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INDIANA UNIVERSITY STUDIES 



the wide valley region, the streams meander about in the wide allu- 

 vial expanse, continually cutting on the outside of the meanders 

 and shifting the channel of the stream constantly. This constant 

 shifting or changing of the river channel gives no time for the in- 

 cision of the stream bed, or for the building up of natural levees 

 along the banks. This shallowness of the channel keeps the stream 

 in the easily moved sand and gravel underlying the sandy soil of 

 the surface, and does not permit it to have the tougher, compact 

 material for its banks. Such conditions favor bank-cutting and 

 meandering. Should the stream have time to cut down into the 

 more resistant material, it is likely that the bank-cutting would be 

 less. The alluvial material of the valley however is deep, since the 

 valley is a filled valley; probably seventy-five feet in depth below 

 the present river channel. 



In the narrow valley regions, the channel does less mean- 

 dering and especially in the East Fork region, where there is little 

 or none. Consequently, it has remained in its present channel for 

 a very long time, and has cut down into the more resistant material. 

 Trees have grown along the banks and natural levees have been 

 made. The channel, therefore, is deep. Perhaps the most im- 

 portant factor in keeping the channel constant is the narrow winding 

 valley itself. The valley in these restricted regions is a great in- 

 trenched meandering gorge. The channel crosses from one side 

 of the valley to the other, always keeping its outside bend against 

 a precipitous limestone or sandstone cliff, with the valley always 

 on the inside of the bend. This condition exists because of the 

 winding valley itself. It is impossible for further meandering to 

 take place, because the outside of the bends is always against a 

 rocky cliff generally over a hundred feet in height. This is sufficient 

 to explain the much greater depth in the constricted regions of 

 the White River valleys. 



Before considering the details of bank cutting along White 

 River, something should be said about the need of the preserva- 

 tion of the land affected and the loss to society in general because 

 of the consequent loss in production. If the present rate of in- 

 crease in population continues, there will be 200,000,000 people 

 in the United States by the year 1950. When we stop to con- 

 sider what it means to produce twice as much as we are producing 

 now, we are constrained to think of vast numbers of acres called 

 into use which are not at present available. As the population 

 increases, more and more food is needed; but the subsistence space 

 does not increase. It is even made less, for actual room is used 



