Contrasts in Late Pleistocene to Holocene fluvial behavior along the Middle Rio Chama

Abstract

— A preliminary analysis of terraces along the middle Rio Chama indicates that there was an episode of rapid valley aggradation within the last 700 years. Input of sandy sediment from Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary and volcaniclastic rocks in the drainage basin was apparently sufficient to overwhelm discharges in the study reach and cause substantial aggradation, despite snowmelt runoff from the high-elevation upper basin. 433 CONTRASTS OF LATE PLEISTOCENE TO HOLOCENE FLUVIAL BEHAVIOR lar western rivers (Williams and Wolman, 1984). This reach of the Rio Chama exhibits some striking contrasts in fluvial activity from late Pleistocene to modern time.