Development of a comprehensive sediment transport method in first order watersheds with contour coal mining

δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N, TOC, TN, and C/N measurements in the Southern Appalachian forested region were obtained from forest surface soils, reclaimed surface soils, the streambanks, and the transported sediments at the watershed outlet in first-order watershed with differing disturbances. It was found that the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N tracers successfully discriminated between the sediment sources because of the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N tracers' ability to reflect the biogeochemical changes that occur in the soil matrix. The δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N tracers successfully reflected the degree of disturbance in a watershed. A shift in the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N values was evident between the summers of 2007 and 2009, which was attributed to tree throw caused ice and rain storms and high velocity winds. The un-mixing model determined that the percentage of sediment originating from the forest soils increased from 2007 to 2009 in both disturbed watersheds because erosion rates in the forest increased after the tree throw occurred. The ability of the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N tracers to reflect land-use disturbances as well as natural disturbances is a new contribution that has not been presented in the literature. An advancement of the dual isotope tracer method was presented to account for the percentages of carbon and nitrogen eroding from all three sediment sources.