Caltech geologist investigates canyon carved in just 3 days in Texas flood
Monday, June 21, 2010 - 06:50
in Earth & Climate
In the summer of 2002, a week of heavy rains in Central Texas caused Canyon Lake - the reservoir of the Canyon Dam - to flood over its spillway and down the Guadalupe River Valley in a planned diversion to save the dam from catastrophic failure. The flood, which continued for six weeks, stripped the valley of mesquite, oak trees, and soil; destroyed a bridge; and plucked metre-wide boulders from the ground. And, in a remarkable demonstration of the power of raging waters, the flood excavated a 2.2-kilometre-long, 7-metre-deep canyon in the bedrock...