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Geology topics

H. W. Hjalmarson

Publications and source records attributed to H. W. Hjalmarson.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1999

Sources of springs supplying base flow to the Verde River headwaters, Yavapai County, Arizona

Multiple lines of evidence were used to identify source aquifers, quantify their respective contributions, and trace the ground-water flow paths that supply base flow to the uppermost reach of the Verde River in Yavapai County, Arizona. Ground-water discharge via springs provides base flow for a 24-mile long reach from the mouth of Granite Creek (river mile 2.0) to Perkinsville (river mile 26). The flowing reach is important to downstream water users, maintains critical habitat for the recovery of native fish species, and has been designated a Wild and Scenic River. Sources of base flow are deduced from (a) geologic information, (b) ground-water levels, (c) precipitation and streamflow records, (d) downstream changes in base-flow measurements, (e) hydrologic analysis of water-budget components, and (f) stableisotope geochemistry of ground water, surface water, and springs. Combined, this information clearly indicates that interconnected aquifers in Big Chino Valley are the primary source of Big Chino Springs, presently supplying at least 80 percent of the upper Verde River?s base flow.

Arizona↗
USGS1997

Potential effects of translatory waves on estimation of peak flows

During the afternoon of August 19, 1971, an intense thunderstorm a few miles southwest of Wikieup, Arizona, produced one of the largest known flood peaks for a 49.2-square-km drainage basin. Initial computations of the peak discharge assumed stable flow conditions and a four-section slope area measurement indicated that discharge was 2,082 m 3 /s. Recent findings based on free-surface instability characteristics at the site suggest that gravitational forces exceeded boundary retarding forces, and flow in the wide sand channel was unstable. Computations for roll or translatory waves indicate that waves crashed into the highway bridge at velocities of as much as 12.5 m/s. The close agreement of free surface instability results, translatory wave computations, estimates of the steady flow on which the translatory waves traveled, and an eyewitness account of the translatory waves suggest the total peak discharge could have been 2,742 m 3 /s or 32% greater than the published discharge. The occurrence of translatory waves in natural channels may be more common than previously thought, and instability criteria should be considered for hydraulic analysis of flow in steep smooth channels.

Journal of Hydraulic Engineering↗
USGS1997

Methods for estimating magnitude and frequency of floods in the southwestern United States

Methods were developed for estimating magnitude and frequency of floods at gaged and ungaged sites in the Southwestern United States. Estimating equations for ungaged sites were developed by transferring information from gaged to ungaged sites using multiple regression and a hybrid method developed during this study. The methods and analysis are described, and information from more than 1,300 gaged sites is tabulated.

Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New ↗
USGS1994

Methods for estimating magnitude and frequency of floods in the southwestern United States

Methods have been developed for estimating magni- tude and frequency of floods at gaged and ungaged sites on streams in the southwestern United States. Estimating equations for ungaged sites that apply to small drainage basins were developed by transferring information from ungaged sites using techniques such as multiple regression and a hybrid method developed during this study. Drainage area, mean basin elevation, mean annual precipitation, mean annual evaporation, latitude, and longitude are the basin and climatic charac- teristics needed to use the equations. Flood- frequency relations and selected basin and climatic characteristics, updated through 1986 water year, are tabulated for more than 1,300 gaging stations in the southwestern United States. The study area was divided into 16 flood regions. Generalized least-squares regression was used to define the regression models in 12 regions with a sufficient number of defined flood-frequency relations at gaged sites. Four regions had more than 30 percent of the gaged sites with no defined relations, thus the regression method was not used because of the large amount of missing infor- mation. The hybrid analysis was used in those 4 regions, because it does not require individual flood-frequency relations and thus can use data for all gaging stations in a region. Average standard error of prediction for the 12 regions with generalized least-squares models ranged from 39 to 95 percent for the 100-year peak discharge. The estimated average standard error of the four hybrid models ranged from 0.44 to 1.8 log units for the 100-year peak discharge.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1994

Effects of controlled burning of chaparral on streamflow and sediment characteristics, East Fork Sycamore Creek, central Arizona

The effects of controlled burning of part of a chaparral-covered drainage basin on streamflow and sediment characteristics were studied in the upper reaches of the Sycamore Creek basin in central Arizona. A paired-watershed method was used to analyze data collected in two phases separated by the controlled burning of 45 percent of the East Fork Sycamore Creek drainage basin by the U.S. Forest Service on October 31, 1981. Statistically significant increases in streamflow in East Fork occurred from October 26, 1982, through August 25, 1984. Streamflow for August 26, 1984, through the end of data collection for the study on May 31, 1986, was generally at or less than preburn levels. An increase in the percentage of time that flow occurred in East Fork was noted for water years 1983 and 1984. No increase in the magnitude of instantaneous peak flows as a result of the burn was discernable at statistically significant levels. Suspended-sediment yields computed for data collected during water year 1983 were significantly greater in the East Fork drainage basin, 546 tons per square mile, than in the West Fork drainage basin, 22.6 tons per square mile. Suspended-sediment yields computed for East Fork and West Fork for water year 1985, 38.3 and 13.3 tons per square mile, respectively, were much closer in yield. These more uniform yields indicate a possible return to preburn conditions. Data collection did not begin until 11 months after the burn; therefore, the largest increases in streamflow and sediment yields, which commonly occur during the year after a burn, may not have been measured. During the second through fourth years after the burn, smaller increases in stream- flow and sediment yields were found in this study than were found in similar studies in this region.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS1994

Potential flood hazards and hydraulic characteristics of distributary-flow areas in Maricopa County, Arizona

Flood hazards of distributary-flow areas in Maricopa County, Arizona, can be distinguished on the basis of morphological features. Five distributary-flow areas represent the range of flood-hazard degree in the study area. Descriptive factors, including the presence of desert varnish and the absence of saguaro cactus, are more useful than traditional hydraulic-based methods in defining hazards. The width, depth, and velocity exponents of the hydraulic-geometry relations at the primary diffluences of the sites are similar to theoretical exponents for streams with cohesive bank material and the average exponents of stream channels in other areas in the United States. Because of the unexplained scatter of the values of the exponent of channel width, however, the use of average hydraulic-geometry relations is con- sidered inappropriate for characterizing flood hazards for specific distributary-flow in Maricopa County. No evidence has been found that supports the use of stochastic modeling of flows or flood hazards of many distributary-flow areas. The surface of many distributary-flow areas is stable with many distributary channels eroded in the calcreted surface material. Many distributary- flow areas do not appear to be actively aggrading today, and the paths of flow are not changing.

Water-Resources Investigations Report↗
USGS1994

Floodflow effects on riparian vegetation in Arizona

A relation for estimating changes in the condition of riparian vegetation as a function of stream power was developed for stream channels in central Arizona. Flood and vegetation data were collected from 13 flows at 11 sites. Stream power was computed at cross sections and plotted against the average height of vegetation for each flow. The effect of the flow - no effect, little effect, laid over, or removed - on the riparian vegetation is related to stream power and vegetation height. As vegetation height increases, the magnitude of stream power needed to affect the vegetation also increases. Stream power of about 72 Newton-meters per second per meter squared is needed to lay over 1-meter-high vegetation, and stream power of about 580 Newton-meters per second per meter squared is needed to lay over 5.5-meter-high vegetation. This relation can be used to estimate vegetation conditions at the time of peak floodflow.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1992

New look at regional flood-frequency relations for arid lands

A new method is proposed that combines records for several streamflow-gaging stations, as in the station-year approach, and produces regional flood-frequency relations using an iterative regression technique. This technique eliminates the need to extrapolate the flood-frequency relation to the flood probability of interest. The resulting multiparameter regional flood-frequency relation is based on all the available annual peak-flow data. The method was applied to a group of records from 42 gaging stations in Nevada with many years of no flow and with many poorly defined flood-frquency relations. One- and two-parameter models were developed in which much of the variance in peak discharge is explained by drainage area. The log-Pearson type III and Weibull probability distributions were used in the models. Part of the error is directly assessed using randomly selected subsamples of the annual peak discharges. -from Authors

Journal of Hydraulic Engineering↗
USGS1991

Hydrologic and geochemical approaches for determining ground-water flow components

Lyman Lake is an irrigation-storage reservoir on the Little Colorado River near St. Johns, Arizona. The main sources of water for the lake are streamflow in the Little Colorado River and ground-water inflow from the underlying Coconino aquifer. Two approaches, a hydrologic analysis and a geochemical analysis, were used to compute the quantity of ground-water flow to and from Lyman Lake. Hydrologic data used to calculate a water budget were precipitation on the lake, evaporation from the lake, transpiration from dense vegetation, seepage through the dam, streamflow in and out of the lake, and changes in lake storage. Geochemical data used to calculate the ground-water flow components were major ions, trace elements, and the stable isotopes of hydrogen and oxygen. During the study, the potentiometric level of the Coconino aquifer was above the lake level at the upstream end of the lake and below the lake level at the downstream end. Hydrologic and geochemical data indicate that about 10 percent and 8 percent, respectively, of the water in the lake is ground-water inflow and that about 35 percent of the water in the Little Colorado River 6 miles downgradient from the lake near Salado Springs is ground water. These independent estimates of ground-water flow derived from each approach are in agreement and support a conceptual model of the water budget.

Conference Paper↗
USGS1984

Flash flood in Tangue Verde Creek, Tucson, Arizona.

The flood of July 26, 1981, in Tanque Verde Creek east of Tucson, Arizona, that killed eight people near Tanque Verde Falls was just a small one for this stream. Dangerous floods are not necessarily large ones; two much larger floods occurred there within a week. Floods can travel for miles at rates of rise and speeds too great for a person to escape from rough stream channels. -from ASCE Publications Information

Journal of Hydraulic Engineering↗