Sediment Transport and Bed Material Grain Size Distributions along the Upper Colorado River, Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

The Upper Colorado River in Rocky Mountain National Park is dynamically adjusting to approximately 35,000 m3 of sediment introduced by a debris flow in May 2003. Bed material and sediment transport measurements since 2003 indicate that the debris flow source material is the dominant control on grain size distributions of bed material and bedload in transport. Hydrothermally altered Tertiary welded rhyolite tuff within moraines on hillslopes comprised the bulk of debris flow material initially and this material has since been remobilized and sorted by fluvial processes, forming extensive alluvium along the Colorado River. Oxidation of the ~5% pyrite in the tuff causes volume changes and in-situ disintegration of the alluvium, creating abundant sand- and gravel-sized material. At temporary gaging stations installed downstream from the main debris flow fan, measured water discharge spans a threefold range and bedload a six order-of-magnitude range in transport rate. Maximum bedload transport exceeds 1000 g/s at the highest measured discharge (3.5 m3/s) when the proportion of sand was >80%. Fractional bedload transport is related to proximity to the fan source, bed slope, and discharge, with 4-16 mm gravel mobilized closer to the source at higher bed slopes and discharges. The high sand content within transported bedload is in contrast to bed material grain size distributions which, during low flow, contain less than 15% sand and a D50 that has varied from fine to very coarse gravel. The bed D50 declined by two size classes at gaging stations in 2011 due to extensive aggradation as a result of the highest discharge in 60 years of record. Understanding the river's response to the sand and gravel input, as well as the fate of the hydrothermally altered material, will facilitate decisions on the appropriate mixed-size sediment transport model to predict size sorting and transient channel adjustments to plan for restoration along the Upper Colorado River.