Impact failure models and application condition of trees in debris-flow hazard mitigation

Forestry has played an important role in hazard mitigation associated with debris flows. Most forest mitigation measures refer to the experience of soil and water conservation, which disregard the destructive effect of debris flows, causing potentially serious consequences. Determination of the effect of a forest on reducing debris-flow velocity and even stopping debris flows requires distinguishing between when the debris flow will destroy the forest and when the trees will withstand the debris-flow impact force. In this paper, we summarized two impact failure models of a single tree: stem breakage and overturning. The influences of different tree sizes characteristics(stem base diameter, tree weight, and root failure radius) and debris-flow characteristics(density, velocity, flow depth, and boulder diameter) on tree failure were analyzed. The observations obtained from the model adopted in this study show that trees are more prone to stem breakage than overturning. With an increase in tree size, the ability to resist stem breakage and overturning increases. Debris-flow density influences the critical failure conditions of trees substantially less than the debrisflow velocity, depth, and boulder diameter. The application conditions of forests in debris-flow hazard mitigation were proposed based on the analysis of the model results. The proposed models were applied in the Xiajijiehaizi Gully as a case study, and the results explain the destruction of trees in the forest dispersing zone. This work provides references for implementing forest measures for debris-flow hazard mitigation.     

Comparative study on debris flow initiation in limestone and sandstone spoil

Large spoil tips from reconstruction works as a result of the Wenchuan Earthquake in China are new debris flow hazards to the human society. However, there is a lack of detailed comparative study on debris flow initiation in different spoil materials. This paper describes a series of tests and analyses on debris flow characteristics (initiation, scale and mechanism) at six sites with limestone and sandstone materials near the Dujiangyan area. Research shows the limestone spoil contains debris flow prone clay content with high concentration of montmorillonite (highly expandable). In addition, limestone spoil is of such a low permeability that water mainly concentrates in the upper surface layer. Those factors make it easy for the increase of pore water pressure, decline of internal friction and conhesion force, leading to the occurence of large debris flows. In contrast, the sandstone spoil is less problematic and causes no major debris flow threats. Based on our research on the mechanism, the“stereometric drainage”method is sucessfully applied to control limestone spoil debris flows.     

Succession Features and Dynamic Simulation of Subalpine Forest in the Gongga Mountain, China

The Gongga Mountain of eastern Tibet Plateau is a representative of the alpine regions with high peaks and deep valleys. Climate change over the last thousand years has controlled the dynamics of glacier and debris flow occurrence, which resulted in substantial changes in the mountainous environment. The authors surveyed the community structure of primary forests in Gongga Mountain and forest successign processes in woodland plots. The changing features in the subalpine environment are discussed in this paper. Tree species and sizes between the glacier shrinking areas and debris flow fans in Hailuogou Valley are compared. The pioneer species that settle in debris flow fans and the glacier shrinking areas are Salix spp. and Populus purdomii. Abies fabri and Picea brachytyla are the climax tree species. The succession process of primary vegetation in Hailuogou (2700 ～ 3200 m) can be divided into four stages:     

Effects of loose deposits on debris flow processes in the Aizi Valley,southwest China

Loose deposits, rainfall and topography are three key factors that triggering debris flows.However, few studies have investigated the effects of loose deposits on the whole debris flow process.On June 28, 2012, a catastrophic debris flow occurred in the Aizi Valley, resulting in 40 deaths.The Aizi Valley is located in the Lower Jinsha River,southwestern Sichuan Province, China. The Aizi Valley debris flow has been selected as a case for addressing loose deposits effects on the whole debris flow process through remote sensing, field investigation and field experiments. Remote sensing interpretation and laboratory experiments were used to obtain the distribution and characteristics of the loose deposits, respectively. A field experiment was conducted to explore the mechanics of slope debris flows, and another field investigation was conducted to obtain the processes of debris flow formation, movement and amplification. The results showed that loose deposits preparation, slope debris flow initiation,gully debris flow confluence and valley debris flow amplification were dominated by the loose deposits.Antecedent droughts and earthquake activities may have increased the potential for loose soil sources in the Aizi Valley, which laid the foundation for debris flow formation. Slope debris flow initiated under rainfall, and the increase in the water content as well as the pore water pressure of the loose deposits were the key factors affecting slope failure. The nine gully debris flows converged in the valley, and the peak discharge was amplified 3.3 times due to a blockage and outburst caused by a large boulder. The results may help in predicting and assessing regional debris flows in dry-hot and seismic-prone areas based on loose deposits, especially considering large boulders.     

浅海砂质碎屑流沉积特征与模式: 以莺歌海盆地东方1-1气田莺二段为例

莺歌海盆地东方气田莺二段发育浅海砂质碎屑流,对其沉积特征与模式的研究具有重要意义。从岩心精细描述入手,结合测井曲线特征、地震剖面、地球化学实验,综合国内外重力流研究进展,确定了研究区浅海砂质碎屑流的岩心、测井、地震相特征,并通过分析研究区沉积背景,进一步探讨了东方气田莺二段ⅡL、ⅢU气组浅海砂质碎屑流的沉积模式。研究结果表明:该区砂质碎屑流的岩心相为富漂浮泥岩碎屑的块状砂岩、"泥包砾"等典型砂质碎屑流特征;测井相上表现为齿化现象十分严重的逆粒序漏斗型及无粒序钟型-漏斗型复合型特征;地震相上表现为中振幅平行席状反射和低频平行-亚平行空白反射特征;剖面上呈席状和平缓透镜状展布。研究厘定了研究区砂质碎屑流为西侧三角洲前缘由于风暴作用引起沉积物滑塌再搬运和北侧红河洪水重力流共同作用形成的浅海砂质碎屑流沉积模式。      

Mechanism of downcutting erosion of debris flow over a movable bed

The phenomenon of debris flow is intermediate between mass movement and solid transport. Flows can be sudden, severe and destructive. Understanding debris flow erosion processes is the key to providing geomorphic explanations, but progress has been limited because the physical-mechanical properties, movement laws and erosion characteristics are different from those of sediment-laden flow. Using infinite slope theory, this research examines the process and mechanism of downcutting erosion over a moveable bed in a viscous debris flow gully. It focuses specifically on the scour depth and the critical slope for viscous debris flow,and formulas for both calculations are presented.Both scour depth and the critical conditions of downcutting erosion are related to debris flow properties(sand volume concentration and flow depth) and gully properties(longitudinal slope,viscous and internal friction angle of gully materials,and coefficient of kinetic friction). In addition, a series of flume experiments was carried out to characterize the scouring process of debris flows with different properties. The calculated values agreed well with the experimental data. These theoretical formulas are reasonable, and using infinite slope theory to analyze down cutting erosion from viscous debris flow is feasible.     

Experimental study on the moving characteristics of fine grains in wide grading unconsolidated soil under heavy rainfall

The initiation mechanism of debris flow is regarded as the key step in understanding the debris-flow processes of occurrence, development and damage. Moreover, migration, accumulation and blocking effects of fine particles in soil will lead to soil failure and then develop into debris flow. Based on this hypothesis and considering the three factors of slope gradient, rainfall duration and rainfall intensity, 16 flume experiments were designed using the method of orthogonal design and completed in a laboratory. Particle composition changes in slope toe, volumetric water content, fine particle movement characteristics and soil failure mechanism were analyzed and understood as follows: the soil has complex, random and unstable structures, which causes remarkable pore characteristics of poor connectivity, non-uniformity and easy variation. The major factors that influence fine particle migration are rainfall intensity and slope. Rainfall intensity dominates particle movement, whereby high intensity rainfall induces a large number of mass movement and sharp fluctuation, causing more fine particles to accumulate at the steep slope toe. The slope toe plays an important role in water collection and fine particle accumulation. Both fine particle migration and coarse particle movement appears similar fluctuation. Fine particle migration is interrupted in unconnected pores, causing pore blockage and fine particle accumulation, which then leads to the formation of a weak layer and further soil failure or collapses. Fine particle movement also causes debris flow formation in two ways: movement on the soil surface and migration inside the soil. The results verify the hypothesis that the function of fine particle migration in soil failure process is conducive for further understanding the formation mechanism of soil failure and debris flow initiation.     

Influences of the Wenchuan Earthquake on sediment supply of debris flows

The 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake and the subsequent rainstorms induced a large number of landslides, which later were transformed into debris flows. To evaluate the effect of the earthquake on the sediment supply of debris flows, eight debris flow basins near Beichuan City, Sichuan Province, China were chosen as the study area. The area variations of the debris flow source after the Wenchuan Earthquake and the subsequent rainstorm are analyzed and discussed in this paper. Interpretations of aerial photographs (after the 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake) and SPOT5 images (after the rainstorm event of September 24, 2008) as well as field investigations were compared to identify the transformation of landslide surface in the study area, indicating that the landslide area in the eight debris flow basins significantly increased. The loose sediment area on the channel bed increased after the rainstorm event. In order to estimate the relationship of the landslide area with the rainfall intensity in different return periods, a model proposed by Uchihugi was adopted. Results show that new landslide area induced by heavy rainfall with 50-year and 100-year return period will be 0.87 km2 and 1.67 km2, respectively. The study results show the Wenchuan earthquake had particular influences on subsequent rainfall-induced debris flow occurrence.     

Logs and Snags in a Shola Forest of Kerala, India

Introduction Dead wood is an important structural and functional component of a forest ecosystem(Fridman and Welheim 2000). Recent studies also indicate that dead wood is important for maintaining both plant and animal diversity in different forest ecosystems (Grove 2001) as it serve as an energy source (Bray and Gorham 1964) and habitat for an array of organisms. Dead wood can also help reduce erosion, increase soil organic matters (McFee and Stone 1966), and suitable conditions for seedli…     

Two-dimensional numerical model for debris flows in the Jiangjia Gully, Yunnan Province

Debris flows are recurrent natural hazards in many mountainous regions.This paper presents a numerical study on the propagation of debris flows in natural erodible open channels,in which the bed erosion and sedimentation processes are important.Based on the Bingham fluid theory,a mathematical model of the two-dimensional non-constant debris flow is developed.The governing equations include the continuity and momentum conservation equations of debris flow,the sediment convection-diffusion equation,the bed erosion-deposition equation and the bed-sediment size gradation adjustment equation.The yield stress and shear stress components are included to describe the dynamic rheological properties.The upwind control-volume Finite Volume Method (FVM) is applied to discretize the convection terms.The improved SIMPLE algorithm with velocity-free-surface coupled correction is developed to solve the equations on non-orthogonal,quadrilateral grids.The model is applied to simulate a debris flow event in Jiangjia Gully,Yunnan Province and to predict the flow pattern and bed erosion-deposition processes.The results show the effectiveness of the proposed numercial model in debris flow simulation and potential hazard analysis.     

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.     

Deposition pattern of stony and muddy debris flow at the confluence area

Debris flow fan affects the river profile and landscape evolution.The propagation of multiple debris flows along a river can cause inundation and breaching risk,which can be exemplified by the Min River after the Wenchuan earthquake,Sichuan province,China.In this work,large flume tests were conducted to examine the interactions between debris flows and water current with the fan geometry,momentum,runout distance,deposited width,the relative water level upstream and dominated stress.The results reveal that stony flow commonly travels at a high speed and forms a long rectangle shape fan,while the muddy flow generally travels at a low speed and forms a fan-shaped depositional area.The stony flow can block a river even when the momentum is close to the water current;the muddy flow can block a river when the momentum is lower than that of water current.In case of complete river damming,the relative water level upstream indicates that the inundation risk from the muddy flow damming river would be higher than the inundation risk of stony flow.The diversion ratio of muddy flow decreases as damming ratio.Comparison of dimensionless numbers reveals that stony flow is dominated by grain collision stress combined with turbulent mixing stress,while the muddy flow is dominated by viscous shear stress over friction stress.The fan geometry,damming ratio,diversion ratio,and the dominated stress all together indicate that stony flow strongly interacts with water current while the muddy flow does not.The results can be helpful for understanding the physical interactions between water current and various debris flows,and debris flow dynamics at the channel confluence area.     

栖霞市生木树泥石流隐患点发育特征及发展趋势分析评价

栖霞市生木树泥石流隐患点为烟台市471处地质灾害隐患点其中1处,曾于1979年7月因暴雨引发泥石流灾害,给当地村民造成严重经济损失。以该泥石流沟流域作为研究区,并以区内泥石流发育的自然环境、基本特征及形成泥石流的地质条件、物源条件和水源条件等勘察成果为基础,综合分析区内泥石流发育特征、类型、形成机理、引发因素,并选取相关参数对泥石流基本特征值进行计算,为同类型泥石流的防治提供科学依据。综合研究确定区内泥石流易发程度为轻度易发,现阶段泥石流沟发展阶段为发展期,泥石流灾害趋于相对稳定,但一旦遭遇暴雨至特大暴雨,可能会再次引发泥石流地质灾害。     

Influence of inflow discharge and bed erodibility on outburst flood of landslide dam

Accurate prediction of the hydrographs of outburst floods induced by landslide dam overtopping failure is necessary for hazard prevention and mitigation. In this study, flume model tests on the breaching of landslide dams were conducted. Unconsolidated soil materials with wide grain size distributions were used to construct the dam. The effects of different upstream inflow discharges and downstream bed soil erosion on the outburst peak discharge were investigated. Experimental results reveal that the whole hydrodynamic process of landslide dam breaching can be divided into three stages as defined by clear inflection points and peak discharges. The larger the inflow discharge, the shorter the time it takes to reach the peak discharge, and the larger the outburst flood peak discharge. The scale of the outburst floods was found to be amplified by the presence of an erodible bed located downstream of the landslide dam. This amplification decreases with the increase of upstream inflow. In addition, the results show that the existence of an erodible bed increases the density of the outburst flow, increasing its probability of transforming from a sediment flow to a debris flow.     

Geomorphologic analysis and physico-dynamic characteristics of Zhatai-Gully debris flows in SW China

Zhatai gully is a typical debris flow channel in Butuo county of Sichuan province, southwestern China. The geomorphologic features are analyzed and the physical-dynamic characteristics are discussed on the basis of field investigation and laboratory tests. Geomorphologic analysis indicates that Zhatai-gully drainage in relation to debris flow can be divided into source area, transport area, and deposition area. The source area has a steep slope and has very limited vegetation cover, which favors runoff, allowing loose solid materials to be mobilized easily and rapidly. In the transport area, there are many small landslides, lateral lobes, and loose materials distributed on both banks. These landslides are active and constantly providing abundant source of soils for the debris flows. In the deposition area, three old debris-flow deposits of different ages can be observed. The dynamic calculation shows that within the recurrence intervals of 50 and 100 years, debris flow discharges are 155.77m³/s and 1y8.19m³/s and deposition volumes are 16.39 x 10⁴ m³ and 18.14 x 10⁴ m³, respectively. The depositional fan of an old debris flow in the outlet of the gully can be subdivided into six layers. There are three debris flow deposits on left and two on the right side of the gully. Grain-size tests of sediments from the soil, gulley bed deposits, and the fresh and old debris flow deposits showed that high amounts of clay and fine gravel were derived from the soil in the source area whereas much of the gravel fraction were sourced from the gully bed deposits. Comprehensive analysis indicates that Zhatai gully is viscous debris-flow gully with moderate to high frequency and moderate to large magnitude debris flows. The risk of a debris flow disaster in Zhatai-gully is moderate and poses a potential threat to the planned hydroelectric dam. Appropriate engineering measures are suggested in the construction and protection of the planned hydroelectric station.     

A quasi single-phase model for debris flows and its comparison with a two-phase model

A depth-averaged quasi single-phase mixture model is proposed for debris flows over inclined bed slopes based on the shallow water hydrosediment-morphodynamic theory with multi grain sizes. The stresses due to fluctuations are incorporated based on analogy to turbulent flows, as estimated using the depth-averaged k-? turbulence model and a modification component. A fully conservative numerical algorithm, using wellbalanced slope limited centred scheme, is deployed to solve the governing equations. The present quasi single-phase model using four closure relationships for the bed shear stresses is evaluated against USGS experimental debris flow and compared with traditional quasi single-phase models and a recent physically enhanced two-phase model. It is found that the present quasi single-phase model performs much better than the traditional models, and is attractive in terms of computational cost while the two-phase model performs even better appreciably.     

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.     

Rainfall, landslide and debris flow intergrowth relationship in Jiangjia Ravine

Jiangjia Ravine is a world-famous debris flow valley in Dongchuan,Yunnan Province,China.Every year large numbers of landslides and collapses happened and caused enormous damages to people’s properties and lives.With longtime observation and testing in Jiangjia Ravine we had found out one kind of special landslide which had the characteristics of landslide and collapse.Landslide and collapse supplied sufficient materials for debris flow.When a debris flow broke out,some kind of intergrowth existed among rainfall,landslide and debris flow.In order to study the intergrowth and some key parameters,we carried out artificial rainfall landslide tests and model experiments to observe the phenomena such as collapse,surface slide and surface flow.By observing the experimental phenomena and monitoring water contents,the transformation process among landslide deposits and debris flow under the condition of rainfall had been analyzed.Research results revealed the relationship of this kind of intergrowth among rainfall,landslide and debris flow in Jiangjia Ravine.Meanwhile,it was found that this kind of intergrowth relationship existed only when the moisture content was in a certain range.That is,the critical state seemed to be existed in the transformation process.     

Typhoon-dominated influence on wood debris distribution and transportation in a high gradient headwater catchment

Wood debris is an important component of mountain streams. It causes serious damage and renders difficulty of water resource management in Taiwan. In this study, the quantity of wood debris and variation of migratory wood debris during flood events were examined. The downstream of Gaoshan Creek and Qijiawan Creek, located at Central Taiwan, was selected as the study area. The distribution and dynamic of wood debris in a high gradient headwater catchment were quantified using field surveys. A formula of critical depth for wood debris entrainment was used to evaluate the wood debris migration during three flooding events. In the study area, wood abundance and unit volume increased downstream, and wood density decreased downstream within a channel network. The channel morphology, riparian vegetation, and wood debris characteristics were found to influence the wood storage. As a result, the wood debris has an irregular accumulative distribution in the steep stream, and it migrates easily in the stream because of a high flow discharge. Strong relationships between the channel width and wood debris variables are discovered. Moreover, wood debris has a tendency to accumulate at sites with low stream power and wood debris dams, topographical notches, and unique geological structures. Our findings assist in the understanding of the effects of channel characteristics on distributions of wood debris in steep stream systems.     

Outlining a stepwise,multi-parameter debris flow monitoring and warning system: an example of application in Aizi Valley,China

In recent years, the increasing frequency of debris flow demands enhanced effectiveness and efficiency of warning systems. Effective warning systems are essential not only from an economic point of view but are also considered as a frontline approach to alleviate hazards. Currently, the key issues are the imbalance between the limited lifespan of equipment, the relatively long period between the recurrences of such hazards, and the wide range of critical rainfall that trigger these disasters. This paper attempts to provide a stepwise multi-parameter debris flow warning system after taking into account the shortcomings observed in other warning systems. The whole system is divided into five stages. Different warning levels can be issued based on the critical rainfall thresholds. Monitoring starts when early warning is issued and it continues with debris flow near warning, triggering warning, movement warning and hazard warning stages. For early warning, historical archives of earthquake and drought are used to choose a debris flow-susceptible site for further monitoring. Secondly, weather forecasts provide an alert of possible near warning. Hazardous precipitation, model calculation and debris flow initiation tests, pore pressure sensors and water content sensors are combined to check the critical rainfall and to publically announce a triggering warning. In the final two stages, equipment such as rainfall gauges, flow stage sensors, vibration sensors, low sound sensors and infrasound meters are used to assess movement processes and issue hazard warnings. In addition to these warnings, community-based knowledge and information is also obtained and discussed in detail. The proposed stepwise, multi-parameter debris flow monitoring and warning system has been applied in Aizi valley China which continuously monitors the debris flow activities.