Presented here are the results of a study of geological hazards conducted in Canyon Lake Gorge of Central Texas. Canyon Lake Gorge formed in 2002 when the emergency spillway of Canyon Lake was overtopped. Since that time, the gorge has been opened to public tours, and the organization governing the gorge has expressed concern regarding visitor safety. The surveys in this study gathered data through field observations and supplemented those data with non-destructive tests from an impact test hammer. The goal of this study was to gather original field data on potential hazards of the gorge with the hope that insight from these data could be used to enhance visitor safety in the gorge. The field observations made in this study identified the presence of undercut rock ledges that could present varying degrees of risk to visitors. Easily eroded clayey wackestone facilitated formation of these potential hazards. Lithologies such as packstone and grainstone serve to form ledges atop the wackestone. Preexisting fractures and joints in the ledge forming rock, which compound the danger of the unstable masses of undercut ledges, provide failure planes. This study identified current areas of unstable masses by location and differentiates the degree of risk present at each location, using simplified classes of low, medium, and high risk. Level of risk was determined primarily by the potential injuries incurred. Often, the height was dependent upon the thickness of an easily eroded wackestone bed that undercuts ledge forming rock. Canyon Lake Gorge is a young and dynamic geomorphological environment seeking equilibrium through gravity facilitated erosional events. In time, natural formation of riser beds will mitigate the potential hazards of some undercut ledges. Based on the potential hazards identified in Canyon Lake Gorge, four safety recommendations are proposed: - Visitors should always be guided by trained personnel. This practice is in place. - Visitors should be educated on the dangers of Canyon Lake Gorge before entering. - Unavoidable hazards should be evaluated for ways to mitigate risk. - The gorge should be continually monitored to insure safety of the visiting public.

Thesis (M.S. - Watershed Management)--University of Arizona. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, 2005. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-117).

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Thesis (M.S.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2008. / Vita. Appendices: leaves 87-105. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-118). Also available on microfilm.

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abstract: Quagga mussels are an aquatic invasive species capable of causing economic and ecological damage. Despite the quagga mussels’ ability to rapidly spread, two watersheds, the Salt River system and the Verde River system of Arizona, both had no quagga mussel detections for 8 years. The main factor thought to deter quagga mussels was the stratification of the two watersheds during the summer, resulting in high temperatures in the epilimnion and low dissolved oxygen in the hypolimnion. In 2015, Canyon Lake, a reservoir of the Salt River watershed, tested positive for quagga mussel veligers. In this study, I used Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 satellite data to determine if changes in the surface temperature have caused a change to the reservoir allowing quagga mussel contamination. I used a location in the center of the lake with a root mean squared error (RMSE) of 0.80 and a correlation coefficient (R^2) of 0.82, but I did not detect any significant variations in surface temperatures from recent years. I also measured 21 locations on Canyon Lake to determine if the locations in Canyon Lake were able to harbor quagga mussels. I found that summer stratification caused hypolimnion dissolved oxygen levels to drop well below the quagga mussel threshold of 2mg/L. Surface temperatures, however were not high enough throughout the lake to prevent quagga mussels from inhabiting the epilimnion. It is likely that a lack of substrate in the epilimnion have forced any quagga mussel inhabitants in Canyon Lake to specific locations that were not necessarily near the point of quagga veliger detection sampling. The research suggests that while Canyon Lake may have been difficult for quagga mussels to infest, once they become established in the proper locations, where they can survive through the summer, quagga mussels are likely to become more prevalent. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering 2018

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