Kautz Creek
| Kautz Creek | |
|---|---|
 Kautz Creek in Mount Rainier National Park, photographed in 2006. | |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Washington |
| National parks | Mount Rainier National Park |
| Physical characteristics | |
| Source | |
| • location | Kautz Glacier, Mount Rainier |
| Mouth | Nisqually River |
| Length | 6 mi (9.7 km) |
| Basin features | |
| Tributaries | |
| • right | Pyramid Creek, Pearl Creek |
Kautz Creek is a tributary of the Nisqually River, flowing from the Kautz Glacier, with its watershed in the Mount Rainier National Park of Washington. It drains southwest from Mount Rainier for about 6 miles (9.7 km) before it joins the Nisqually River near Mount Rainier Highway. It is notable for being a severe flooding hazard due to the volume of summer glacier melt and its frequently changing course. The 400-foot (120 m) Kautz Creek Falls on the headwaters of the creek was formed by the retreat of the Kautz Glacier in the past 50 years.[1]
Kautz Creek was named after A. V. Kautz, an army officer and mountain climber.[2]
Hydrology[edit]
The channel of Kautz Creek is very steep and narrow, because it has eroded through the relatively soft material that the lahars and mudflows have deposited. The creek flows in a trench that is 100 to 200 feet (30 to 61 m) wide and up to 75 feet (23 m) deep, and its course often changes during floods.
Lahars[edit]
The creek is notorious for its history of severe floods and mudflows. On October 2 and 3, 1947, heavy rains triggered a jökulhaup (glacial lake outburst flood) from the Kautz Glacier- the largest flood after the establishment of the park. The flood (similar to a volcanic lahar) moved 40,000,000 cubic metres (1.4×109 cu ft) of earth and boulders of up to 13 feet (4.0 m) in diameter for 6 miles (9.7 km). It buried the Nisqually-Longmire Road under 30 feet (9.1 m) of debris, and carved a canyon 300 feet (91 m) deep. Other large debris flows have occurred in the Kautz Creek watershed in 1961, 1985, and 1986, with small debris flows occurring more frequently.[3] The creek also jumped its banks in November 2006, destroying parts of the Kautz Creek Trail.
References[edit]
- ^ "Kautz Creek Falls at Waterfalls Northwest". Retrieved 2009-03-09.
- ^ Meany, Edmond S. (1923). Origin of Washington geographic names. Seattle: University of Washington Press. p. 127.
- ^ "USGS Study of Postglacial Lahars from Mount Rainier". Retrieved 2009-03-09.