test




There was a very stunted understory next to the stream, so the banks must flood often.  This area also passed the FAC-Neutral test when we performed it.  It passed the rapid test because the species were FACW or OBL.

Sediment Deposits



This was a bank in the middle of the stream where there was quite a bit of sediment.  Clearly it was close to the water table because the muck was saturated and duckweed was growing.