Devonian Fossil Gorge

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The Devonian Fossil Gorge is an overflow channel from the dam on the Iowa River near Iowa City and Coralville . In this channel there are several fossils from the Devonian .

history

The flooding at Coralville Dam between June 10 and 24, 2008 (picture taken on Sunday June 15). On the left you can see the drainage through the overflow channel that now forms the Devonian Fossil Gorge .

The Coralville Dam was completed in 1958 and dams Coralville Lake, which serves as a water reservoir. Between July 5 and August 2, 1993, overflow water had to be drained for a long period of time, which formed an overflow channel. The process was repeated between June 10th and 24th, 2008 and thus formed the appearance of the Devonian Fossil Gorge today . The water flow at its peak during the 2008 flood was over 5,000 hectoliters per second, which is about five times the amount of water that flows through the Iowa River in an average summer. Due to the gradient, the current got a high speed and washed away all vegetation, earth and loose rock from the overflow channel and exposed layers with fossils from the Devonian period.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ US Army Corps of Engineers. Brochure Devonian Fossil Gorge , November 2010
  2. ^ Douglas W. Jones: Devonian Fossil Gorge, The Legacy of the Flood of '93 .

Coordinates: 41 ° 43 ′ 18.1 ″  N , 91 ° 31 ′ 57.2 ″  W.