Geomorphology and hydrology of an alluvial fan flood on Tiger Wash, Maicopa and La Paz Counties, west-central Arizona

Pearthree, P.A.; Klawon, J.E.; Lehman, T.W.

dc.contributor.author	Pearthree, P.A.
dc.contributor.author	Klawon, J.E.
dc.contributor.author	Lehman, T.W.
dc.date.accessioned	2018-11-10T01:04:50Z
dc.date.available	2018-11-10T01:04:50Z
dc.date.issued	2004-05-01
dc.identifier.citation	Pearthree, P.A., Klawon, J.E., and Lehman, T.W., 2004, Geomorphology and hydrology of an alluvial fan flood on Tiger Wash, Maicopa and La Paz Counties, west-central Arizona. Arizona Geological Survey Open File Report, OFR-04-02, 2 map sheets, map scale 1:24,000, 40 p.
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10150/630647
dc.description	Management of flood hazards on alluvial piedmonts in the southwestern United States is increasingly important because urban development is rapidly expanding into these areas. Flows are very infrequent in most desert fluvial systems, yet these events can be extreme because watersheds generate large amounts of runoff per unit area during intense precipitation events associated with convective thunderstorms or incursions of dissipating tropical storms. Distributary (downstream-branching) fluvial systems that are common on desert piedmonts present special challenges because of uncertainties about flow distribution during floods. Portions of many distributary channel networks are incised into Pleistocene surficial deposits. In these areas, channel positions are relatively stable and inundation in floods is limited in extent. In active alluvial fan areas, however, topographic relief associated with channels is minimal and areas between channels are covered with Holocene deposits indicative of fairly recent fluvial activity (Pearthree, 1989; Baker and others, 1990; Pearthree and others, 1992; Field and Pearthree; 1997). These latter systems are of particular concern for floodplain management because of complex flow patterns, local high velocity flow, widespread sheet flooding and the potential for changes in channel position during large floods (NRC, 1996). Hydrologic and hydraulic models commonly used to delineate floodplain areas are not adequate in the complex distributary environment, and newer, more sophisticated 2-dimensional flow models require validation against real flood flows (Pelletier et al., in review). Flood inundation on active alluvial fans has rarely been documented in detail (Vincent, 2000), however, in part because of the complexity of flow and in part because of the requirement that the flood be recognized soon after its occurrence in order to document the details of flow.
dc.language.iso	en
dc.publisher	Arizona Geological Survey (Tucson, AZ)
dc.relation.ispartofseries	OFR-04-02
dc.relation.url	https://library.azgs.arizona.edu/item/AOFR-1552427386797-910
dc.rights	Arizona Geological Survey. All rights reserved.
dc.subject	Arizona Geological Survey Open File Reports
dc.subject	La Paz County
dc.subject	Arizona
dc.subject	Maricopa County
dc.subject	Tiger Wash
dc.subject	floodplain
dc.subject	distributary fluvial systems
dc.subject	hazards
dc.subject	hydrology
dc.subject	flood
dc.subject	alluvial fan
dc.subject	geomorphology
dc.subject	Geology
dc.title	Geomorphology and hydrology of an alluvial fan flood on Tiger Wash, Maicopa and La Paz Counties, west-central Arizona
csdgm.bounding.west	-113.387
csdgm.bounding.east	-113.058
csdgm.bounding.north	33.9004
csdgm.bounding.south	33.6653
dc.description.collectioninformation	Documents in the AZGS Document Repository collection are made available by the Arizona Geological Survey (AZGS) and the University Libraries at the University of Arizona. For more information about items in this collection, please contact azgs-info@email.arizona.edu.
refterms.dateFOA	2018-11-10T01:04:50Z