Accotink Creek

By: Nicole Puddy, Mayra Portillo

The first sphere: The rip rap was deliberately placed along the sides
of the river (anthroposphere) to stop additional sediment from
draining into the lake (geosphere). The rainwater (hydrosphere)
either runs or evaporates (atmosphere). This results in the
ecosystem being protected inside of the water (biosphere)

The soil (geosphere/lilthosphere) is by far the most effected feature
that we came by in our field trip. It is greatly effected by rain &
other water-based occurrences (hydrosphere). Soil has much
interaction with the (biosphere) by providing much need minerals to
plants and foliage which in turns for provides for the surrounding
animals, fish, and humans with the creation of Oxygen!
(atmosphere) We humans have polluted this creek and have
allowed many toxins into the soil which harms all in the ecosystem
of the Accotink.(anthroposphere)

Earths Spheres
Earths Spheres: Soil
Earths Spheres: rip rap
The problems with sediments entering the creek range from contamination
to pollution. Anything entering a creek that has a threat to the environment
or the ecosystem. It is related to the anthroposphere because humans
induced to the issues that occur with the lake with the obvious actions of
littering, contamination and poor care about the environment itself.

A huge human induced issue in the Accotink creek is human waste. The
amount of trash that filters into this river is astonishing. The rip-rap is made
to keep all sediments from leaking (draining/eroding) into the body of
water. The sole purpose of a rip-rap is to decrease the amount of waste
leaking (draining/eroding) into the water.
Under The Bridges
The small burlap fences at the beginning of the trail are safeguards that
protect against further erosion. Some of the problems with the
sediments in the waterway are vegetation, algae and other living
organisms inside of the water. Turbidity is the cloudiness or haziness of
a fluid type caused by the individual particles that are generally invisible
to the naked eye, similar to smoke in the air. The measurement of
turbidity is a key test of the water quality. There are many different
species found inside of the creek as well as rocks. Also, some minerals,
varying in type, are also found within the creek.

Under The Bridges
Under The Bridges
A floodplain if formed when gradual flooding and draining of a river
occurs. Every time a river floods the silt it carries is deposited into either
sides of its banks. This eventually builds up a flat layer of aluminum,
which in return is a flood plain.
The spheres are interacting because the atmosphere produces all of the
rain feeding into the overflowing rivers causing these floodplains to
form. The biosphere also is interacting because of all of the human
waste, we the people, put into our environment on a day to day basis.
Finally, the geosphere is also interacting because of the different
sediments, tree limbs, and other parts of nature that get trapped in the
debris.
Floodplain
Floodplain
The photo on this page shows the debris of the aftermath
of a flood. The debris got deposited where it did because
of many factors. When the water level rose and caused the
Accotink Creek to flood, it brought different pieces of
trash, particles, waste, and other things together to form
these massive globs of trash and sticks. They get caught up
in high places due to the water level. At the speed the
water travels, these globs get compacted into certain
crevices, as you see in the picture below with the bridge at
Accotink.

Floodplain
Floodplain
The type of rocks that are found in the cliff face are
bedrock, Accotink schist and metamorphic rock. The
ages of the rocks are about 550 million years old. We
are able to tell they are metamorphosed because of
the foliation that is shown within in. They originally
were clay, sand, metagraywacke and sedimentary
rocks. The rock structures were anticline, syncline and
folding. They type of stress that was responsible for
producing the structures seen in the rocks is folding.
Stop 1
Stop 1

The yard of the house is no longer in existence. The
cutbanks are eroding away, the house is relying on a
tree to keep it in place. The landslide that occurred to
the left of the foundation is also a negative sign that
living in a house in that location is probably not the
best idea.
Stop 1
Stop 1
Placement of House
Stop 1
Highest Velocity
Lowest Velocity
The sediment size in the channel range from small to
medium. They are being brought down river from the
Annandale runoff from the Appalachian Mountains.
The sorting was poor, rounding was sub angular and
the maturity was immature. If the rock were to be
lithified it would form a conglomerate. Of this
sediment we noticed the bed load were the rocks on
the point bar, the suspended load is being moved by
the water, and the dissolved Load have been
chemically weathered.
Stop 1
Stop 1
The rock type at stop 2 was granite, hornblende,
potassium feldspar and clay. The age of these rocks
are about 460 million years old. The rocks were
intruded into the continental crust creating the schist.
This is related to the formation of the Appalachian
Mountains because it took place during the creation
of them.
Stop 2
Stop 2
Erosional Area
At Home
The Accotink creek begins in Fairfax, Virginia and ends in
the Potomac river. The body of water that the Accotink
creek emptys in to is the Accotink Lake. About 30 sq. miles
of land surface is drained by the Accotink creek watershed.
The heath of the Accotink creek is very poor. The issues
effecting this creek are poor human choices such as
littering, contamination, I personally have even seen
Accotink being used as a personal waste spot. Over the
years Accotink has become more and more contaminated.
The lake itself has overflowed killing a ton of the lakes
ecosystem.
At Home
Stop littering
Pick up trash
Make the community aware of the situation
Use eco friendly products
Promote the lakes beauty

The watershed we live in is Accotink Creek
At Home