Download or read book From Hillslopes to Canyons Studies of Erosion at Differing Time and Spatial Scales Within the Colorado River Drainage written by Christopher Tressler and published by . This book was released on 2011 with total page 109 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This thesis includes two different studies in an attempt to investigate and better understand the key characteristics of landscape evolution. In the first study, the rate of surface particle creep was investigated through the use of Terrestrial lidar at an archaeological site in Grand Canyon National Park. The second study developed ways to quantify metrics of the Colorado River drainage and reports the role of bedrock strength in the irregular profile of the trunk Colorado River drainage. Archaeological sites along the Colorado River corridor in Grand Canyon National Park are eroding due to a variety of surficial processes. The nature of surface particle creep is difficult to quantify and managers of this sensitive landscape wish to know the rates of erosion in order to make timely decisions regarding preservation. In the first study, two scans of a single convex hillslope were collected over the span of 12 months through the use of a ground-based lidar instrument. The scans were used to track the movement of rock clasts. This study, with a relatively small data set, did not show the expected positive relations of creep rate to slope or clast size, but did not preclude the existence of these relations either. The remarkably irregular long profile of the Colorado River has inspired several questions about the role of knickpoint recession, tectonics, and bedrock in the landscape evolution of Grand Canyon and the region. Bedrock resistance to erosion has a fundamental role in controlling topography and surface processes. In this second study, a data set of bedrock strength data was compiled and presented, providing relations of bedrock strength to hydraulic-driving forces of the trunk Colorado River drainage. Results indicate that rock strength and topographic metrics are strongly correlated in the middle to lower reaches of the plateau drainage. In the upper reaches of the drainage, intact-rock strength values are ~25% higher without a matching increase in stream power. As more tensile strength samples are analyzed and appropriately scaled with respect to fracturing and shale content, we believe we will see a clearer and more consistent pattern in the upper reaches.
Download or read book The Roles of Erosion Rate and Rock Strength in the Evolution of Canyons Along the Colorado River written by Andrew Lee Darling and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For this dissertation, three separate papers explore the study areas of the western Grand Canyon, the Grand Staircase (as related to Grand Canyon) and Desolation Canyon on the Green River in Utah. In western Grand Canyon, I use comparative geomorphology between the Grand Canyon and the Grand Wash Cliffs (GWC). We propose the onset of erosion of the GWC is caused by slip on the Grand Wash Fault that formed between 18 and 12 million years ago. Hillslope angle and channel steepness are higher in Grand Canyon than along the Grand Wash Cliffs despite similar rock types, climate and base level fall magnitude. These experimental controls allow inference that the Grand Canyon is younger and eroding at a faster rate than the Grand Wash Cliffs. The Grand Staircase is the headwaters of some of the streams that flow into Grand Canyon. A space-for-time substitution of erosion rates, supported by landscape simulations, implies that the Grand Canyon is the result of an increase in base level fall rate, with the older, slower base level fall rate preserved in the Grand Staircase. Our data and analyses also support a younger, ~6-million-year estimate of the age of Grand Canyon that is likely related to the integration of the Colorado River from the Colorado Plateau to the Basin and Range. Complicated cliff-band erosion and its effect on cosmogenic erosion rates are also explored, guiding interpretation of isotopic data in landscapes with stratigraphic variation in quartz and rock strength. Several hypotheses for the erosion of Desolation Canyon are tested and refuted, leaving one plausible conclusion. I infer that the Uinta Basin north of Desolation Canyon is eroding slowly and that its form represents a slow, stable base level fall rate. Downstream of Desolation Canyon, the Colorado River is inferred to have established itself in the exhumed region of Canyonlands and to have incised to near modern depths prior to the integration of the Green River and the production of relief in Desolation Canyon. Analysis of incision and erosion rates in the region suggests integration is relatively recent.
Download or read book Mountain Rivers Revisited written by Ellen Wohl and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-05-28 with total page 723 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Published by the American Geophysical Union as part of the Water Resources Monograph Series, Volume 19. What are the forms and processes characteristic of mountain rivers and how do we know them? Mountain Rivers Revisited, an expanded and updated version of the earlier volume Mountain Rivers, answers these questions and more. Here is the only comprehensive synthesis of current knowledge about mountain rivers available. While continuing to focus on physical process and form in mountain rivers, the text also addresses the influences of tectonics, climate, and land use on rivers, as well as water chemistry, hyporheic exchange, and riparian and aquatic ecology. With its numerous illustrations and references, hydrologists, geomorphologists, civil and environmental engineers, ecologists, resource planners, and their students will find this book an essential resource. Ellen Wohl received her Ph.D. in geology in 1988 from the University of Arizona. Since then, she has worked primarily on mountain and bedrock rivers in diverse environments.
Download or read book Treatise on Geomorphology written by and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2013-02-27 with total page 6392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The changing focus and approach of geomorphic research suggests that the time is opportune for a summary of the state of discipline. The number of peer-reviewed papers published in geomorphic journals has grown steadily for more than two decades and, more importantly, the diversity of authors with respect to geographic location and disciplinary background (geography, geology, ecology, civil engineering, computer science, geographic information science, and others) has expanded dramatically. As more good minds are drawn to geomorphology, and the breadth of the peer-reviewed literature grows, an effective summary of contemporary geomorphic knowledge becomes increasingly difficult. The fourteen volumes of this Treatise on Geomorphology will provide an important reference for users from undergraduate students looking for term paper topics, to graduate students starting a literature review for their thesis work, and professionals seeking a concise summary of a particular topic. Information on the historical development of diverse topics within geomorphology provides context for ongoing research; discussion of research strategies, equipment, and field methods, laboratory experiments, and numerical simulations reflect the multiple approaches to understanding Earth’s surfaces; and summaries of outstanding research questions highlight future challenges and suggest productive new avenues for research. Our future ability to adapt to geomorphic changes in the critical zone very much hinges upon how well landform scientists comprehend the dynamics of Earth’s diverse surfaces. This Treatise on Geomorphology provides a useful synthesis of the state of the discipline, as well as highlighting productive research directions, that Educators and students/researchers will find useful. Geomorphology has advanced greatly in the last 10 years to become a very interdisciplinary field. Undergraduate students looking for term paper topics, to graduate students starting a literature review for their thesis work, and professionals seeking a concise summary of a particular topic will find the answers they need in this broad reference work which has been designed and written to accommodate their diverse backgrounds and levels of understanding Editor-in-Chief, Prof. J. F. Shroder of the University of Nebraska at Omaha, is past president of the QG&G section of the Geological Society of America and present Trustee of the GSA Foundation, while being well respected in the geomorphology research community and having won numerous awards in the field. A host of noted international geomorphologists have contributed state-of-the-art chapters to the work. Readers can be guaranteed that every chapter in this extensive work has been critically reviewed for consistency and accuracy by the World expert Volume Editors and by the Editor-in-Chief himself No other reference work exists in the area of Geomorphology that offers the breadth and depth of information contained in this 14-volume masterpiece. From the foundations and history of geomorphology through to geomorphological innovations and computer modelling, and the past and future states of landform science, no "stone" has been left unturned!
Download or read book Science Be Dammed written by Eric Kuhn and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2019-11-26 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Science Be Dammed is an alarming reminder of the high stakes in the management—and perils in the mismanagement—of water in the western United States. It seems deceptively simple: even when clear evidence was available that the Colorado River could not sustain ambitious dreaming and planning by decision-makers throughout the twentieth century, river planners and political operatives irresponsibly made the least sustainable and most dangerous long-term decisions. Arguing that the science of the early twentieth century can shed new light on the mistakes at the heart of the over-allocation of the Colorado River, authors Eric Kuhn and John Fleck delve into rarely reported early studies, showing that scientists warned as early as the 1920s that there was not enough water for the farms and cities boosters wanted to build. Contrary to a common myth that the authors of the Colorado River Compact did the best they could with limited information, Kuhn and Fleck show that development boosters selectively chose the information needed to support their dreams, ignoring inconvenient science that suggested a more cautious approach. Today water managers are struggling to come to terms with the mistakes of the past. Focused on both science and policy, Kuhn and Fleck unravel the tangled web that has constructed the current crisis. With key decisions being made now, including negotiations for rules governing how the Colorado River water will be used after 2026, Science Be Dammed offers a clear-eyed path forward by looking back. Understanding how mistakes were made is crucial to understanding our contemporary problems. Science Be Dammed offers important lessons in the age of climate change about the necessity of seeking out the best science to support the decisions we make.
Download or read book Changing River written by Helen C. Fairley and published by Statistical Research. This book was released on 2003 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a response to the USGS’s call for a research design that could be used as a framework for prioritizing cultural resources in the Colorado River ecosystem below Glen Canyon Dam. Changing River includes summaries of current environmental conditions and previous research and brings together diverse archaeological opinions about Grand Canyon’s human story. It then presents a theoretical basis for using a landscape approach to organize future research efforts in the canyon. The research presented here explores the geophysical, paleoclimatic, and biological parameters that have shaped the canyon landscape and influenced choices made by humans as they attempted to adapt to this ecosystem. It then focuses on the distribution of cultural materials and patterns using several archaeological approaches, and investigates natural and cultural realms as mutually reinforcing and interacting components of an integrated ecosystem to which humans have applied meaning and value over time.
Download or read book Geomorphology of Desert Environments written by A. D. Abrahams and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-04-17 with total page 1021 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over the last twenty years there has been a major expansion of knowledge in the field of landforms and landforming processes of deserts. This advanced-level book provides a benchmark for the current state of science, and is written by an international team of authors who are acknowledged experts in their fields.
Download or read book Late Cenozoic Drainage History of the Southwestern Great Basin and Lower Colorado River Region written by Marith C. Reheis and published by Geological Society of America. This book was released on 2008-01-01 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Papers in this title were selected from presentations from an April 2005 workshop sponsored by the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Surface Dynamics Program, the U.S. Geological Survey National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, and the Smithsonian Institution. Papers are divided into two broad topics of the configuration, areal extent, and temporal development of the chain of interconnected lakes that emptied into Death Valley during periods of the Pleistocene, and the late Cenozoic history of drainage integration in the lower Colorado River region. Papers are occasionally illustrated in both color and black-and-white; the publication contains no index.
Download or read book River Dynamics written by Bruce L. Rhoads and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2020-04-29 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rivers are important agents of change that shape the Earth's surface and evolve through time in response to fluctuations in climate and other environmental conditions. They are fundamental in landscape development, and essential for water supply, irrigation, and transportation. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the geomorphological processes that shape rivers and that produce change in the form of rivers. It explores how the dynamics of rivers are being affected by anthropogenic change, including climate change, dam construction, and modification of rivers for flood control and land drainage. It discusses how concern about environmental degradation of rivers has led to the emergence of management strategies to restore and naturalize these systems, and how river management techniques work best when coordinated with the natural dynamics of rivers. This textbook provides an excellent resource for students, researchers, and professionals in fluvial geomorphology, hydrology, river science, and environmental policy.
Download or read book A Guide for Erosion Sediment Control in Urbanizing Areas of Colorado written by United States. Soil Conservation Service and published by . This book was released on 1978 with total page 212 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Cornerstone at the Confluence written by Jason A. Robison and published by University of Arizona Press. This book was released on 2022-11-08 with total page 329 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Signed on November 24, 1922, the Colorado River Compact is the cornerstone of a proverbial pyramid—an elaborate body of laws colloquially called the “Law of the River” that governs how human beings use water from the river system dubbed the “American Nile.” No fewer than forty million people have come to rely on the Colorado River system in modern times—a river system immersed in an unprecedented, unrelenting megadrought for more than two decades. Attempting to navigate this “new normal,” policymakers are in the midst of negotiating new management rules for the river system, a process coinciding with the compact’s centennial that must be completed by 2026. Animated by this remarkable confluence of events, Cornerstone at the Confluence leverages the centennial year to reflect on the compact and broader “Law of the River” to envision the future. It is a volume inviting dialogue about how the Colorado River system’s flows should be apportioned given climate change, what should be done about environmental issues such as ecosystem restoration and biodiversity protection, and how long-standing issues of water justice facing Native American communities should be addressed. In one form or another, all these topics touch on the concept of “equity” embedded within the compact—a concept that tees up what is perhaps the foundational question confronted by Cornerstone at the Confluence: Who should have a seat at the table of Colorado River governance?
Download or read book The Colorado River Through Grand Canyon written by Steven Warren Carothers and published by . This book was released on 1991 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Adjustment to the environmental alterations of the Glen Canyon Dam.
Download or read book Vision and Place written by Jason Robison and published by University of California Press. This book was released on 2020-10-27 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Colorado River Basin’s importance cannot be overstated. Its living river system supplies water to roughly forty million people, contains Grand Canyon National Park, Bears Ears National Monument, and wide swaths of other public lands, and encompasses ancestral homelands of twenty-nine Native American tribes. John Wesley Powell, a one-armed Civil War veteran, explorer, scientist, and adept federal administrator, articulated a vision for Euro-American colonization of the “Arid Region” that has indelibly shaped the basin—a pattern that looms large not only in western history, but also in contemporary environmental and social policy. One hundred and fifty years after Powell’s epic 1869 Colorado River Exploring Expedition, this volume revisits Powell’s vision, examining ts historical character and its relative influence on the Colorado River Basin’s cultural and physical landscape in modern times. In three parts, the volume unpacks Powell’s ideas on water, public lands, and Native Americans—ideas at once innovative, complex, and contradictory. With an eye toward climate change and a host of related challenges facing the basin, the volume turns to the future, reflecting on how—if at all—Powell’s legacy might inform our collective vision as we navigate a new “Great Unknown.”
Download or read book The Colorado River written by United States. Bureau of Reclamation and published by . This book was released on 1946 with total page 340 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Role of Sediment in Non point Source Salt Loading Within the Upper Colorado River Basin written by Hsieh Wen Shen and published by . This book was released on 1981 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Water Earth and Sky written by and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "In 1996, author and photographer Michael Collier set out in his forty-year-old Cessna seeking an expanded understanding and perspective on the Colorado River basin - a region spanning the states of Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, California, Arizona, and New Mexico - which he had come to know intimately through twenty-five years of river running. Twelve thousand photographs and more than a year later, Collier had learned another way of knowing that magnificent landscape and now shares his altered vision in Water, Earth, and Sky: The Colorado River Basin." "One hundred forty images are accompanied by six essays, written by experts in various fields of natural history and ecology, that illuminate chosen aspects of this landscape."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Download or read book The Colorado River written by William L. Graf and published by . This book was released on 1985 with total page 104 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
