The Origins of Rapids in the Lower New River Gorge, West Virginia
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
THE ORIGINS OF RAPIDS IN THE LOWER NEW RIVER GORGE, WEST VIRGINIA Dawn Anne Moore Thesis submitted to the College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Geology Dr. J. Steven Kite (Chair) Dr. Robert E. Behling Dr. Thomas W. Kammer Department of Geology and Geography Morgantown, West Virginia 1999 Keywords: mass-movement, debris-fan deposits, rapid difficulty, boulder transport, surficial geology, Appalachian Plateau, whitewater ABSTRACT THE ORIGINS OF RAPIDS IN THE LOWER NEW RIVER GORGE, WEST VIRGINIA Dawn Anne Moore Rapids occur where supercritical flow conditions are present (Kieffer, 1985). Supercritical flow, resulting from a local decrease in stream depth or acceleration in flow, is commonly produced where voluminous surficial deposits or bedrock outcrops constrict the stream channel. Mapping at 1:10,000-scale shows that most rapids in the lower New River Gorge, are a result of surficial deposits, including valley-wall mass movement, tributary debris fans, and alluvium. Few rapids occur at bedrock outcrops. Half of the rapids are predominantly the result of valley-wall mass movement, including debris flow, rock fall, and debris slide/complex failures. Tributary debris-fan deposits, derived from debris flows along tributary streams, are responsible for five rapids. Bedrock outcrops account for four of the 22 rapids. Alluvial debris bars cause the remaining two rapids. The distribution of rapids in the lower New River Gorge is comparable to those in other canyons. The Grand Canyon and the lower New River Gorge both reflect the importance of mass-movement deposits in the formation of rapids. However, most rapids in the Grand Canyon are located at tributary debris fans. In contrast, rapids in the lower New River Gorge are located at local mass-movement deposits. The origin of rapids does not appear to correlate with the difficulty rating. This lack of correlation is most likely a result of the subjective nature of the difficulty class rating. Table of Contents Abstract.................................................................................................................... ii List of Figures.......................................................................................................... v List of Tables ........................................................................................................... vii Acknowledgements.................................................................................................. viii Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1 Study Area ............................................................................................................... 2 Location ........................................................................................................... 2 Climate............................................................................................................. 4 Structural Geology........................................................................................... 4 Bedrock Stratigraphy ....................................................................................... 7 Surficial Geology............................................................................................. 10 Hydrology ........................................................................................................ 15 General................................................................................................... 15 Rapids..................................................................................................... 18 Previous Work ......................................................................................................... 21 Methodology ............................................................................................................ 27 Map Units................................................................................................................. 29 Valley-wall Mass-movement Deposits ............................................................ 30 Tributary-fan Deposits ..................................................................................... 30 Boulder Transport Calculations............................................................. 31 Alluvial Deposits ............................................................................................. 39 Bedrock Outcrops / Ledges.............................................................................. 40 iii The Origins of Rapids............................................................................................. 40 Valley-wall Mass-movement Deposits ............................................................ 41 Tributary Debris-fan Deposits ......................................................................... 44 Alluvial Deposits ............................................................................................. 44 Bedrock Outcrops / Ledges.............................................................................. 47 Difficulty Rating vs. Rapid Origin......................................................................... 48 Summary .................................................................................................................. 50 Conclusion................................................................................................................ 51 Future Research ...................................................................................................... 52 References ................................................................................................................ 55 Appendix .................................................................................................................. 60 iv List of Figures 1. Location of the lower New River Gorge study area.................................... 3 2. Physiographic provinces of West Virginia................................................... 5 3. Structure contour map of New River Gorge................................................ 6 4. Geologic map of study area............................................................................ 8 5. Generalized columnar section of bedrock exposed in the New River Gorge................................................................................................................ 9 6. Topography of the lower New River Gorge: (A) Beauty Mountain overlook of Keeneys rapids; (B) Side-looking airborne radar (SLAR) image of New River Gorge............................................................................. 11 7. Generalized block diagrams illustrating common types of mass movement in the study area........................................................................... 13 8. Location of gaging stations and dams along New River Gorge.................. 16 9. Location of rapids........................................................................................... 20 10. Diagrams showing four types of water waves in rapids.............................. 26 11. Surficial geology map of near-channel deposits and bedrock outcrops in the lower New River Gorge, West Virginia.............................................. 61 12. Relation of 100-year peak discharge to drainage area (Q100) in Region 2........................................................................................................... 37 13. Upper Keeney Rapid, unrelated to any tributary entrance, caused by a debris-flow deposit along the valley wall...................................................... 42 14. Double Z Rapid caused by large complex failure deposits on both sides of the stream channel...................................................................................... 44 15. Thread the Needle Rapid created by the presence of large block rock- fall deposits within the main stream channel............................................... 44 v 16. Fayette Station Rapid caused by convergence where a debris fan from Wolf Creek tributary enters on the left bank in the downstream direction........................................................................................................... 46 17. McCabes Rapid caused by partial reworking of debris-flow deposit on right valley wall resulting in the formation of a debris-bar deposit.......... 46 18. Greyhound Bus Stopper Rapid caused primarily by shallowing where a resistant sandstone crops out at river level along the stream channel....... 49 vi List of Tables 1. Classification of mass movements................................................................. 12 2. Rating table, Fayette Station gage................................................................. 17 3. Major rapids of the lower New River Gorge................................................ 19 4. International Scale of River Difficulty.......................................................... 19 5. Origin and number of valley-wall mass-movement deposits...................... 30 6. Data from five largest boulders at selected tributary fans.......................... 32 7. Competent flow depth (D) required to move a clast with intermediate diameter (d) and approximate energy slope (S) based on equations by Williams (1983) and Knox (1988).................................................................. 33 8. Competent discharge (Qc) based on competent flow depth (D) from Knox (1988) equation and