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<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />composed of 30 to 3S percent sand and carried boulders that were about 1 to <br />2 ft in diameter. The largest boulder measured that was transported during <br />the debris flow weighed an estimated 9 tons. <br /> <br />Two debris flows occurred in the last 2S years in Monument Creek <br />drainage. A storm on July 27, 1984, initiated an avalanche and subsequent <br />debris flow that reached the Colorado River. Some evidence indicates an <br />earlier debris flow that occurred in the early 1960' s. Older debris-flow <br />deposits were radiometrically dated at about A.D. 1780; however, lack of <br />correlation with downstre..deposits precluded any use of this date for <br />determining frequencies of events. <br /> <br />The debris flow of. 1984 in Monument Creek drainage began as an <br />avalanche froll the Pemian Esplanade Sandstone of the Supai Group" 2,000 ft <br />above the channel. A 20-foot-high debris dam resulted and had not been <br />breached as of 1986. The debris flow traveled 2.8 mi to the Colorado River <br />at a velocIty of 11 to 13 ft/s and had a peak discharge of about <br />3,800 fta/s. The water content of the flow ranged from 27 to 34 percent, <br />and the flow was composed of 30 to 40 percent sand. One boulder that was <br />transported during the flow weighed an estimated 37 tons. <br /> <br />The d4bris flow of 1984 created a new fan surface at the <br />Colorado River that significantly constricted Granite Rapid. Volume of <br />sediJlent transported onto the fan and into the river was estimated on the <br />basis of four hypothesized .eenarios of the fan geometry after deposition <br />of sed1llents fro. the . debris flow. The most likely volume of sediment <br />transported onto the fan and in'1:o the river is 300,000 ft'l. The debris fan <br />was completely, devoid of particles less than 16 11m in diameter in 1986, <br />which suggested that alLfiner<particles (including sand).were transported <br />quickly into the, Colorado River . Asswaingan average sand content of 35 <br />percent, the estiaatedvolUlle of sand entering the river is 84,000 ft'lwith <br />a range for all scenarios of 56,000 to 150,000 ft'l. Estimates of the <br />volu.. o~ transported sedillent and the upstre.. discharge indicate that the <br />fanvas created in 1 'to 3 lIinutes during the first pulse of the debris <br />flow. <br /> <br /> <br />The Crystal Creek drainage averaged allinim~ of one debris flow <br />reach~ng the Colorado River every 50 years. A large dobris flow in <br />DeceJiber 196F. (":ooleyand others, 1977) has been the only debris flow to <br />reach the Colorado River in this century. SlI&l1 debris flows that did not <br />re.chthe Colorado River significantly aggraded the channel and probably <br />de~~i ~~d.~ed~~~~.., ~~..c..~~4_1.r.g.r~debriS-flows" to . reacb. the.-rive-r.---~" <br /> <br />The debris flow of Decellber 1966 in the Crystal Creek drainage <br />bepn with 11 slope failures in the HermIt Shale and Supai Group and <br />traveled 13 111 to the Colorado River. Calculated flow velocity ranged frail <br />10 to 18 ft/s, and the discharge ranged froll 9,200 to 14,000 ft'l/s. Yater <br />content of the debris flow ranged froll 24 to 33 percent. and the sediJlents <br />hacl a sand content of 10 to 15 ~rcent. One boulder transported by the <br />debris flow weighed an e.tillated 47 tons: transported boulders with <br />db_ter. inexce.. of 5 ft were co.-on. Upon reaching the Colorado River, <br />the debris flow created a new fan .urface that significantly constricted <br />the Co10radotiver (Kieffer, 1985). <br /> <br /> <br />~'--'^" <br /> <br />