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The Catastrophic Late Pleistocene Bonneville Flood in the Snake River Plain, Idaho

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The Catastrophic Late Pleistocene Bonneville Flood in the Snake River Plain, Idaho The Catastrophic Late Pleistocene Bonneville Flood in the Snake River Plain, Idaho By Harold E. Malde Geological Survey Professional Paper 596 A study of colossal features of Erosion and deposition produced Along the Snake River by sudden Overflow of Lake Bonneville UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON :1968 UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR STEWART L. UDALL, Secretary GEOLOGICAL SURVEY William T. Pecora, Director For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D.C. 20402 – Price 70 cents (paper cover) ii CONTENTS ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................................................1 INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................................3 BACKGROUND OF STUDY.....................................................................................................................3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .............................................................................................................................4 SUMMARY OF FLOOD PATH .................................................................................................................6 GLACIAL AND PLUVIAL STRATIGRAPHY .............................................................................................8 SOURCE.......................................................................................................................................................8 AGE.............................................................................................................................................................10 MAGNITUDE OF FLOOD ...........................................................................................................................12 DURATION..................................................................................................................................................13 COMPARISON WITH LAST CATASTROPHIC FLOOD FROM.................................................................15 GLACIAL LAKE MISSOULA, MONT. .........................................................................................................15 DIAGNOSTIC DEPOSITIONAL AND EROSIONAL FEATURES...............................................................15 MELON GRAVEL ...................................................................................................................................15 LITHOLOGY.......................................................................................................................................15 PHYSIOGRAPHY...............................................................................................................................19 MARGINAL CHANNELS ........................................................................................................................21 IMPOUNDED WATER............................................................................................................................21 SCABLAND.................................................................................................................................................23 PATH OF FLOOD ABOVE TWIN FALLS ...................................................................................................25 UPPER SNAKE RIVER PLAIN...............................................................................................................25 RUPERT CHANNEL...............................................................................................................................26 MILNER REACH.....................................................................................................................................28 EROSION NEAR TWIN FALLS ..................................................................................................................30 THE CANYON BELOW TWIN FALLS ........................................................................................................35 WEEPING WALL SECTION (MILE 175-162).........................................................................................36 MELON VALLEY SECTION (MILE 162-155) .........................................................................................37 THOUSAND SPRINGS SECTION (MILE 155-151) ...............................................................................38 HAGERMAN VALLEY (MILE 151-141) ..................................................................................................38 BLISS SECTION (MILE 141-121)...........................................................................................................40 KING HILL BASIN (MILE 121-109).........................................................................................................42 COVE SECTION (MILE 79-76)...............................................................................................................44 CRANE FALLS SECTION (MILE 76-61) ................................................................................................45 GRAND VIEW BASIN (MILE 61-28).......................................................................................................48 SWAN FALLS SECTION (MILE 28-14)..................................................................................................50 WALTERS BASIN (MILE 14 - 0).............................................................................................................51 BUDGET OF EROSION AND DEPOSITION..............................................................................................53 DISCHARGE AS INDICATED BY SIZE OF BOULDERS...........................................................................56 COMPARISON WITH HISTORIC FLOODS ...............................................................................................58 RESERVOIR FAILURES ........................................................................................................................58 GOHNA LAKE, INDIA.........................................................................................................................58 THE GREAT INDUS FLOOD, INDIA..................................................................................................59 FLOOD AT GROS VENTRE, WYOMING ..........................................................................................59 LAKE ISSYK, U.S.S.R........................................................................................................................59 ST. FRANCIS DAM, CALIFORNIA ....................................................................................................60 VAIONT RESERVOIR, ITALY............................................................................................................60 FLOODS ASSOCIATED WITH GLACIERS ...........................................................................................61 JÖKULHLAUPS IN ICELAND ............................................................................................................61 VAIRIOUS ICE DAMMED LAKES......................................................................................................62 SUMMARY OF HISTORIC FLOODS .....................................................................................................63 REFERENCES CITED................................................................................................................................64 iii ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1. Northern part of Lake Bonneville ...................................................................................................4 Figure 2. Snake River below Twin Falls........................................................................................................5 Figure 3. Profile of Snake River and of Bonneville Flood at highest stag.....................................................9 Figure 4. - Boulders on a bar of Melon Gravel southeast of Hagerman .....................................................16 Figure 5. - View upstream of part of the terminus of a gravel bar in Melon Valley.....................................18 Figure 6. Ballast pit of Union Pacific Railroad.............................................................................................18 Figure 7. - Festoon crossbeds in dipping layers of sand. ...........................................................................19 Figure 8. - Boulder train on surface of Melon Gravel..................................................................................20 Figure 9b. - Minor erosion features in basalt scabland...............................................................................24 Figure 10. Geologic sketch map of American Falls area ............................................................................25 Figure 11. - Dry falls and giant potholes near Eden, Idaho ........................................................................27 Figure 12. - View of Snake River canyon upstream from Hansen Bridge. .................................................29 Figure 13. - Sections of Snake River canyon at principal constrictions......................................................31 Figure 14a. - Topographic map of Snake River canyon near Twin Falls....................................................33 Figure 15. - View downstream of Snake River canyon from Perrine Memorial Bridge...............................35 Figure 16. - Topographic map of
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