The Pliocene-to-present course of the Tennessee River

Journal of Geology
By:  and 

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Abstract

The Tennessee River, a primary drainage of the southern Appalachians and significant sediment source for the Gulf of Mexico, is generally considered to be the product of captures that rerouted the river from a more direct gulfward course. Sedimentary and genetic evidence indicates that a paleo-Tennessee flowed into the Mobile Basin through the late Miocene, although alternate models propose other redirections of the river. We constrain the river course’s age by dating terraces near Pickwick, Tennessee, with cosmogenic 26Al/10Be isochron burial dating. We find that the river’s present path dates to at least the early Pliocene.

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Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title The Pliocene-to-present course of the Tennessee River
Series title Journal of Geology
DOI 10.1086/719951
Volume 130
Issue 4
Year Published 2022
Language English
Publisher University of Chicago Press
Contributing office(s) Florence Bascom Geoscience Center
Description 9 p.
First page 325
Last page 333
Country United States
State Tennessee
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