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Paleohydraulic Interpretation of Quaternary Alluvium Near Golden, Colorado

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Victor R. Baker
Victor R. Baker*
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712 USA
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Abstract

Quaternary terraces and pediments along Ralston Creek and Clear Creek, near Golden, Colorado, are associated with Verdos, Slocum, Louviers, and Broadway Alluviums. Terrace deposits can be locally correlated on the basis of elevation and relict paleosols. The terrace sediments probably represent aggradation by braided streams flowing from glaciated drainage basins. Engineering hydraulic calculation procedures suggest that flood flows were 2–3 m deep on steep gradients (0.008–0.01). Discharges were as great as 1400 m3/sec, nearly an order of magnitude greater than modern flood discharges. The most useful paleohydraulic calculation techniques were found to be the dimensionless shear approach applied to stream competence and bedload function theory applied to stream capacity.

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 4 , Issue 1 , March 1974 , pp. 94 - 112
Copyright
University of Washington

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