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Regional- to local-scale controls on waterfalls in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

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Abstract

Previous work on the eastern side of Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP), Colorado indicated correlations among waterfall location, waterfall morphology, and the characteristics of bedrock joints. Characteristics of waterfalls on the western side of the national park do not correlate as strongly with joint geometry. Longitudinal river profiles on the western side are less concave and waterfalls account for a greater proportion of the total elevation loss. We interpret these differences to result from more widely spaced joints, lithological differences, and complex glacial history. These results demonstrate that waterfall shape and typology may change due to both local and regional controls operating in a mountain region. Both regions had alpine valley glaciers, but continued landscape evolution via fluvial erosion has developed waterfalls with diverse locations and morphologies that reflect the influences of glacial deposits, bedrock erosional resistance, and joint geometry.

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Acknowledgments

JAO’s participation in this study was supported by the Jose Castillejo Grant (CAS14/00073, Ministry of Education, Spain). We thank Kayla Neuharth (CSU) for calculating the hypsometric curves. The critical and constructive comments by two anonymous reviewers are highly appreciated.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology and Geochemistry, Autonomous University of Madrid, Madrid, 28049, Spain

    Jose A. Ortega-Becerril

  2. Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA

    Bridget Livers

  3. Department of Geosciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523-1482, USA

    Bridget Livers & Ellen Wohl

Authors
  1. Jose A. Ortega-Becerril
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  2. Bridget Livers
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  3. Ellen Wohl
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Correspondence to Jose A. Ortega-Becerril.

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Ortega-Becerril, J.A., Livers, B. & Wohl, E. Regional- to local-scale controls on waterfalls in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. J. Mt. Sci. 17, 1874–1890 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-019-5804-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11629-019-5804-1

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