The Passaic River Basin, which spans 935 mi² over northern New Jersey and parts of New York, is defined by both its glacial and post-glacial history. The retreating ice sheet (~22-18 ka) created Glacial Lake Passaic, impounded behind the Watchung Mountains until a new outlet was opened at Little Falls. Glacial rerouted the Passaic River to a northeastward course, with wetlands developing on the glacial lake sediments. One such wetland, the Great Piece Meadows, covers 2,343 acres of undeveloped floodplain within the Central Basin. Three oxbows within these wetlands, named Oxbow2, RC, and TZS, were cored to determine the flooding and geomorphological history of the central Passaic’s floodplain. Radiocarbon dates and grain size data suggests that oxbow TZS was cut off from the main channel around 9-9.5 ka B.P., and that the Oxbow2 and RC were cut off around 3.6 B.P. These dates fall within a transition from a dry to a wet period during the Holocene, which may have been a cause for the avulsions. Using mercury soil concentrations, deposition from the past ~180 years were determined to be within the upper 5-17 cm of the cores. The Passaic’s central and lower basin have long been plagued by flooding problems, with the worst flood on record occurring in 1903. Analysis of peak discharge at gages along the Passaic and its tributaries for 27 major floods confirms observed flashy discharge of the tributaries and the backup of floodwaters from Little Falls to the central basin during flooding. While the Passaic Basin’s morphology makes it prone to flooding, there are anthropogenic factors as well. While peak discharges for major floods in the Passaic have decreased since the turn of the century, major flood frequency is increasing. Reservoirs are shown to significantly decrease annual runoff and flood discharge along rivers directly downstream from them, but while they can reduce the intensity of flooding, they do not prevent major floods. Annual average runoff ratio values have increase for most areas of the Passaic Basin’s streams as well, despite the construction of reservoirs and diversions for water supply. This implies that an increase in urban and suburban development is a factor in the river’s increasing flooding problems.
Subject (authority = RUETD)
Topic
Geological Sciences
Subject (authority = ETD-LCSH)
Topic
Hydrology--Passaic River Watershed
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
Rutgers University Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = RULIB)
ETD
Identifier
ETD_8490
PhysicalDescription
Form (authority = gmd)
electronic resource
InternetMediaType
application/pdf
InternetMediaType
text/xml
Extent
1 online resource (xi, 191 p. : ill.)
Note (type = degree)
M.S.
Note (type = bibliography)
Includes bibliographical references
Note (type = statement of responsibility)
by Rachel Mackenzie Filo
RelatedItem (type = host)
TitleInfo
Title
School of Graduate Studies Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Identifier (type = local)
rucore10001600001
Location
PhysicalLocation (authority = marcorg); (displayLabel = Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey)
I hereby grant to the Rutgers University Libraries and to my school the non-exclusive right to archive, reproduce and distribute my thesis or dissertation, in whole or in part, and/or my abstract, in whole or in part, in and from an electronic format, subject to the release date subsequently stipulated in this submittal form and approved by my school. I represent and stipulate that the thesis or dissertation and its abstract are my original work, that they do not infringe or violate any rights of others, and that I make these grants as the sole owner of the rights to my thesis or dissertation and its abstract. I represent that I have obtained written permissions, when necessary, from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis or dissertation and will supply copies of such upon request by my school. I acknowledge that RU ETD and my school will not distribute my thesis or dissertation or its abstract if, in their reasonable judgment, they believe all such rights have not been secured. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of my work. I also retain the right to use all or part of this thesis or dissertation in future works, such as articles or books.