An empirical formula for suspended sediment delivery ratio of main river after confluence of debris flow

In order to calculate the suspended sediment discharge of the flood debris flows into the main river,a small scale flume test was designed to simulate the process of confluence of Jiangjia Ravine and Xiangjiang River in Yunnan province,China.By test observation and data analysis,suspended sediment discharge of Debris flow after its entry into the main river was found to have a close relation with the bulk density,the confluence angle of the Debris flow and the main river,the ratio between per unit width discharge of Debris flow and main river.Based on the measured and simulated results,and statistical analysis,an empirical formula was proposed for the suspended SDR(Sediment Delivery Ratio) of the main river after the confluence of Debris flow.Compared with the observed results of Debris flow in 2009,the error between the data calculated by the empirical formula and the monitored data is only about 10%.     

Comparison of different sampling strategies for debris flow susceptibility mapping: A case study using the centroids of the scarp area,flowing area and accumulation area of debris flow watersheds

The quality of debris flow susceptibility mapping varies with sampling strategies. This paper aims at comparing three sampling strategies and determining the optimal one to sample the debris flow watersheds. The three sampling strategies studied were the centroid of the scarp area(COSA), the centroid of the flowing area(COFA), and the centroid of the accumulation area(COAA) of debris flow watersheds. An inventory consisting of 150 debris flow watersheds and 12 conditioning factors were prepared for research. Firstly, the information gain ratio(IGR) method was used to analyze the predictive ability of the conditioning factors. Subsequently, 12 conditioning factors were involved in the modeling of artificial neural network(ANN), random forest(RF) and support vector machine(SVM). Then, the receiver operating characteristic curves(ROC) and the area under curves(AUC) were used to evaluate the model performance. Finally, a scoring system was used to score the quality of the debris flow susceptibility maps. Samples obtained from the accumulation area have the strongest predictive ability and can make the models achieve the best performance. The AUC values corresponding to the best model performance on the validation dataset were 0.861, 0.804 and 0.856 for SVM, ANN and RF respectively. The sampling strategy of the centroid of the scarp area is optimal with the highest quality of debris flow susceptibility maps having scores of 373470, 393241 and 362485 for SVM, ANN and RF respectively.     

Fine root distribution pattern of different aged Leucaena leucocephala trees in debris flow source area in Jiangjia Gully,China

Fine root is critical to restrain soil erosion and its distribution pattern is of great influence on the restraining effects. This study studied the fine root biomass(Br) distribution of different aged Leucaena leucocephala(5, 10, 15 years) in debris flow source area in Jiangjia Gully by digging downward to the bottom at different distances to stem in three directions on slope. The results showed the Br increased dramatically by 143% from 5 years to 10 years and then rose slowly by 38% from 10 years to 15 years. The Br of 5 years was significantly asymmetric between uphill and alonghill directions, but there was little difference among directions for other ages, and a concentration trend appeared to exist in downhill and alonghill directions. Moreover, fine root(D≤1 mm) was significantly heavier than that of fine root(1mmD≤2 mm), playing a leading role in the vertical distribution of the whole fine root, with a logarithmic or an exponential function. The results presented may shed light on fine root distribution pattern and evaluation of its effect on slope stability in debris flow source area.     

Nonlinear morphological characteristics of debris flow in Dongcheng area of Helong,Jilin

Helong City is located in the northeastern Changbai Mountain with a poor geological environment, there often occur debris flows, collapses and landslides; especially debris flows restrict the local economic development. Based on fractal theory and the surveying data of 34 debris flows, the authors studied fractal feature of debris flow gully and its various situations of fractal dimensions in different observation scales. The nonlinear relation reveals the development of non-uniformity and self similarity of debris flow gully     

Nonlinear morphologica l characteristics of debris flow in Dongcheng area of Helong, Jilin

Helong City is located in the northeastern Changbai Mountain with a poor geological environment, there often occur debris flows, collapses and landslides; especially debris flows restrict the local economic development. Based on fractal theory and the surveying data of 34 debris flows, the authors studied fractal feature of debris flow gully and its various situations of fractal dimensions in different observation scales. The nonlinear relation reveals the development of non-uniformity and self similarity of debris flow gully.     

Soil aggregates and fractal features under different land use types in a frequent debris flow area

The stability of soil aggregates and the fractal characteristics of four typical land use types(farmland,grassland,woodland,and bare land) in the Jiangjiagou Ravine(Yunnan,China),a frequent debris flow occurring area,were studied according to the normal mean mass diameter and fractal theory.The present research showed that the stability of the soil aggregates was different for the different land use types.When the soil depth was 0-30 cm,farmland soil formed more aggregates with diameters greater than 0.25 mm,i.e.,the farmland soil was more stable than that of the other three land uses.When the soil depth was 30-45 cm,the order of stability of the soil aggregates was woodland > grassland > farmland > bare land.The fractal dimensions had a significant linear positive correlation with the amount of soil particles with diameters of <0.25 mm,and a significant negative linear correlation with the amount of soil particles with diameters of 0.25-0.5 mm,0.5-1 mm and 1-2 mm.Smaller fractal dimensions of the soil particles correlated with more stable soil aggregates.The fractal dimensions had a positive linear correlation with the soil bulk density and a negative correlation with the concentration of organic matter.These results showed that soil aggregates can be used as a parameter for characterizing the soil structures and properties.According to these results,the soil particle fractal dimensions could not only objectively characterize the stability of the soil structure but also could be used to indicate soil structure and properties.In addition,these results have great significance for the discussion of the comprehensive evaluation of soil.     

Slope debris flows in the Wenchuan Earthquake area

Avalanches and landslides, induced by the Wenchuan Earthquake on May 12, 2008, resulted in a lot of disaggregated, solid material on slopes that could be readily mobilized as source material for debris flows. Rainstorms triggered numerous slope debris flows with great damage to highways and rivers over the subsequent two years. Slope debris flows (as opposed to channelized debris flows) are defined as phenomena in which high-concentration mixtures of debris and water flow down slopes for short distances to highways and river banks. Based on field investigations and measurements of 19 slope debris flows, their main characteristics and potential mitigation strategies were studied. High rainfall intensity is the main triggering factor. Critical rainfall intensities for simultaneous occurrence of single, several and numerous slope debris flow events were 20 mm/day, 30mm/day, and 90 mm/day, respectively. Field investigations also revealed that slope debris flows consist of high concentrations of cobbles, boulders and gravel. They are two-phase debris flows. The liquid phase plays the role of lubrication instead of transporting medium. Solid particles collide with each other and consume a lot of energy. The velocities of slope debris flows are very low, and their transport distances are only several tens of meters. Slope debris flows may be controlled by construction of drainage systems and by reforestation.     

Sedimentary macro-structures and forming mechanism of debris flow

IIWr~IOWThesedimentarycharacteristicsofdebrisflowcanreflectthecompoSition,fluidtypeandsedimentaryprocess.ThescholarswhostudymoderndebrisfloWinChinagenerallyclassifydebrisflowbythemethodofviscositywithfloWpattern.SeveraltypicalschemesareshowninTable1,inwhichthemethodofunitweight(fluiddensityinunitvolumet/m3)isusedandfluidunitweightisthoughttobethedirectproPOSitiontotheviscosityofdebrisflow(Wu,1990).Ithasbeenprovedbyhydrcrmechacsthatnon-cohesivedebrisf1OwfollowsBagnoldgranular'flowmedel(B…     

A catastrophic debris flow in the Wenchuan Earthquake area,July 2013: characteristics,formation, and risk reduction

In the Wenchuan Earthquake area,many co-seismic landslides formed blocking-dams in debris flow channels. This blocking and bursting of landslide dams amplifies the debris flow scale and results in severe catastrophes. The catastrophic debris flow that occurred in Qipan gully(Wenchuan,Southwest China) on July 11,2013 was caused by intense rainfall and upstream cascading bursting of landslide dams. To gain an understanding of the processes of dam bursting and subsequent debris flow scale amplification effect,we attempted to estimate the bursting debris flow peak discharges along the main gully and analyzed the scale amplification process. The results showed that the antecedent and triggering rainfalls for 11 July debris flow event were 88.0 mm and 21.6 mm,respectively. The event highlights the fact that lower rainfall intensity can trigger debris flows after the earthquake. Calculations of the debris flow peak discharge showed that the peak discharges after the dams-bursting were 1.17–1.69 times greater than the upstream peak discharge. The peak discharge at the gully outlet reached 2553 m~3/s which was amplified by 4.76 times in comparison with the initial peak discharge in the upstream. To mitigate debris flow disasters,a new drainage channel with a trapezoidal V-shaped cross section was proposed. The characteristic lengths(h1 and h2) under optimal hydraulic conditions were calculated as 4.50 m and 0.90 m,respectively.     

Experimental study on the viscoelastic behaviors of debris flow slurry

The rheological properties of most liquid in nature are between liquids and solids,including both elastic changes and viscosity changes,that is socalled "viscoelastic".Dynamic oscillatory test was used to quantitatively study the distinct viscoelastic behaviors of debris flow slurry in the shear stress conditions for the first time in this study.The debris flow slurry samples were from Jiangjiagou Ravine,Yunnan Province,China.The experimental results were found that at the low and middle stages of shearing,when the angular velocity ω<72.46 s-1,the loss modulus(G") was greater than the storage modulus(G’),i.e.G">G’.At the late stage of shearing,when the angular velocity ω≧72.46 s-1,the storage modulus was greater than or equal to the loss modulus,i.e.G’≧G",tanδ≦1(where phase-shift angleδ=G"/G’),and the debris flow slurry was in a gel state.Therefore,the progress of this experimental study further reveals the mechanism of hyperconcentrated debris flows with a high velocity on low-gradient ravines.     

Study on the rainfall and aftershock threshold for debris flow of post-earthquake

Due to the special condition of provenance and disaster environment after "5·12" Earthquake, the probability and conditions of the occurrence of gully debris flow change greatly after the event, which make it difficult to prevent disaster effectively. In this study the hydrological model of ground water table in loose sediment is established. According to infinite slope theory, the safety factor of deposits is defined as the ratio of resistance force to driving force. The starting condition of post-earthquake gully debris flow is clearly studied by analyzing the effects of rainfall intensity, seismic strength, slope gradient and mechanical properties on the balance of accumulation body. Then the formulas of rainfall and aftershock threshold for starting of gully debris flow are proposed, and an example is given to illustrate the effect of rainfall, aftershocks and their coupling action on a debris flow. The result shows the critical rainfall intensity decreases as the lateral seismic acceleration and channel gradient increases, while the critical intensity linearly increases as the friction angle increases.     

Simulation of two-phase debris flow scouring bridge pier

Debris flows are typical two-phase flows, which commonly accompany erosion in mountainous areas, and may destroy bridge engineering by scouring. In this study, a physically-based two-phase model is applied for the simulation of debris flow scouring of bridge pier. In this model, the shear stress of debris flow on an erodible bed is considered to be a function of the solid shear stress, fluid shear stress, and volume fraction; accordingly, the erosion is incorporated into the two-phase model. Using a highaccuracy computational scheme based on the finite volume method, the model is employed for simulating a dynamic debris flow over an erodible bed. The numerical results are consistent with the experimental data, and verify the feasibility of the two-phase model. Moreover, a simple numerical test is performed to exhibit the fundamental behaviour of debris flow scouring of bridge pier, which shows that the degree of erosion on each side of the pier is higher compared to other areas. The scouring depth is influenced by the variations of solid volume fraction and velocity of debris flow and pier width.     

Natural consolidation characteristics of viscous debris flow deposition

Pore water pressure and water content are important indicators to both deposition and consolidation of debris flows, enabling a direct assessment of consolidation degree. This article gained a more comprehensive understanding about the entire consolidation process and focused on exploring pore water pressure and volumetric water content variations of the deposit body during natural consolidation under different conditions taking the viscous debris flow mass as a study subject and by flume experiments. The results indicate that, as the color of the debris changed from initial dark green to grayish-white color, the initial deposit thickness declined by 3% and 2.8% over a permeable and impermeable sand bed, respectively. A positive correlation was observed between pore water pressure and depth in the deposit for both scenarios, with deeper depths being related to greater pore water pressure. For the permeable environment, the average dissipation rate of pore water pressure measured at depths of 0.10 m and 0.05 m were 0.0172 Pa/d and 0.0144 Pa/d, respectively, showing a positivechanging trend with increasing depth. Under impermeable conditions, the average dissipation rates at different depths were similar, while the volumetric water content in the deposit had a positive correlation with depth. The reduction of water content in the deposit accelerated with depth under impermeable sand bed boundary conditions, but was not considerably correlated with depth under permeable sand bed boundary conditions. However, the amount of discharged water from the deposit was greater and consolidation occurred faster in permeable conditions. This indicates that the permeability of the boundary sand bed has a significant impact on the progress of consolidation. This research demonstrates that pore water and pressure dissipations are present during the entire viscous debris consolidation process. Contrasting with dilute flows, pore pressure dissipation in viscous flows cannot be completed in a matter of minutes or even hours, requiring longer completion time — 3 to 5 days and even more. Additionally, the dissipation of the pore water pressure lagged the reduction of the water content. During the experiment, the dissipation rate fluctuated substantially, indicating a close relationship betweenthe dissipation process and the physical properties of broadly graded soils.     

The properties of dilute debris flow and hyper-concentrated flow in different flow regimes in open channels

Particle Image Velocimetry(PIV) technique was used to test the analogues of hyperconcentrated flow and dilute debris flow in an open flume. Flow fields, velocity profiles and turbulent parameters were obtained under different conditions. Results show that the flow regime depends on coarse grain concentration. Slurry with high fine grain concentration but lacking of coarse grains behaves as a laminar flow. Dilute debris flows containing coarse grains are generally turbulent flows. Streamlines are parallel and velocity values are large in laminar flows. However, in turbulent flows the velocity diminishes in line with the intense mixing of liquid and eddies occurring. The velocity profiles of laminar flow accord with the parabolic distribution law. When the flow is in a transitional regime, velocity profiles deviate slightly from the parabolic law. Turbulent flow has an approximately uniform distribution of velocity and turbulent kinetic energy. The ratio of turbulent kinetic energy to the kinetic energy of time-averaged flow is the internal cause determining the flow regime: laminar flow(k/K0.1); transitional flow(0.1 k/K1); and turbulent flow(k/K1). Turbulent kinetic energy firstly increases with increasing coarse grain concentration and then decreases owing to the suppression of turbulence by the high concentration of coarse grains. This variation is also influenced by coarse grain size and channel slope. The results contribute to the modeling of debris flow and hyperconcentrated flow.     

Soil evolution features of debris flow waste-shoal land

The reclamation and utilization of debris flow waste-shoal land plays an important role in the mitigation and control of debris flow hazards, which thus contributes a lot to the exploitation of insufficient land resources in mountainous areas and the reduction of losses caused by debris flow. The aim of this paper is to discuss the features and mechanism of soil evolution of debris flow waste-shoal land so as to search for the available modes of its reclamation and utilization. The Jiangjiagou Ravine, a typical debris flow ravine, was selected to study soil evolution features of debris flow waste-shoal land based on the analysis of soil physieochemical properties and soil microstructure. It was found that the soil evolution rates of debris flow waste-shoal land varied with different modes of reclamation. For the land which had been reclaimed for less than lO years, soil evolved most rapidly in paddy fields, and more rapidly in dry farmland than in naturally restored waste-shoal land. For the land which had been used for more than lo years, the soil evolution rates of dry farmland, naturally restored waste-shoal land and paddy farmland decreased in the file. For the same utilization period of time, significant differences were recognized in soil evolution features under different modes of reclamation. Analysis data showed that soil clay content, soil thickness, the psephicity of skeleton particles and contents of microaggregates （〈0.02 mm） in paddy farmland were all highest. Soil nutrients and porosity of dry farmland were better than those of paddy farmland and naturally restored waste-shoal land, and those of paddy farmland were superior to those of naturally restored waste-shoal land. Paddy farmland characterized by rapid pedogenesis, stable evolution and high utilizability was the priority candidate for the reclamation and utilization of debris flow waste -shoal land.     

On the criteria to create a susceptibility map to debris flow at a regional scale using Flow-R

Studies on susceptibility to debris flows at regional scale(100-1000 km~2) are important for the protection and management of mountain areas. To reach this objective, routing models, mainly based on land topography, can be used to predict susceptible areas rapidly while necessitating few input data. In this research, Flow-R model is implemented to create the susceptibility map for the debris flow of the Vizze Valley(BZ, North-Eastern Italy; 134 km~2). The analysis considers the model application at local scale for three sub-catchments and then it explores the model upscaling at the regional scale by verifying two methods to generate the source areas of debris-flow initiation. Using data of an extreme event occurred in the Vizze Valley(4 August 2012) and historical information, the modeling verification highlights that the propagation parameters are relatively simple to set in order to obtain correct runout distances. A double DTM filtering-using a threshold for the upslope contributing area(0.1 km~2) and a threshold for the terrain-slope angle(15°)-provides a satisfactory prediction of source areas and susceptibility map within the geological conditions of the Vizze Valley.     

Characteristics of Large Low-frequency Debris Flow Hazards and Mitigation Strategies

A low-frequency debris flow took place in the north coastal range of Venezuela on Dec. 16, 1999,and scientists all over the world paid attention to this catastrophe. Four characteristics of low-frequency debris hazard are discussed: long return period and extreme catastrophe, special rare triggering factors,difficulty in distinguishing and a series of small hazards subsequent to the catastrophe. Different measures, such as preventing, forecast - warning,engineering, can be used for mitigating and controlling the catastrophe. In engineering practice, it is a key that large silt-trap dams are used to control rare large debris flow. A kind of low dam with cheap cost can be used to replace high dam in developing countries. A planning for controlling debris flow hazard in Cerro Grande stream of Venezuela is presented at the end of this paper.     

SIMULATION AND PREDICTION OF DEBRIS FLOW USING ARTIFICIAL NEURAL NETWORK

Debris flow is one of the most destructive phenomena of natural hazards. Recently, major natural haz-ard, claiming human lives and assets, is due to debris flow in the world. Several practical methods for forecasting de-bris flow have been proposed, however, the accuracy of these methods is not high enough for practical use because of the stochastic and non-linear characteristics of debris flow. Artificial neural network has proven to be feasible and use-fill in developing models for nonlinear systems. On the other hand, predicting the future behavior based on a time se-ries of collected historical data is also an important tool in many scientific applications. In this study we present a three-layer feed-forward neural network model to forecast surge of debris flow according to the time series data collect-ed in the Jiangjia Ravine, situated in north part of Yunnan Province of China. The simulation and prediction of debris flow using the proposed approach shows this model is feasible, however, further studies are needed.     

Hybrid simulation of the initiation and runout characteristics of a catastrophic debris flow

On 13 August 2010, a catastrophic debris flow with a volume of 1.17 million m³ occurred in Xiaojiagou Ravine near Yingxiu town of Wenchuan county in Sichuan Province, China. The main source material was the landslide deposits retained in the ravine during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. This paper describes a two-dimensional hybrid numerical method that simulates the entire process of the debris flow from initiation to transportation and finally to deposition. The study area is discretized into a grid of square zones. A two dimensional finite difference method is then applied to simulate the rainfall-runoff and debris flow runout processes. The analysis is divided into three steps; namely, rainfall-runoff simulation, mixing water and solid materials, and debris flow runout simulation. The rainfall-runoff simulation is firstly conducted to obtain the cumulative runoff near the location of main source material and at the outlet of the first branch. The water and solid materials are then mixed to create an inflow hydrograph for the debris flow runout simulation. The occurrence time and volume of the debris flow can be estimated in this step. Finally the runout process of the debris flow is simulated. When the yield stress is high, it controls the deposition zone. When the yield stress is medium or low, both yield stress and viscosity influence the deposition zone. The flow velocity is largely influenced by the viscosity. The estimated yield stress by the equation, τ _y = ρghsin θ, and the estimated viscosity by the equation established by Bisantino et al. (2010) provide good estimates of the area of the debris flow fan and the distribution of deposition depth.