Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Rapid River Incision Across An Inactive Fault - Implications For Patterns Of Erosion And Deformation In The Central Colorado Plateau, Joel L. Pederson, Neil Burnside, Zoe Shipton, Tammy M. Rittenour

Geosciences Faculty Publications

The Colorado Plateau presents a contrast between deep and seemingly recent erosion and apparently only mild late Cenozoic tectonic activity. Researchers have recently proposed multiple sources of epeirogenic uplift and intriguing patterns of differential incision, yet little or no quantitative constraints exist in the heart of the plateau to test these ideas. Here, we use both optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) and uranium-series dating to delimit the record of fluvial strath terraces at Crystal Geyser in southeastern Utah, where the Little Grand Wash fault crosses the Green River in the broad Mancos Shale badlands of the central plateau. Results indicate there …

Formation, Deformation, And Incision Of Colorado River Terraces Upstream Of Moab, Utah, Andrew P. Jochems

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The history of rivers is laid down as sediment in all landscapes, typically as a function of climate, geologic structures, and/or changes in sea level. When a river abandons its floodplain, this sediment collectively constitutes a landform called a fluvial terrace. Terraces are used to unlock prior characteristics of a river flowing through a given area at both local and regional scales. Dating terrace sediment allows comparison to known changes in climate and geologic deformation, two significant controls on the hydraulics of rivers and the deposition of their sediment loads.

The importance of terraces lies in their utility as markers …