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<br />338 SUMMARY AND SYNTHESIS OF GEOMORPHIC STUDIES <br /> <br />ciem sediment ayailabIe to build eddy bar.; everywhere. <br />Hazel et 01. Ithis volume] and Thompso/l et 01. lI997J <br />showed thai there were large increases in the volume of <br />newIy-deposiled sand in Marble Canyon and thaI Ihe <br />proportional increase in bars was greatest rhere. <br />However, area-weighled daily deposilion was much <br />lower in Ihe 2 siles in lower Marble Canyon measured by <br />Andrews el 01. [this yolume] than in Ihe 3 sites further <br />downstream (Figure 2). The sites in lower Marble Canyon <br />were eXlensiveIy eroded on the first day of Ihe flood, and it <br />took many days of slow aggradation to replace the sedimenl <br />that had been initially eroded. <br />Other evidence also suggests thaI the extenl of aggra- <br />dation was less upstream from the LiltIe Colorado River. <br />More than 40% of eddies in the Tapeats Gorge and the Big <br />Bend reaches downstream from the Lillie Colorado River <br />filled 10 more than 50% of their capacity. FUrlher upstream, <br />less lhan 30% of eddies filled to this extent. Similarly, more <br />than 25% of eddies downstream from the Lillie Colorado <br />River had nel nonnalized aggradalion (NNA) values <br />greater than 0.25; upstream, less than 15% of eddies had <br />NNA values greater than 0.25 [Schmidt el aI., this yoIume]. <br />The average net topographic change in eddies, averaging <br />high-elevalion deposilion and low-eleyalion erosion, was <br />negaLiye for measured sites upstream from the LillIe <br />Colorado River and positive for the sites between the LillIe <br />Colorado River and the Grand Canyon gage [Hazel et 01., <br />this yoIume]. <br />These differences between the extent of deposition <br />upstream and downstream from the LillIe Colorado River <br />are probably due to the fact that suspended-sedimenl <br />concentrations were much lower in Marble Canyon and that <br />the magnitude of eddy deposition is dependent on Ihe <br />concentration of suspended sediment Topping el 01. [Ihis <br />volume] showed that Ihe suspended-sediment concentra- <br />tions at the gage upstream from the LilLIe Colorado River <br />were approximately half of the concentralion downstream, <br />and the total transport of sand from Marble Canyon was <br />ahout hair of thaI transporled pas I the Grand Canyon gage. <br />As argued by Rubin elal. [19941, low sediment concentra- <br />tions in the main flow, IimiLed sedimenl repIenishmem from <br />only one large sedimenl-supplying tribulary, and limited <br />sediment storage on the bed have the potemialto cause net <br />scour in rcaches nearesl to Lees Ferry. These observations <br />highlight Ihe need 10 evaluale the sand balance of the 1996 <br />conlrolled flood. <br /> <br />7. SAND BALANCE <br /> <br />One elusive goal of Grand Canyon researchers has been <br />fo provide managers an accur;He budget of inflows, <br /> <br />outflows, and changes in storage of sand. Such a budget <br />could provide essential insight inlO the mass of sand <br />available for redistribution to high elevation. An accurate <br />budget for Ihe 1996 controlled flood could be used to <br />analyze the efficiency with which high.elevation sand bars <br />were deposiled in relation to the mass of sand delivered to <br />Lake Mead and to determine the source of sand deposiled <br />on the channel banks. Unfortunately, only imprecise sand <br />budgeLs ror lhe reaches bel ween Lees Ferry and the Linle <br />Colorado River and bel ween Ihe Liule Colorado River and <br />Ihe Grand Canyon gage can be developed. However, devel. <br />opment of such budgels proyides a conceptual framework <br />within which the status of the current understanding of <br />physical processes in Grand Canyon can be eyaIuated. <br />Based on the measurements of Konieczki et 01. [1997], <br />Ihe tolal mass of sand transported 10 Lake Mead by the <br />1966 controlled flood was approximately 1.55'106 Mg, <br />because the transporl rates past Ihe Grand Canyon and <br />Nalional Canyon gages were each approximately LS5'106 <br />Mg (D.J. Topping, U.S. Geological Survey, written <br />commun., 1998). The mass transported past the Geological <br />Suryey gaging sLation upstream from the Little Colorado <br />River was half this amounl. <br />All of Ihe transported sand musl have come from the <br />channel bed, eddies, or banks because no sand was released <br />inlo the Colorado River from Lake Powell reservoir during <br />the flood. A number of assumplions and generalizations <br />musl be made in order to estimale and partition these <br />changes in storage, because the measurement of changes in <br />sediment storage are not comprehensive. <br />Estimates of the neL change in Ihe mass of sand in eddies <br />was based on multiplying the ayerage change in measured <br />eddies [Andrews el 0/., this yolume; Hazel el 01., Ihis <br />volume] by the estimated number of eddies and their <br />ayerage size (Table 2). It is necessary to distinguish Ihe <br />mass of sand deposited at high eleyalion from the nel <br />change in storage in eddies because the cemers of large <br />eddies eroded and thick deposition occurred al the margins <br />of eddies and near their upstream and downstream ends <br />(Andrews el 01., this volume; Hazel et aI., Ihis volume; <br />Schmidt et 01., this volume]. Hazel el 01. [Ihis volumel <br />measured the average Ihickness of high.elevation deposits; <br />the area of these Ihick deposits were eSlimated from <br />Schmidl el al.'s [Ihis volumel measurements of the area of <br />significant deposition. <br />Allhough Ihe sand budget for Ihe /996 controlled flood is <br />imprecise (Table 3). the ralio of the mass of sand exported <br />10 the magnilude change in sand storage differs greatly for <br />the IwO reaches. The sand exporled from Ihe reach upstream <br />from the LiuIe Colorado River was approximately equal to <br />Ihe mass deposiled along rhe channel margins in eddies and <br /> <br />