California flood of 1605
The California flood of 1605 was a massive flood that submerged large portions of present-day California (once known as Alta California). The megaflood was a result of sustained major rain storms across the region, enhanced by an unusually powerful atmospheric river.[1] The flooding affected the indigenous peoples of California, in pre-industrial advancement populations.
In addition to this event, geologic evidence indicates that other "megafloods" occurred in the California region in the following years A.D.: 212, 440, 603, 1029, c. 1300, 1418, 1750, 1810, and 1861–1862.[2][1] United States Geological Survey sediment research revealed that the 1605 flood deposited a layer of silt two inches thick at the Santa Barbara basin, indicating that it was the worst flood event of the past 2,000 years, being at least 50% more powerful than any of the others recorded based on geological evidence.[1] The United States Geological Survey has developed a hypothetical scenario, known as the "ARkStorm", that describes the affects of a similar event in modern-day California.[2][3]
In 1861–1862, another atmospheric river event resulted in the Great Flood of 1862, which submerged most of Central Valley and parts of Southern California, and caused the state capital to be temporarily moved from the flooded Sacramento to San Francisco, with other adjacent western states also flooded.[4]
See also
- Great Flood of 1862
- ARkStorm
- Atmospheric river
- Pineapple Express
- Extreme weather
- Lists of floods in the United States
References
- ^ a b c Dettinger, M. D.; Ingram, B. L. (January 2013). "The Coming Megafloods" (PDF). American Scientific. 169: 64–71.
- ^ a b Overview of the Arkstorm Scenario (PDF). USGS. p. 2.
- ^ "ARkStorm: California's other "Big One"". USGS.
- ^ Ingram, B. Lynn (2013-01-01). "California Megaflood: Lessons from a Forgotten Catastrophe". Scientific American. Retrieved 2017-01-09.
External links
- Liz Goodwin (January 17, 2011). "Scientists warn California could be struck by winter 'superstorm'". Yahoo News. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
- Michael Barbour; Todd Keeler-Wolf; Allan A. Schoenherr (2007). Terrestrial Vegetation of California, 3rd Edition. University of California Press. p. 65. ISBN 978-0-520-24955-4.
- Schimmelmann, Arndt; Zhao, Meixun; Harvey, Colin C; Lange, Carina B (2017), "A Large California Flood and Correlative Global Climatic Events 400 Years Ago", Quaternary Research, 49: 51–61, doi:10.1006/qres.1997.1937.
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- California flood of 1605
- 1858 San Diego hurricane
- Great Flood of 1862
- St. Francis Dam Disaster (1928)
- Crescenta Valley flood (1933 and 1934)
- Los Angeles flood of 1938
- 1939 California tropical storm
- Tsunami from 1964 Alaska earthquake
- Christmas flood of 1964
- Hurricane Kathleen (1976)
- Hurricane Doreen (1977)
- 1997 Merced River flood
- Los Angeles County flood of 2005
- Hurricane Marie (2014)
- 2017 California floods
- Oroville Dam crisis (2017)
- 2022–2023 California floods
- Hurricane Hilary (2023)
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