Quantifying sediment dynamics over century and event timescales with Beryllium-10 and Lead-210

Landscape erosion is unsteady and non-uniform over human timescales. Quantifying that spatial and temporal variability is important for developing an accurate understanding of watershed erosion, as well as useful morphodynamic models that consider erosion, storage, and sediment transport pathways through watersheds. In this study, we have utilized naturally occurring meteoric 10Be and 210Pb to constrain long-term erosion rates and determine the relative importance of different sediment sources in the Le Sueur River watershed, southern Minnesota. Consistently high suspended sediment loads measured in the Le Sueur are the combined result of natural and human-induced processes. Catastrophic baselevel fall of 70 meters that occurred 13,400 years ago initiated rapid river incision with a knickpoint that has propagated 40 km up through the channel network. Over the past 150 years, agriculture has changed the vegetation cover, disturbed soils and profoundly altered watershed hydrology. Primary sediment sources include upland agricultural fields, bluffs and ravines that have resulted from Holocene river incision, and degrading banks and floodplains. Our two tracers provide complementary pieces of information to constrain erosion rates and identify sources. Both tracers exhibit high concentrations in upland soils and low concentrations in bluffs and ravines. Sediment temporarily stored in floodplains is diminished in 210Pb and enriched in 10Be concentration, which allows us to constrain the rate of channel-floodplain exchange. Results from 10Be analysis in the watershed and in the sedimentary record of Lake Pepin, a natural sediment trap downstream, suggest that agriculture has increased landscape erosion rates significantly, but that the relative magnitude of upland erosion compared to other sources has changed over time, with upland contributions being most pronounced in the mid-20th century. Suspended sediment samples analyzed for 10Be and 210Pb from different locations over the course of multiple storm hydrographs demonstrate systematic spatial and temporal variability. Upland fields dominate sediment inputs above the knickpoint and non-field inputs dominate below the knickpoint. Upland field contributions are relatively higher on the rising limb of the hydrograph. On the falling limb, non-field sources are more important and channel-floodplain exchange appears to be more active.