Localized catastrophic disruption of the Gasconade River flood plain during the December 1982 flood, Southeast Missouri

The December 1982 floods in southeast Missouri were the largest on record for many rivers. Overbank sand and gravel were deposited on many flood-plain sites, and scouring of flood-plain surfaces was common. The flood plain of the Gasconade River near Mt. Sterling, Missouri, underwent significantly g...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geology (Boulder) 1986-06, Vol.14 (6), p.472-476
Main Authors: Ritter, Dale F, Blakley, Donald S
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
bedforms
catastrophes
discharge
environmental geology
erosion
floodplains
floods
fluvial features
fluvial sedimentation
Freshwater
Gasconade County Missouri
Gasconade River
geologic hazards
geomorphology
hydrology
Missouri
Mount Sterling
Osage County Missouri
processes
rivers and streams
sedimentation
soils
southeastern Missouri
surveys
United States
water erosion
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Summary:The December 1982 floods in southeast Missouri were the largest on record for many rivers. Overbank sand and gravel were deposited on many flood-plain sites, and scouring of flood-plain surfaces was common. The flood plain of the Gasconade River near Mt. Sterling, Missouri, underwent significantly greater erosional and depositional alteration than any other locality in the region. Here, sand and gravel derived from the Gasconade channel were deposited on the flood-plain surface as a lobate ridge 30-100 m wide, 1-2 m high, and about 1 km long. A large scour hole occupying an area of 5 ha was vertically eroded into the flood plain to a maximum depth of more than 7 m. These processes destroyed prime farmland and threatened bridge safety. Normal flood effects were exaggerated at Mt. Sterling by changes made on the flood-plain surface prior to 1982 during construction of a new bridge. *Present address: Illinois State Water Survey, 2204 Griffith Drive, Champaign, Illinois 61820
ISSN:0091-7613
1943-2682
DOI:10.1130/0091-7613(1986)14<472:LCDOTG>2.0.CO;2