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Professional Paper - United States Geological Survey (no. 72)
Professional Paper United States Geological Survey - no. 72 Author:Geological Survey Volume: no. 72 General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1911 Original Publisher: The Survey Subjects: Geology Science / Earth Sciences / General Science / Earth Sciences / Geology Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When y... more »ou buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: TENNESSEE RIVER BASIN. Tennessee River is formed by the union of Holston and French Broad rivers 4£ miles above Knoxville, Tenn. An examination of these streams shows that the Holston is the direct continuation of the Tennessee up the great Appalachian Valley, and for this reason the head of the Holston is here treated as the head of the Tennessee." The main tributary basins from the eastern or Appalachian Mountain side will first be described in order from the Holston southward to the Hiwassee, and the description of these will be followed by a description of the Tennessee itself from Knoxville, Tenn., to Paducah, Ky. No examination was made of the streams entering from the west or Cumberland Mountain side of the basin. HOLSTON BASIN. GENERAL FEATURES. The basin of Holston River has an extreme length of about 170 miles, of which the lower 141£ miles, below the junction of the north and south forks near Kingsport, Tenn., is narrow and receives but little drainage. Above this junction the basin has an average width of perhaps 50 miles. The slope of the north fork of the Holston is about 6 feet per mile; that of the lower ?-? miles is 2.55 feet per mile. This slope is, however, by no means uniformly distributed, but quiet pools and shallow reaches succeed each other at varying intervals throughout the course. All of the larger streams of the Holston basin flow either on rock bottom or over bed rock that is covered at ordinary stages by a foot or two of loose sand an...« less