Landslide Photo Collections

Searchable USGS Photo and Multimedia Archive with Ordering Information

From July 31 to August 1, 2006, an unusual set of atmospheric conditions aligned to produce record floods and an unprecedented number of slope failures and debris flows in southeastern Arizona. In the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson, 435 slope failures spawned debris flows on July 31 that, together with flood runoff, damaged structures and roads, affecting infrastructure within Tucson’s (Arizona) urban boundary. For more information on this event please see U.S. Geological Survey publication online: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1274/

  • Sabino Canyon, Arizona - Phil Pearthree (left) of the Arizona Geological Survey, Salek Shafiqullah, of the U.S. Forest Service, Peter Griffiths of the USGS, and Todd Shipman (right) with the Arizona Geological Survey maneuver around large boulders on the pavement between tram stops eight and nine (July, 2006). (Photo by Chris Magirl, U. S. Geological Survey).
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  • Debris flow damage to hiking trail in Sabino Canyon, Arizona, July, 2006. (Photo by Chris Magirl, U. S. Geological Survey).
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  • More debris flow impacts to Sabino Canyon, Arizona, Hiking Trail. (Photo by Chris Magirl, U. S. Geological Survey).
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  • Debris-flow deposits on a bridge in Sabino Canyon, 2006. The storm left 15 to 20 feet of debris in the creek. The U.S. Geological Survey and the Arizona Geological Survey did assessments of this unusual event (Photo by Chris Magirl, U.S. Geological Survey). For more information, please see a U.S. Geological Survey report, online: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2007/1108/
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  • (September 1, 2006) This photograph shows the snout of a debris flow that stopped in the channel of Rattlesnake Creek during the floods of July 31, 2006. This snout is several miles upstream from the confluence of Rattlesnake and Sabino Creeks, and the large boulders are typical of the largest particles transported during debris flows in the southern Santa Catalina Mountains. Most of these boulders likely were transported from debris-flow initiation zones, although some may have been entrained from the bed of Rattlesnake Creek (Photo by C.S. Magirl, U.S. Geological Survey).
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  • (January 16, 2007) Large boulders now clog the channel of an unnamed wash, informally called Bab Wash, that drains the northeastern side of Bowie Mountain, southeastern Arizona. This area used to be a grassy channel that allowed passage of law-enforcement vehicles before July 2006 (Photo by R.H. Webb, U.S. Geological Survey).
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  • (September 14, 2006) Deposition in the headwaters of Soldier Creek caused by the combination of the 2003 Aspen Fire and the 2006 debris flows in the watershed filled the channel, eliminating the usefulness of the pedestrian bridge (left center) in the Gordon Hirabayashi Picnic Area (Photo by C.S. Magirl, U.S. Geological Survey).
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  • Hiking area covered with debris flow boulder, Sabino Canyon, Arizona (Photo by Chris Magirl, U.S. Geological Survey).
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