Debris-Flow Hazards within the Appalachian Mountains of the Eastern United States

An Examination of Selected Historical Rainfall-Induced Debris-Flow Events within the Central and Southern Appalachian Mountains of the Eastern United States

Open-File Report ◽

10.3133/ofr20091155 ◽

2009 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Gerald F. Wieczorek ◽

L. Scott Eaton ◽

Benjamin A. Morgan ◽

R.M. Wooten ◽

M. Morrissey

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Debris Flow ◽

Appalachian Mountains ◽

Eastern United States ◽

Southern Appalachian Mountains ◽

Southern Appalachian

Download Full-text

Carabodes of the eastern United States and adjacent Canada (Acari: Oribatida: Carabodidae)

Canadian Journal of Zoology ◽

10.1139/z92-276 ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 70 (10) ◽

pp. 2042-2058 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

R. Marcel Reeves

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

North America ◽

Coastal Plain ◽

Forest Floor ◽

Appalachian Mountains ◽

Atlantic Coastal Plain ◽

Eastern North America ◽

Eastern United States ◽

Thelytokous Parthenogenesis ◽

Atlantic Coastal

Adults of four new species of Carabodes, C. chandleri, C. erectus, C. interruptus, and C. pentasetosus, and the immatures of C. erectus, are described. All have been collected from a variety of forest-floor habitats, with C. chandleri, C. interruptus, and C. pentasetosus more common in leaf litter, and C. erectus preferring polyporous fungi. All four species are widely distributed in eastern North America, with C. chandleri, C. erectus, and C. interruptus more abundant in samples from the Appalachian Mountains and C. pentasetosus in those from the Atlantic coastal plain. Thelytokous parthenogenesis is suspected to occur in C. pentasetosus n.sp. and Carabodes granulatus Banks. A key to the 19 species of Carabodes found in North America is provided.

Download Full-text

Evidence of Mid-Holocene (Northgrippian Age) Dry Climate Recorded in Organic Soil Profiles in the Central Appalachian Mountains of the Eastern United States

Geosciences ◽

10.3390/geosciences11110477 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (11) ◽

pp. 477

Author(s):

Mitzy L. Schaney ◽

James S. Kite ◽

Christopher R. Schaney ◽

James A. Thompson

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Appalachian Mountains ◽

Organic Soil ◽

Field Investigation ◽

Soil Profiles ◽

Eastern United States ◽

Accumulation Rates ◽

Peat Accumulation ◽

Climatic Fluctuations ◽

Radiocarbon Dates

Peatlands in Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge hold a pedomemory of Pleistocene and Holocene climatic fluctuations in the central Appalachian Mountains of the eastern United States. A field investigation profiling 88 organic soil profiles, coupled with 52 radiocarbon dates and peat accumulation rates, revealed a distinct sequence of organic soil horizons throughout five study areas. The dominantly anaerobic lower portions of the organic soil profiles consist of varied thicknesses of hemic and sapric soil materials, typically layered as an upper hemic horizon, underlain by a sapric horizon, underlain by another hemic horizon. Peat deposition began after the Last Glacial Maximum with relatively high Heinrich Stadial 1 accumulation rates to form the lowest hemic horizon. Peat accumulated at significantly slower rates as the climate continued to warm in the early Holocene Greenlandian Age. However, between 10,000 and 4200 cal yr BP peat accumulation decreased further and the decomposition of previously deposited peat prevailed, forming the sapric horizon. This interval of greater decomposition indicates a drier climatic with dates spanning the late Greenlandian Age through the Northgrippian Age. The upper hemic horizon within the anaerobic portion of the soil profile formed from high peat accumulation rates during the wetter late Holocene Meghalayan Age.

Download Full-text

Convective Episodes in the East-Central United States

Monthly Weather Review ◽

10.1175/2007mwr2098.1 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 135 (11) ◽

pp. 3707-3727 ◽

Cited By ~ 43

Author(s):

Matthew D. Parker ◽

David A. Ahijevych

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Coastal Plain ◽

Appalachian Mountains ◽

Vertical Wind Shear ◽

Radar Data ◽

Daily Maximum ◽

Eastern United States ◽

East Central ◽

Convective Systems ◽

Central United States

Abstract Nine years of composited radar data are investigated to assess the presence of organized convective episodes in the east-central United States. In the eastern United States, the afternoon maximum in thunderstorms is ubiquitous over land. However, after removing this principal diurnal peak from the radar data, the presence and motion of organized convective systems becomes apparent in both temporally averaged fields and in the statistics of convective episodes identified by an objective algorithm. Convective echoes are diurnally maximized over the Appalachian chain, and are repeatedly observed to move toward the east. Partly as a result of this, the daily maximum in storms is delayed over the Piedmont and coastal plain relative to the Appalachian Mountains and the Atlantic coast. During the 9 yr studied, the objective algorithm identified 2128 total convective episodes (236 yr−1), with several recurring behaviors. Many systems developed over the elevated terrain during the afternoon and moved eastward, often to the coastline and even offshore. In addition, numerous systems formed to the west of the Appalachian Mountains and moved into and across the eastern U.S. study domain. In particular, many nocturnal convective systems from the central United States entered the western side of the study domain, frequently arriving at the eastern mountains around the next day’s afternoon maximum in storm frequency. A fraction of such well-timed systems succeeded in crossing the Appalachians and continuing across the Piedmont and coastal plain. Convective episodes were most frequent during the high-instability, low-shear months of summer, which dominate the year-round statistics. Even so, an important result is that the episodes still occurred almost exclusively in above-average vertical wind shear. Despite the overall dominance of the diurnal cycle, the data show that adequate shear in the region frequently leads to long-lived convective episodes with mesoscale organization.

Download Full-text