Using AVIRIS Hyperspectral Imagery to Study the Role of Clay Mineralogy in Colorado Plateau Debris-Flow Initiation Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Rudd, Lawrence P. Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 05/10/2021 16:36:32 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/194515 USING AVIRIS HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGERY TO STUDY THE ROLE OF CLAY MINERALOGY IN COLORADO PLATEAU DEBRIS-FLOW INITIATION by Lawrence Parker Rudd _________________________ A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF GEOSCIENCES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2 0 0 5 2 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by LAWRENCE PARKER RUDD entitled USING AVIRIS HYPERSPECTRAL IMAGERY TO STUDY THE ROLE OF CLAY MINERALOGY IN COLORADO PLATEAU DEBRIS-FLOW INITIATION. and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY. _______________________________________________________________________ Date: September 6, 2005 Victor R. Baker _______________________________________________________________________ Date: September 6, 2005 Robert H. Webb _______________________________________________________________________ Date: September 6, 2005 Jon D. Pelletier _______________________________________________________________________ Date: September 6, 2005 Charles E. Glass _______________________________________________________________________ Date: September 6, 2005 George L. Ball Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________ Date: September 6, 2005 Dissertation Director: Victor R. Baker 3 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for an advanced degree at The University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that accurate acknowledgment of source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: ____________________________________ Lawrence Parker Rudd 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Most importantly, I want to acknowledge Erzsébet Merényi of Rice University who is responsible for designing the ANN-based analysis of the AVIRIS imagery in Chapter 3. Erzsébet also performed the Canyonlands AVIRIS data atmospheric correction and helped me in innumerable ways throughout the duration of my Ph.D. research. Bob Webb of the USGS gave both financial support and insightful advice. Bob's ideas about clay mineralogy and Colorado Plateau debris-flow initiation lent motivation for much of this research. My dissertation advisor, Vic Baker also provided financial support for my research and encouraged me by his patience and faith that at some point everything would come together. Thanks also to my other committee members, George Ball, Karl Glass, and Jon Pelletier for their helpful comments. I would also like to thank Jay Quade for his work as one of my original committee members. The number of people who have helped me move this research forward over the past seven years is considerable. Peter Griffiths of the USGS joined me for field work collecting Colorado Plateau shale samples. Thanks to Peter for sharing his GIS expertise, equipment, and library of Colorado Plateau geology materials. Shale samples used in this research were also collected by Bob Webb, Ted Melis, Cassie Fenton, and John Elliot. Field work in Cataract Canyon would not have been possible without the help of River Rangers Steve Young and Paul Downey whose competence in all aspects of rafting made field work in Cataract Canyon both efficient and fun. Computer analysis was a cornerstone of this research and I would like to thank all of the computer experts who helped. Jim Broermann of the Hydrology and Water Resources Department kept my office PC working in spite of several disasters. Joe Plassman of the Lunar and Planetary Department, Chip Orr of the USGS, Julie Rees of the USGS, Dan Berman of the University of Arizona, and John Morrow and ZJ Jelaca of St. Gregory School all provided assistance and critical support. Thanks to both Kurt Thome and Chris Cattrall of the University of Arizona's Remote Sensing Group for their help with training and use of the ASD FieldSpec® Pro FR spectroradiometer. I would also like to thank the administration of St. Gregory College Preparatory School, both for allowing me the flexibility to pursue my research interests over the last five years and providing Faculty Enrichment Grant support. This study has been supported by the United States Geological Survey (Robert Webb, Project Director), the University of Arizona, and the NASA-funded project “Remote sensing for debris flooding hazard assessment in arid regions” (Victor Baker, PI), grant number NAG-9293. Additional thanks to graduate student Mike Mendenhall of Rice University for running the neural classifications in the HYPEREYE environment. HYPEREYE is a project supported by NASA OSSA Applied Information Systems Research Program, NAG-10432. I thank my family for their patience and perseverance. Special thanks to my daughters, Sarah and Sveta for tolerating being hauled across the Colorado Plateau time and again . My wife, Krista helped in field work and gave me essential advice on all aspects of writing and library research. Finally, I would like to thank my parents, Lonie and Barbara Rudd for the lifetime of support, insight, and education that they provided. 5 To Krista "The Colorado Plateau is a place where we can discover great distances, both of terrain and time." Charles Wilkinson "The landscape everywhere, away from the river, is of rock – cliffs of rock, tables of rock, plateaus of rock, terraces of rock, crags of rock – ten thousand strangely carved forms; rocks everywhere…" John Wesley Powell "I have loved the red rocks, the twisted trees, the red sand blowing in the wind, the slow sunny clouds crossing the sky, the shafts of moonlight on my bed at night. I seem to be at one with the world." Everett Ruess "'You are of this place!' Spider Woman's voice echoed back and forth in the canyon walls." Navajo myth 6 TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES………..…………………………………………………………... 10 LIST OF TABLES……………………………………………………………………... 12 ABSTRACT……………………………………………………………………………. 13 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION TO DEBRIS-FLOW INITIATION AND CLAY MINERALOGY………………………………………………………………... 15 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………... 16 DEBRIS-FLOW INITIATION FACTORS……………………………………. 17 Moisture-Related Factors………………………………………………. 17 Topography…………………………………………………………….. 20 Slope Steepness………………………………………………………… 21 Vegetation…………………………………………………………….... 23 Geology and Regional Lithology………………………………………. 24 Climate…………………………………………………………………. 25 Slope Aspect…………………………………………………………… 26 Channel-Bed Failure………………………………………………….... 27 Mass Movements………………………………………………………. 27 Ground Vibrations……………………………………………………... 28 Debris Supply………………………………………………………….. 28 CLAY MINERALOGY………………………………………………………... 29 Expansive Properties…………………………………………………… 31 7 TABLE OF CONTENTS – Continued Clay Particles in Slurries……………………………………………….. 32 Clay Minerals and Debris-Flow Initiation……………………………... 33 Clays and Climate……………………………………………………… 35 CONCLUSIONS…………………………………………………..................... 36 CHAPTER 2. THE ROLE OF CLAY MINERALOGY IN DEBRIS-FLOW OCCURRENCE ON THE COLORADO PLATEAU…………………………………. 42 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………... 43 COLORADO PLATEAU GEOLOGY………………………………………… 45 General Description of the Colorado Plateau………………………….. 45 Depositional Environments of Colorado Plateau Shales………………. 48 Proterozoic Formations………………………………………... 48 Cambrian Formations………………………………………….. 49 Pennsylvanian Formations…………………………………….. 50 Permian Formations…………………………………………… 51 Triassic Formations…………………………………………… 54 Jurassic Formations…………………………………………… 56 Cretaceous Formations………………………………………… 61 Tertiary Formations……………………………………………. 64 DEBRIS-FLOW PRODUCERS AND NON-PRODUCERS………………….. 71 Debris-Flow Deposit Age……………………………………………… 71 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS – Continued Database Development………………………………………………… 72 Statistical Analysis……………………………………………………... 75 Results………………………………………………………………….. 76 DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS……………………………………………... 80 CONCLUSIONS………………………………………………………………. 85 CHAPTER 3. ASSESSING DEBRIS-FLOW INITIATION POTENTIAL BY USING AVIRIS IMAGERY TO MAP SURFACE MATERIALS AND STRATIGRAPHY IN CATARACT CANYON, UTAH……………………….. 99 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………..