EROSION IN THE APPALACHIAN AND PIEDMONT REGIONS 



1351 



It is true throughout the 

 A])palachian region that the 

 streams which flow from 

 the wooded mountains car- 

 ry very little sediment. 

 Even the cases in which 

 such streams appear turbid, 

 much of the suspended mat- 

 ter is of organic origin. It 

 is also characteristic of 

 such streams that they rise 

 more slowly after a storm, 

 remain in flood for a longer 

 period of time, and fall 

 more slowly than similar 

 streams in non-wooded 

 areas. The Geological Sur- 

 vey has pointed out the 

 characte ristics of such 

 streams in the Appalachian 

 region of North Carolina 

 and Tennessee. Cane River 

 from Mount Mitchel and 

 streams in the Lake Toxa- 

 way section never become 

 muddy, although often 

 greatly swollen from con- 

 tinued rains. These streams 

 are in equilibrium with the land through which they 

 flow. This equilibrium will be disturbed only by clear- 

 ing the land, which causes a change in the relation of 

 surface slope to stream gradient. 



It is not un- 

 common to find 

 the contrast to 

 this condition 

 in loca 1 i t i e s 

 where the for- 

 est has been de- 

 pleted eit her 

 partly or com- 

 pletely by lum- 

 bermen. Often 

 in the snagging 

 of logs the 

 trenches form- 

 ed furnish 

 drains down 

 which the ac- 

 cumulated 

 water rushes 

 with great ve- 

 locity. It is the 

 work of a very 

 short time to 

 cut these 

 trenches into 

 g u Hies which 

 often devastate 



THE SACRIFICE OF THE TREES 



A small n-asli too long neglected in a soil especially susceptible to erosion 

 has resulted in a gulch which even the fine forest of Georgia pine cannot 

 stop. With every storm some mighty tree becomes a sacrifice to the 

 appetite of this voracious monster. 



THE GULCH APPROACHES— THREATENING DESTRUCTION 



The removal of the forest covering has resulted in the formation of a gulch which has already forced its 

 way across the road and is threatening to swallow up this farmhouse. 



great areas. Frequently in 

 the Piedmont region the 

 erosion begins near the low- 

 lands and, in certain types 

 of soil, gullies are develop- 

 ed that extend for great dis- 

 tances even into the forests. 

 In some sections of the 

 Appalachian region where 

 the forest has been remov- 

 ed from the mountains or 

 steeper hillsides, denudation 

 has taken place until good 

 sized areas of the under- 

 lying, bare rock are expos- 

 ed. Much of the mountain- 

 ous land is too steep for 

 cultivation. The removal 

 of the forest is due mainly 

 to lumbering operations. It 

 is this type of activity that 

 is most destructive. The 

 trees are cut without much 

 regard to size or position 

 and as soon as the lumber 

 has been obtained the lum- 

 bermen move on to fresh 

 fields, with ruthless disre- 

 gard to the later effects on the land recently divested of 

 its forest covering. 



In the Piedmont section the more devastating effects 

 from erosion occur because this land is not too steep for 



cultivation and 

 there has been 

 extensive clear- 

 ing of the land. 

 The soils are of 

 the same origin 

 and very simi- 

 lar to the soils 

 of the Appala- 

 chian region 

 proper, so that 

 from the re- 

 sults apparent 

 in one region 

 can be determ- 

 i n e d largely 

 what will l)e the 

 outcome of ex- 

 tensive clearing 

 in the other. 



The type of 

 soil has a great 

 influence on the 

 rapidity with 

 which bad ef- 

 fects from ero- 

 s i o n become 



