Sedimentation in Wolf Lake, Lower Yazoo River Basin, Mississippi

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Abstract
Sedimentation rates and properties were determined from measurements made in situ and in the laboratory on sediments from Wolf Lake. Wolf Lake, located in Humphreys and Yazoo Counties, Mississippi, is an oxbow lake situated in the lower Yazoo River basin. Wolf Lake receives both stream and overland flow from large areas of intensively cultivated (cotton and soybeans) land. Wolf Lake has been increasingly stressed by modern intensive agriculture. We found recent sediment rates, determined by the 137Cs method, to exceed 5 cm/yr in the upper end of the lake. These rates decrease to near 1 cm/yr in the lower end of the lake. Much of the sediment is clay (<2μ) and associated with these clays are significant amounts of chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides and their degradation products. Recent sediments contain less pesticides than those of a decade ago. No positive relationship of total P content to depth in sediment was found.

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