Sedimentation in the Cache River wetlands

The Cache River wetlands, located in the Cache River basin in southern Illinois, are small remnants of a vast wetland system that used to occupy the Cache River valley before commercial logging and agricultural developments significantly altered the area. In the Lower Cache River basin, a wetland system called 'Buttonland Swamp' is under great stress because of increased sediment inflow from tributary streams. The Cache River wetlands act as sedimentation basins that trap significant amounts of sediment inflow from tributary streams. The rates of sedimentation in the wetlands were investigated by using two different methods to provide a better understanding of the amount and areal distribution of the sediment. The first method is based on monitoring sediment flowing into and out of the wetlands. The second method is based on radiometric dating techniques of sediment cores collected at selected points within the study area.