(Photo by L. Polvi)
The lack of concentrated rainfall in the glaciated zones reduces the susceptibility of debris flows in the Front Range compared with unglaciated zones.
Debris-flow deposition is likely to reach the main channel due to the close geomorphic connection of the channel and adjacent hillslopes.
Debris flows may contribute significantly to the wood and sediment of a channel.
In small basins above 2300 m (7,500 ft), many large floods that were attributed to intense rainfall may be debris flows and not water floods (Costa and Jarrett 1981).
The close spatial proximity of the hillslopes to the channel allows for debris flows to contribute sediment and woody materials to the channel compared with unconfined sections.
(Information compiled by Liz Gilliam)
The lower elevation of the glaciated zone in Colorado corresponds to the elevation separating rainfall- and snowmelt-dominated hydrographs.
Floods are rare in the glaciated areas of the Front Range because they lie above 2,300 m.
Flood waves in confined reaches will propagate downstream with little energy dissipation, causing scour and damage to infrastructure.
(Photo by E. Wohl)
Click a link below to learn about disturbance regimes in each process domain:
| Colluvial Hollows | Ephemeral Channels | Glaciated Confined | Glaciated Partially Confined | Glaciated Unconfined | Unglaciated Confined | Unglaciated Partially Confined | Unglaciated Unconfined |