Landslide Photo Collections

Searchable USGS Photo and Multimedia Archive with Ordering Information

A thunderstorm on the evening of Monday, July 22, 2002 caused debris flows in the canyons of Cottonwood Creek and Chalk Creek, west and southwest of Buena Vista, Colorado. All of the flows initiated on hillslopes underlain by decomposed granitic rocks. Along Cottonwood Creek, debris flows crossed Chaffee County Road 306 in eleven places and trapped several motorists. Joe Nelson of Chaffee County Road and Bridge Department stimated that 20,000 m3 of mud was deposited on and near County Road 306. For more information see online description: http://landslides.usgs.gov/recent/archives/2002buenavista.php

  • Remnant of the 2002 debris-flow deposit that blocked Chaffee County Road 162 below the Chalk Cliffs, near Buena Vista, Colorado (Photo by U.S. Geological Survey)
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  • Remnant of debris-flow deposit that blocked Chaffee County Road 306 (Photo by U.S. Geological Survey).
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  • Close-up view of debris flow source area showing rills and incised channel (Photo by U.S. Geological Survey).
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  • Debris flow source area and deposit above Cottonwood Creek (Photo by U.S. Geological Survey).
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  • Debris-flow deposits from the July 22 event and erosion of older deposits adjacent to Chalk Creek and downslope from Chaffee County Road 162 (U.S. Geological Survey).
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  • Debris-flow deposit that diverted Cottonwood Creek (Photo by U.S. Geological Survey).
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  • Area along County Road 306 affected by debris flows (Photo by U.S. Geological Survey).
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  • Location map of 2002 debris flow events, near Buena Vista, Colorado (Photo by U.S. Geological Survey).
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  • Eroded fan head at the mouth of an exposed bedrock channel (background). Erosion entrained enough sediment to convert a water flow into a debris flow (foreground).  (Photo by U.S. Geological Survey).
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  • Remnant of debris-flow deposit that blocked Chaffee County Road 306 (Photo by U.S. Geological Survey).
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