Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-22T20:16:14.553Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Peak discharge of a Pleistocene lava-dam outburst flood in Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Cassandra R. Fenton ,
Robert H. Webb  and
Thure E. Cerling
Cassandra R. Fenton*
Affiliation:
GeoForschungsZentrum Potsdam, Telegrafenberg Haus B, D-14473 Potsdam, Germany
Robert H. Webb
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, 520 N. Park Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85719, USA
Thure E. Cerling
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geophysics, 135 S. 1460 E., WBB 719, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT 84112, USA
*
*Corresponding author.E-mail address:[email protected](C.R. Fenton).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The failure of a lava dam 165,000 yr ago produced the largest known flood on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon. The Hyaloclastite Dam was up to 366 m high, and geochemical evidence linked this structure to outburst-flood deposits that occurred for 32 km downstream. Using the Hyaloclastite outburst-flood deposits as paleostage indicators, we used dam-failure and unsteady flow modeling to estimate a peak discharge and flow hydrograph. Failure of the Hyaloclastite Dam released a maximum 11 × 109 m3 of water in 31 h. Peak discharges, estimated from uncertainty in channel geometry, dam height, and hydraulic characteristics, ranged from 2.3 to 5.3 × 105 m3 s−1 for the Hyaloclastite outburst flood. This discharge is an order of magnitude greater than the largest known discharge on the Colorado River (1.4 × 104 m3 s−1) and the largest peak discharge resulting from failure of a constructed dam in the USA (6.5 × 104 m3 s−1). Moreover, the Hyaloclastite outburst flood is the oldest documented Quaternary flood and one of the largest to have occurred in the continental USA. The peak discharge for this flood ranks in the top 30 floods (>105 m3 s−1) known worldwide and in the top ten largest floods in North America.

Keywords

Grand CanyonColorado riverPleistocene floodsLava damsHydraulic modelingPaleoflood indicatorsDam failureCatastrophic floods
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 65 , Issue 02 , March 2006 , pp. 324 - 335
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Baker, V.R., Nummedal, D., (1978). The Channeled Scabland; A guide to the geomorphology of the Columbia Basin:. Washington, DC, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Planetary Geology Program Publication (186 pp).Google Scholar
Brunner, G.W., (2002). HEC-RAS River Analysis System User's Manual, Army Corps of Engineers. Hydrologic Engineering Center, .Google Scholar
Bureau of Reclamation, (1990). Colorado river basin probable maximum floods: hoover and glen canyon dams Bureau of Reclamation. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC, U.S..103 pp.Google Scholar
Costa, J.E., O'Connor, J.E., (1995). Geomorphically effective floods.Natural and1 Anthropogenic Influences in Fluvial Geomorphology. Geophysical Monograph vol. 89, 45–56.Google Scholar
Dalrymple, G.B., Hamblin, W.K., (1998). K–Ar ages of Pleistocene lava dams in the Grand Canyon in Arizona. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 95, 9,744–9,749.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Enzel, Y., Ely, L.L., House, P.K., Baker, V.R., Webb, R.H., (1993). Paleoflood evidence for a natural upper bound to flood magnitudes in the Colorado River basin. Water Resources Research 29, 2287–2297.Google Scholar
Erskine, W.D., Peacock, C.T., (2002). Late Holocene flood plain development following a cataclysmic flood. Dyer, F.J., Thoms, M.C., Olley, J.M., The Structure, Function, and Management Implications of Fluvial Sedimentary Systems: International Association of Hydrologic Sciences vol. 276, 177–184.Google Scholar
Fenton, C.R., Webb, R.H., Pearthree, P.A., Cerling, T.E., Poreda, R.J., (2001). Displacement rates on the Toroweap and Hurricane faults: Implications for Quaternary downcutting in Grand Canyon. Geology 29, 1035–1038.Google Scholar
Fenton, C.R., Webb, R.H., Cerling, T.E., Poreda, R.J., Nash, B.P., (2002). Cosmogenic 3He ages and geochemical discrimination of lava-dam outburst-flood deposits in western Grand Canyon, Arizona. House, P.K., Webb, R.H., Baker, V.R., Levish, D.R., Ancient Floods, Modern Hazards, Principles and Applications of Paleoflood Hydrology Water Science and Application Series vol. 4, American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC.191–215.Google Scholar
Fenton, C.R., Poreda, R.J., Nash, B.P., Webb, R.H., Cerling, T.E., (2004). Geochemical discrimination of five Pleistocene lava-dam outburst-flood deposits, Grand Canyon. Journal of Geology 112, 91–110.Google Scholar
Fread, D.L., Lewis, J.M., (1998). NWS HEC-RAS model: Silver Spring, Maryland, NOAA, National Weather Service. Hydrologic Research Laboratory (variable pages).Google Scholar
Garrett, J.M. and Gellenbeck, D.J., (1989). Basin characteristics and streamflow statistics in Arizona as of 1989.. U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigational Report 91-4041.Google Scholar
Griffiths, P.G., Webb, R.H., Melis, T.S., (2004). Initiation and frequency of debris flows in Grand Canyon, Arizona. Journal of Geophysical Research 109, F04002(doi:10.1029/2003JF000077, 14 pp.)Google Scholar
Hamblin, W.K., (1994a). Late Cenozoic lava dams in the western Grand Canyon. Geological Society of America Memoir 183, (139 pp.)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamblin, W.K., (1994b). Rates of erosion by the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Arizona.Proceedings of the 29th International Geology Congress, Part B.211–218.Google Scholar
Hanks, T.C., Webb, R.H., in press. Effects of tributary debris on the longitudinal profile of the Colorado River in Grand Canyon.. Journal of Geophysical Research: Surface Processes..Google Scholar
Huscroft, C.A., Ward, B.C., Barendregt, R.W., Jackson, L.E. Jr. Opdyke, N.D., (2004). Pleistocene volcanic damming of Yukon River and the maximum age of the Reid Glaciation, west-central Yukon. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 41, 151–164.Google Scholar
Jarrett, R.D., England, J.F. Jr. Reliability of paleostage indicators for paleoflood studies. House, P.K., Webb, R.H., Baker, V.R., Levish, D.R., (2002). Ancient Floods, Modern Hazards, Principles and Applications of Paleoflood Hydrology. Water Science and Application Series vol. 4, American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC.359–385.Google Scholar
Kaufmann, D., O'Brien, G., Mead, J.I., Bright, J., Umhoefer, P., (2002). Late Quaternary spring-fed deposits in the eastern Grand Canyon and their implications for deep lava-dammed lakes. Quaternary Research 58, 329–340.Google Scholar
Lucchitta, I., Curtis, G., Davis, M.E., Davis, S.W., Turrin, B., (2000). Cyclic aggradation and downcutting, fluvial response to volcanic activity, and calibration of soil-carbonate stages in the western Grand Canyon, Arizona. Quaternary Research 53, 23–33.Google Scholar
McIntosh, W.C., Peters, L., Karlstrom, K.E., Pederson, J.L., (2002). New 40Ar–39Ar dates on basalts in Grand Canyon: constraints on rates of Quaternary river incision and slip on the Toroweap fault and implications for lava dams. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program, Rocky Mountain Section 34, 4 61.Google Scholar
O'Connor, J.E., (1993). Hydrology, hydraulics, and geomorphology of the Bonneville flood.. Geological Society of America, Special Paper 274, 83 pp.Google Scholar
O'Connor, J.E., Ely, L.L., Wohl, E.E., Stevens, L.E., Melis, T.S., Kale, V.S., Baker, V.R., (1994). A 4500-year record of large floods on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon, Arizona. Journal of Geology 102, 1–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'Connor, J.E., Grant, G.E., Costa, J.E., (2002). The geology and geography of floods. House, P.K., Webb, R.H., Baker, V.R., Levish, D.R., Ancient Floods, Modern Hazards, Principles and Applications of Paleoflood Hydrology Water Science and Application Series vol. 4, American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC.359–385.Google Scholar
Pederson, J., Karlstrom, K., Sharp, W., McIntosh, W., (2002). Differential incision of the Grand Canyon related to Quaternary faulting—Constraints from U-series and Ar/Ar dating. Geology 739–742.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stockton, C.W., Jacoby, J.C. Jr. (1976). Long-term surface-water supply and streamflow trends in the upper Colorado River basin. Lake Powell Research Project Bulletin 18, (70 pp.)Google Scholar
Teller, J.T., Thorleifson, L.H., (1987). The Lake Agassiz-Lake Superior connection. Mayer, L., Nash, D., Catastrophic Flooding Allen and Unwin, Boston, Massachusetts.121–138.Google Scholar
Topping, D.J., Schmidt, J.C., Vierra, L.E. Jr., (2003). Computation and analysis of the instantaneous-discharge record for the Colorado River at Lees Ferry, Arizona; May 8, 1921, through September 30, 2000.. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1677 (118 pp).Google Scholar
Trabant, D.C., March, R.S., Thomas, D.S., (2003). Hubbard Glacier, Alaska: Growing and advancing in spite of global climate change and the 1986 and 2002 Russell Lake outburst floods.. U.S. Geological Survey Fact Sheet 001–03 (4 pp).Google Scholar
United States Geological Survey, (1924). Plan And profile of Colorado River from Lees Ferry Ariz., to Black Canyon, Ariz.- Nev.. and Virgin River, Nev. U.S. Geological Survey Map report.Google Scholar
Walder, J.S., Driedger, C.L., (1994). Geomorphic change caused by outburst floods and debris flows at Mount Rainier, Washington, with emphasis on Tahoma Creek Valley:. U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report. 93-4093 (93 pp).Google Scholar
Walder, J.S., O'Connor, J.E., (1997). Methods for predicting peak discharge of floods caused by failure of natural and constructed earthen dams. Water Resources Research 33, 2348–2377.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Walker, N.D., Lawrence, J.R. Jr. Fargion, G.S., Biggs, D.C., (1994). The great flood of Summer 1993: Mississippi River discharge studied. Earth in Space 7, 11–14.21.Google Scholar
Waythomas, C.R., Walder, J.S., McGimsey, R.G., Neal, C.A., (1996). A catastrophic flood caused by drainage of a caldera lake at Aniakchak volcano, Alaska, and implications for volcanic-hazards assessment. Geological Society of America Bulletin 108, 861–871.Google Scholar
Webb, R.H., Blainey, J.B., Hyndman, D.W., (2002). Paleoflood hydrology of the Paria River, southern Utah and northern Arizona, USA. House, P.K., Webb, R.H., Baker, V.R., Levish, D.R., Ancient Floods, Modern Hazards, Principles and Applications of Paleoflood Hydrology Water Science and Application Series vol. 5, American Geophysical Union, Washington, DC.295–310.Google Scholar
Wenrich, K.J., Billingsley, G.H., Blackerby, B.A., (1995). Spatial migration and compositional changes of Miocene-Quaternary magmatism in the western Grand Canyon. Journal of Geophysical Research 100, 10417–10440.Google Scholar