A geologic scar left by a catastrophic Texas flood in 2002 is providing an unexpected scientific benefit. A new study demonstrates how researchers can use a channel carved by floodwaters pouring over the dam of a flooded reservoir as a laboratory to test scientific theories of how such canyons are formed. The research could help to inform the hydrological histories of Earth and Mars by indicating the kind of imprints large, sudden floods leave on a planet's surface.
The storm that struck central Texas eight years ago wreaked havoc on the region, which President George W. Bush declared a disaster area. Floodwaters killed 12 people and damaged 48,000 homes in dozens of counties, according to a report from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). At Canyon Lake, a reservoir north of San Antonio, water rushed over the dam's spillway, pouring into the valley below. Within days a 50-meter-wide channel now known as the Canyon Lake Gorge had been carved into the soil and bedrock, drastically transforming the landscape on a short timescale.
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