Stratigraphic Identification of Destructive Floods in Relict Canals: A Case Study from the Middle Gila River, Arizona

Abstract

In this paper I provide stratigraphic descriptions of five historic canals in the Gila River Indian Community that have been damaged by floods. Stratigraphic evidence for uncontrolled flooding in canals includes deposits that extend laterally beyond the channel and textural sequences in the middle to upper strata in which coarse sediments have been deposited over fine ones. Sediment textural variability points to the complex nature of flooding and sedimentation in earthen canal systems. Such complexity precludes the creation of archetypal flood stratigraphy in canals. Despite this complexity, the geometry and granulometry of canal flood deposits in historic canals can be used as analogue data to identify evidence of past flooding in prehistoric canal systems. Such data are needed to improve stratigraphic interpretations of relict canals and test the hypothesis that floods played an important role in prehistoric culture change.

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