The general objective of the proposed research is to use lead and zinc trace metals derived form point sources of known historical ages to quantify and model erosional and depositional effects of floods and the long-term downstream transport of sediment and trace metals. The research addresses the long-standing problem that little previous quantitative data has been available to document the sensitivity of sediment storage at various time scales and geographic locations in drainage systems. The proposed research will quantify response rates and processes that describe the movement and storage of sediment under varying time scales and flood events. Results from the modeling and quantification of the long-term fate of lead and zinc metals in floodplain sediment of the study area should serve as a general model to further understand the long-term behavior of many toxic substances that are associated with water transported sediment.
