Date of Award
12-1985
Degree Name
Master of Science
Department
Geological and Environmental Sciences
First Advisor
Dr. Lloyd Schmaltz
Second Advisor
Dr. W. Thomas Straw
Third Advisor
Dr. William Harrison III
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Open Access
Abstract
The Kentucky River has responded to a lowering of base level control by: 1) deepening the course of its channel; 2) cutting off meanders as incision proceeded; 3) developing knickpoints on tributaries; 4) widening its valley; and 5) dissecting the upland surface.
Field work involved surveying streams to obtain profiles. Twenty streams covering 125 miles of river from Carrollton to Camp Nelson, Kentucky were surveyed. Knickpoints were defined from these profiles. Data from stream profiles showed knickpoint distances decreasing with increasing distance up river. Map work involved obtaining data for hypsometric curves. Hypsometric integrals were determined from these curves. Data showed an increase in hypsometric integrals with increasing distance up river. Statistical analyses of this data verified these trends. The response of the Kentucky River drainage basin to a lowering of its base level control is differential adjustment to a change in equilibrium states with more of the relict upland surface present with increasing distance up river.
Recommended Citation
Warwick, David B., "The Response of the Kentucky River Drainage Basin to a Lowering of Base Level Control" (1985). Masters Theses. 1465.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/1465