Paleoflood Hydrology and Historic Flood Analysis in the upper Verde River basin, central Arizona

Hell Canyon and Sycamore Canyon are major ungaged tributaries in the upper Verde River basin of central Arizona. Gage data imply that the record discharge of 1507 ems on February 20, 1993 at the Verde River gage near Clarkdale, Arizona was derived primarily from these tributaries. Reconstructions of 1993 flows measure 800-900 ems in Sycamore Canyon and 600-700 ems in Hell Canyon. Historic and pre-historic flood sequences were examined in various stratigraphic exposures in these canyons; as many as 11 floods are recorded at any one site. The 1993 floodwaters typically over top all prior flood stratigraphy; however, dendrochronology suggests that similar floods occurred prior to the gage record. These results confirm that Hell Canyon and Sycamore Canyon are major contributors to floods on the Verde River in both the historical and paleoflood record.Documents in the AZGS Document Repository collection are made available by the Arizona Geological Survey (AZGS) and the University Libraries at the University of Arizona. For more information about items in this collection, please contact azgs-info@email.arizona.edu