Date of Award
1984
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Earth & Environmental Systems
Abstract
By 14,370 years B.P. glacial Lake Maumee was forming from meltwater of the Erie glacial lobe. The lake rose to an elevation of 244 meters (800 feet) before breaching a southwest trending, curvilinear recessional moraine at Fort Wayne, Indiana. Meltwater drained into the Upper Wabash Valley exceeding bankfull stage. It is the hypothesis of this research that the erosional and depositional features which remain preserved today can be used to calculate the hydraulic conditions of the flood and thereby establish a quantitative reconstruction of the paleohydrology of selected reaches of the valley. Highest estimated flood elevations, valley floor elevations, and a longitudinal water surface profile were determined from topographic map and aerial photographic interpretations, supplemented with field evidence. On the basis of the most reliable and consistent evidence. On the basis of the most reliable and consistent evidence, fifteen channel reaches were established from the Fort Wayne outlet in Allen County to Cayuga in Vermillion County, Indiana. Channel cross-sections were drawn from topographic maps, and the hydraulic channel morphology measured by a Numonics model 1224 electronic digitizer. Indirect discharge methods were employed to determine the discharge and average velocity for each of the fifteen reaches. Discharge and velocity varied throughout the reaches due in part to channel constrictions at Huntington, Andrews, Logansport, and West Point. The maximum computed discharge was 7.9 x 10('5) cms at Cayuga, with a minimum of 3.7 x 10('4) cms at Fort Wayne. An average of 3.1 x 10('5) cms was computed. Velocity ranged between 9.8 x 10('-1) and 7.3 x 10('0) m/s with an average of 3.4 x 10('0) m/s throughout the 260 kilometer reach. Long, linear valley tracts, truncated interfluves, ponding, hanging tributary valleys, reworked terraces, longitudinal bars, pendant bars, expansion bars, rock-defended terraces, cobble and boulder fields suspended as much as 24 meters (80 feet) above the present valley floor, current dunes, and channel braids suggest a catastrophic fluvial genesis.
Recommended Citation
Vaughn, Danny M., "Paleohydrology And Geomorphology Of Selected Reaches Of The Upper Wabash Valley, Indiana (Indirect Discharge, Flood, Catastrophic)" (1984). All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2009.
https://scholars.indianastate.edu/etds/2009