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Assessment of 220 Years of Anthropogenic Impacts to Wyoga Lake, Summit County, Ohio

Rechenberg, Matthew S
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1681342120620075

Abstract Details

2023, Master of Science, University of Akron, Geology.
In 1967, Wolman modeled how human land-use modification affects sediment yield in the U.S. Middle-Atlantic. This study uses the sediment of Wyoga Lake, Summit County, Ohio to quantify the impacts of land use change on sediment yield, to determine if there is a relationship between land use and the sedimentary heavy metal record, and to test if Wolman’s model is applicable to northeast Ohio. Mud Brook flows into and out of Wyoga Lake, thus the lake traps much of the sediment yield from the upper Mud Brook watershed. Based upon wave base models and lakefloor sediment properties, lacustrine sediment accumulates in water deeper than 2.8 m. Sediment cores were collected from deep-water basins and dated by correlating to absolute-dated cores from other Ohio kettle lakes and by using event chrono-stratigraphy to identify lithologic features associated with events of known age. The 266.5 cm-long composite core contains a 220-year environmental history record that was divided into 5 periods of varying human-induced land use change to the Wyoga Lake watershed. The oldest Period, the Pre-Settlement Period (pre-1804) extends from 266.5 to 240.5 cm below lake floor (cmblf) and has organic-rich mud, low Ti concentrations, and a low mass accumulation rate (MAR) of 0.026 g/cm2/yr that accumulated when the forested watershed limited sediment yield. The Settlement and Agriculture Period (240.5─147.6 cmblf; 1804─1964) begins with an initial decline in organic matter followed by elevated arsenic concentrations later in the Period, and a MAR of 0.323 g/cm2/yr which is 12X greater than the Pre─Settlement Period. The sediment properties are interpreted to represent increased terrigenous influx due to deforestation when Stow and Hudson, OH were settled, followed by agricultural activities that applied arsenic-based insecticides to orchards. The Lakeside Housing and Construction Period (147.6 to 94.0 cmblf; 1964─1984) occurred prior to the use of construction-site erosion control practices in the mid-1990s. This Period has interbedded thin, tan clay and black mud layers, and a MAR of 1.693 g/cm2/yr which is 65X greater than the Pre-Settlement Period. The tan clay layers are compositionally similar to the glacial till deposits in the watershed and are interpreted to result from intermittent lakeside construction events that mobilized the subsoil till. The Route 8 Construction Period (94.0 to 68.1 cmblf; 1984─1988) has thick, tan clay layers resulting from the construction of Route 8 that excavated substantial road cuts through glacial till hills and across Mud Brook upstream of Wyoga Lake. This Period had a MAR of 4.053 g/cm2/yr which is 156X greater than the Pre-Settlement Period. The Suburban Period (68.1 to 0 cmblf; 1988─2021) has black mud with increasing organic content, decreasing heavy metals, and a MAR of 0.689 g/cm2/yr which is 27X greater than the Pre-Settlement Period. During this time development in the proximal watershed was minimal and effective environmental regulations limited construction site sediment erosion and heavy metal pollution. Because Wyoga Lake efficiently traps the Mud Brook sediment load, core derived MAR also represents the sediment yield of the Wyoga Lake watershed. Because northeast Ohio and the Middle-Atlantic have similar climate, vegetation, and land-use history, Wolman’s (1967) sediment yield model was found to be generally applicable to northeast Ohio. However, a few notable differences are observed. First, Wyoga Lake experienced two construction phases over a 24-year span as opposed to Wolman’s single ~10-year construction event. Second, the present-day Suburban Period has a greater sediment yield than Wolman predicted for urban watersheds, possibly due to impervious surfaces leading to increased runoff and greater than predicted stream channel incision. Thus, the Wyoga Lake study demonstrates that site-specific studies are needed in order to document important local land use impacts on watershed and lake sedimentary environments.
John Peck (Advisor)
John Senko (Committee Member)
Caleb Holyoke (Committee Member)
247 p.
Geology; Limnology
Wyoga, Wyoga Lake, lake, sediment, Summit County, history, land use, land cover, wolman, sediment yield, heavy metals, geology, ohio, glacial, till, construction

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Rechenberg, M. S. (2023). Assessment of 220 Years of Anthropogenic Impacts to Wyoga Lake, Summit County, Ohio [Master's thesis, University of Akron]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1681342120620075

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Rechenberg, Matthew. Assessment of 220 Years of Anthropogenic Impacts to Wyoga Lake, Summit County, Ohio. 2023. University of Akron, Master's thesis. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1681342120620075.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Rechenberg, Matthew. "Assessment of 220 Years of Anthropogenic Impacts to Wyoga Lake, Summit County, Ohio." Master's thesis, University of Akron, 2023. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=akron1681342120620075

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

akron1681342120620075
221
© 2023, some rights reserved.Creative Commons License Assessment of 220 Years of Anthropogenic Impacts to Wyoga Lake, Summit County, Ohio by Matthew S Rechenberg is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at etd.ohiolink.edu.
This open access ETD is published by University of Akron and OhioLINK.