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Report of the Secretary of Agriculture in relation to the forests, rivers, and mountains of the southern Appalachian region

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  • SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION. 135 STREAM FLOW IN THE REGION AND ITS MEASUREMENT. The region is well watered, and from it several of the southern Ap- , . - ,, . , . palachian region largest rivers of the country receive their supply. (Seea wen-watered PI. XII.) The chief rivers in the States of Virginia, North°" Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, and West Virginia rise in these mountains. One of the principal tributaries of the Ohio and one of the largest feeders of the Mississippi head here also. So that this region may justly be considered one of the important watersheds of the United States. The Yadkin, Catawba, Broad, Saluda, and Chattooga flow into the Atlantic. The Chattahoochee and the Coosa flow into the Gulf. New River flows to the north and enters the Kanawha, whose waters finally reach the Mississippi through the Ohio, while the Tennessee, with its large tributaries, the Holston, the Nolichucky, and the French Broad, flow to the west through the State of Tennessee, finally entering the Mississippi. The Cheoah, the Nantahala, the Oconalufty, and the Tuckasegee, all large streams from 50 to 100 yards wide, join their waters to the Tennessee and flow in a narrow and rocky gorge through the Great Smoky Mountains, while the Hiwassee unites with that river in the State of Tennessee beyond the mountains. An examination of the watersheds and a general investigation of the streams in this mountain region were made by the United States Geological Survey during the summer of 1900, the detailed results of which will be published in a series of Water-Supply and Irrigation Papers of the Survey. The following general facts are, however, presented for publication in this paper. _. ,, , . ,.. .-i- » ,i ■ • Stream mea.9- Dunng the hydrographic investigation of this region, urements. extending through 1900 and 1901, measurements of flow were made on the larger streams and more than one thousand of their upper tributaries, and 54 gauging stations were established. At each station a gauge was permanently placed, upon which the height of the water surface was read and recorded daily by a local observer, and to which were referred the current-meter measurements, which were made about every sixty days, or oftener, as circumstances demanded or permitted. From these data a curve was platted, according to the method usually followed by the Survey. From this curve, the mean of the daily gauge readings being known, the approximate daily discharge has been calculated. The great difficulty encountered at these stations was to obtain measurements
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Object’s are ‘parent’ level descriptions to ‘children’ items, (e.g. a book with pages).