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<br />Grams and Schmidt 12 <br /> <br />These deposits were also identified in Grand Canyon by Schmidt and Graf (1990). <br />Internal stratigraphy is typically horizontally bedded but may be ripples or drift cross- <br />stratification indicating downstream flow during deposition. River-parallel levees occur <br />locally. The material of channel-margin bars is commonly sand but may include silt and <br />clay. Some channel-margin bars are located in the backwater immediately upstream from <br />a channel constriction (Fig. 3 and Fig. 4). Point bars are channel-margin bars that are <br />located on the inside of river bends in areas of decreased flow velocity but not in <br />recirculating flow (Fig. 3). <br />Mid-channel bars are distinguished from other alluvial bars based primarily on <br />size, shape, and location. They are typically several channel widths in length, lenticular <br />or irregular in shape, and may occur either mid-channel or on channel margins. They <br />differ from expansion bars in that they do not typically occur in channel expansions below <br />debris-fan-created constrictions. Figure 5 is an oblique photograph that shows the <br />abundant mid-channel bars of Island Park. The bars that are currently located mid-stream <br />are lower in elevation and are bare sand or covered by tamarisk or willow trees. High- <br />elevation mid-channel bars contain stands of mature cottonwood. Mid-channel bars <br />typically occur in reaches of restricted meanders rather than in the fan-dominated canyons._.. <br />Although vertical accretion is still an important process of bar formation, lateral accretion <br />.is evident by scroll-bar topography not displayed in the canyon deposits. <br />6.2 Distribution of Alluvium <br />6.2.1 Channel Bed and Bank Material <br />Channel bed material and bank material are two fundamental geomorphic <br />characteristics of any stream. It is especially important to distinguish between bed and <br />bank material in a canyon-bound river that may flow between banks of bedrock on an <br />alluvial bed. Surficial geologic maps show the bank material along 160 km of river bank <br />length for 60 km of channel centerline distance. These data show that in canyon reaches <br />bedrock and talus are the dominant bank materials, occurlng along about 42 percent of the <br />