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| Title |
Short-Term Rill Evolution Following the Buffalo Creek Fire, Buffalo Creek, Colorado
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| Author(s) |
Pine, Elizabeth J.
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| School/Department |
Department of Geography
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| Institution |
University of Denver
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| Degree Type |
Master's
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| Degree Name |
M.A.
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| Type of Resource |
text
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| Degree Date |
2002 June
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| Digital Origin |
reformatted digital
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| Rights Statement |
All Rights Reserved
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| Reason for Restrictions |
No restrictions
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| Type of Restriction |
No restrictions
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| Keyword(s) |
Geography
Geology
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| Genre |
Dissertations, Academic
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| Abstract |
The Buffalo Creek Fire burned 11,900 acres near Buffalo Creek, Colorado on May 18-20, 1996. The fire burned 6,660 acres of the Buffalo Creek watershed and 5,250 acres of the Spring Creek watershed. The study area concentrated on Spring Creek where the slopes are steeper and rills best developed. As fires are an integral part of forested ecosystems, it is important to understand their influence on hillslope erosion, particularly rill erosion. The Buffalo Creek Fire altered the hillslope properties within the Spring Creek watershed creating conditions favorable to rill formation. Aerial and ground photos indicated the rills formed two months after the fire as the result of a high intensity rainstorm. If the rills resulted from changes caused by the fire, then the rills should heal as the hillslope properties return to pre-fire conditions. The variables investigated were width, depth, width to depth ratio, area, and hydraulic radius of rills on north and south-facing.hillslopes, percent vegetation cover and hanges in sediment load through time. The study was conducted between 1998 and 2000. The results of this study show what appears to be the stabilization of the rills. The analysis of rill characteristics through time shows little change. The expected relation that the hillslope characteristics will change through time is not significant. The limited number of storms during the study period may account for the lack of change through time. The energy was not available to move the sediment from the interrill to the rill areas.
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| Handle |
http://hdl.handle.net/10176/codu:58124
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| Attached Files |
| Name |
Description |
MIMEType |
Size |
Downloads |
du_mas_2002_Pine.pdf
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du_mas_2002_Pine.pdf |
application/pdf |
129.38MB |
0 |
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