The influence of subsurface moisture on rill system evolution

Rill development studies have focused almost exclusively on surface erosion processes and critical threshold hydraulic conditions. Characteristic rill features, such as arcuate headcuts and knickpoints, are morphologically similar to the ‘theatre-headed’ valleys which have been associated with ‘sapping’ processes at various scales. This paper reports on laboratory experiments designed to identify linkages between surface flow hydraulics, subsurface moisture conditions and rill development. Experiments were carried out in a 16·57 m² flume under simulated rainfall with soil samples up to 0·15 m depth in which moisture conditions were monitored by miniature time-domain reflectometer probes. Tests showed complex responses in which some rill incision reflected surface flow conditions, but major rill system development with markedly enhanced sediment yield was closely associated with high soil moisture contents. It was not possible to measure seepage forces directly, but calculation and observation indicate that these were less important than reduction in soil strength with saturation, which resulted in increased effective runoff erosivity. This caused concentrated undercutting along the water table at rill walls, while slightly stronger surface layers above the water table formed microscarps. These retreated along the water table into interrill surfaces, producing residual pediment transport slopes. The microscarps eventually disappeared when the water table reached the surface, eliminating differential soil strength. The experiments showed complex relationships between surface and subsurface erosional processes in evolving rill systems, strongly influenced by soil moisture dynamics. The very small topographic and hydraulic head amplitudes indicate that seepage forces and ‘sapping’ were minimal. The dominant effect of soil moisture was reduction of soil strength with saturation, and increased runoff entrainment. Experimental conditions were not unusual, either for agricultural fields or natural hillslopes, and the intricate interrelationship of surface and subsurface erosion processes observed is probably not uncommon. Attempts to link specific morphologic features at rill scale to dominance of surface or subsurface processes alone are therefore unlikely to be successful or reliable. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Floodplain sedimentation and sensitivity: summer 1993 flood,Upper Mississippi River Valley

Patterns of overbank sedimentation in the vicinity of, and far removed from, levee breaks that occurred in response to the >100 year, summer 1993 flood in the upper Mississippi River valley are elucidated. Two suites of overbank deposits were associated with the failure of artificial levees within a 70 km long study reach. Circumjacent sand deposits are a component of the levee break complex that develops in the immediate vicinity of a break site. As epitomized by the levee break complex at Sny Island, these features consist of an erosional, scoured and/or stripped zone, together with a horseshoe-shaped, depositional zone. At locales farther removed from the break site, the impact of flooding was exclusively depositional and was attributed to the settling of suspended sediment from the water column. The overall picture was one of modest scour at break sites and minimal suspended deposition (<4 mm) at locales farther removed from the breach. Downriver from the confluence with the Missouri River, suspended sediment deposition was of a similar magnitude to that observed within the study reach and levee break complexes exhibited a similar morphology, but scour at break sites was greatly enhanced and the excavated sand formed extensive deposits on the floodplain surface. The different erosional response was probably engendered by the higher sand content and reduced aggregate cohesion of the floodplain soils downriver from the confluence with the Missouri River. A qualitative comparison serves to highlight the influence that the resistance threshold may have on the sensitivity of floodplains bordering large low-gradient rivers to high magnitude floods. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hillslopes in humid-tropical climates aren't always wet: Implications for hydrologic response and landslide initiation in Puerto Rico

The devastating impacts of the widespread flooding and landsliding in Puerto Rico following the September 2017 landfall of Hurricane Maria highlight the increasingly extreme atmospheric disturbances and enhanced hazard potential in mountainous humid-tropical climate zones. Long-standing conceptual models for hydrologically driven hazards in Puerto Rico posit that hillslope soils remain wet throughout the year, and therefore, that antecedent soil wetness imposes a negligible effect on hazard potential. Our post-Maria in situ hillslope hydrologic observations, however, indicate that while some slopes remain wet throughout the year, others exhibit appreciable seasonal and intra-storm subsurface drainage. Therefore, we evaluated the performance of hydro-meteorological (soil wetness and rainfall) versus intensity-duration (rainfall only) hillslope hydrologic response thresholds that identify the onset of positive pore-water pressure, a predisposing factor for widespread slope instability in this region. Our analyses also consider the role of soil-water storage and infiltration rates on runoff generation, which are relevant factors for flooding hazards. We found that the hydro-meteorological thresholds outperformed intensity-duration thresholds for a seasonally wet, coarse-grained soil, although they did not outperform intensity-duration thresholds for a perennially wet, fine-grained soil. These end-member soils types may also produce radically different stormflow responses, with subsurface flow being more common for the coarse-grained soils underlain by intrusive rocks versus infiltration excess and/or saturation excess for the fine-grained soils underlain by volcaniclastic rocks. We conclude that variability in soil-hydraulic properties, as opposed to climate zone, is the dominant factor that controls runoff generation mechanisms and modulates the relative importance of antecedent soil wetness for our hillslope hydrologic response thresholds.     

Thresholds for post-wildfire debris flows: Insights from the Pinal Fire,Arizona, USA

Wildfire significantly alters the hydrologic properties of a burned area, leading to increases in overland flow, erosion, and the potential for runoff-generated debris flows. The initiation of debris flows in recently burned areas is well characterized by rainfall intensity-duration (ID) thresholds. However, there is currently a paucity of data quantifying the rainfall intensities required to trigger post-wildfire debris flows, which limits our understanding of how and why rainfall ID thresholds vary in different climatic and geologic settings. In this study, we monitored debris-flow activity following the Pinal Fire in central Arizona, which differs from both a climatic and hydrogeomorphic perspective from other regions in the western United States where ID thresholds for post-wildfire debris flows are well established, namely the Transverse Ranges of southern California. Since the peak rainfall intensity within a rainstorm may exceed the rainfall intensity required to trigger a debris flow, the development of robust rainfall ID thresholds requires knowledge of the timing of debris flows within rainstorms. Existing post-wildfire debris-flow studies in Arizona only constrain the peak rainfall intensity within debris-flow-producing storms, which may far exceed the intensity that actually triggered the observed debris flow. In this study, we used pressure transducers within five burned drainage basins to constrain the timing of debris flows within rainstorms. Rainfall ID thresholds derived here from triggering rainfall intensities are, on average, 22 mm h⁻¹ lower than ID thresholds derived under the assumption that the triggering intensity is equal to the maximum rainfall intensity recorded during a rainstorm. We then use a hydrologic model to demonstrate that the magnitude of the 15-min rainfall ID threshold at the Pinal Fire site is associated with the rainfall intensity required to exceed a recently proposed dimensionless discharge threshold for debris-flow initiation. Model results further suggest that previously observed differences in regional ID thresholds between Arizona and the San Gabriel Mountains of southern California may be attributed, in large part, to differences in the hydraulic properties of burned soils. © 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Runoff-generated debris flows: Observation of initiation conditions and erosion–deposition dynamics along the channel at Cancia (eastern Italian Alps)

In the Dolomitic region, abundant coarse hillslope sediment is commonly found at the toe of rocky cliffs. Ephemeral channels originate where lower permeability bedrock surfaces concentrate surface runoff. Debris flows initiate along such channels following intense rainfall and determine the progressive erosion and deepening of the channels. Sediment recharge mechanisms include rock fall, dry ravel processes and channel-bank failures. Here we document debris flow activity that took place in an active debris flow basin during the year 2015. The Cancia basin is located on the southwestern slope of Mount Antelao (3264 m a.s.l.) in the dolomitic region of the eastern Italian Alps. The 2.5 km² basin is incised in dolomitic limestone rocks. The data consist of repeated topographic surveys, distributed rainfall measurements, time-lapse (2 s) videos of two events and pore pressure measurements in the channel bed. During July and August 2015, two debris flow events occurred, following similarly intense rainstorms. We compared rainfall data to existing rainfall triggering thresholds and simulated the hydrological response of the headwater catchment with a distributed model in order to estimate the total and peak water discharge. Our data clearly illustrate how debris entrainment along the channel is the main contributor to the overall mobilized volume and that erosion is dominant when the channel slope exceeds 16°. Further downstream, sediment accumulation and depletion occurred alternately for the two successive events, indicating that sediment availability along the channel also influences the flow behaviour along the prevailing-transport reach. The comparison between monitoring data, topographical analysis and hydrological simulation allows the estimation of the average solid concentration of the two events and suggests that debris availability has a significant influence on the debris flow volume. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Not just an arid landscape problem: Springflow declines in a region with high rainfall

Competition between human use and spring-dependent systems puts these systems in jeopardy. This study analyzed whether Florida springs have experienced reductions in springflow over the last century using time series data from state and federal agencies. Of 57 springs, 26 exhibited negative trends in springflow; these declines were correlated with population growth, with groundwater withdrawals, and to a lesser extent with rainfall. Even in a region with abundant rainfall, population growth has impacted spring integrity.     

Effects of rainfall patterns on runoff and rainfall-induced erosion

Rainfall-induced erosion involves the detachment of soil particles by raindrop impact and their transport by the combined action of the shallow surface runoff and raindrop impact.Although temporal variation in rainfall intensity(pattern)during natural rainstorms is a common phenomenon,the available information is inadequate to understand its effects on runoff and rainfall-induced erosion processes.To address this issue,four simulated rainfall patterns(constant,increasing,decreasing,and increasing-decreasing)with the same total kinetic energy were designed.Two soil types(sandy and sandy loam)were subjected to simulated rainfall using 15 cm×30 cm long detachment trays under infiltration conditions.For each simulation,runoff and sediment concentration were sampled at regular intervals.No obvious difference was observed in runoff across the two soil types,but there were significant differences in soil losses among the different rainfall patterns and stages.For varying-intensity rainfall patterns,the dominant sediment transport mechanism was not only influenced by raindrop detachment but also was affected by raindrop-induced shallow flow transport.Moreover,the efficiency of equations that predict the interrill erosion rate increased when the integrated raindrop impact and surface runoff rate were applied.Although the processes of interrill erosion are complex,the findings in this study may provide useful insight for developing models that predict the effects of rainfall pattern on runoff and erosion.     

降雨条件下边坡体积含水率变化规律研究

持续降雨是边坡发生失稳破坏的主要诱因之一,基于饱和—非饱和渗流理论,对梅州市大埔县某边坡的渗流场进行模拟,研究在不同降雨工况下该边坡土体体积含水率的时空变化规律。研究结果表明:相同条件下,降雨强度越大(降雨历时越长),边坡表层土体体积含水率变化越大;降雨强度60 mm/d历时1 d的暴雨对边坡表层土体体积含水率的增幅作用存在着一定的滞后性,其余工况未表现出滞后现象;降雨强度为120mm/d和300 mm/d的两种工况各研究点任意时段体积含水率较为接近;当降雨强度达到60 mm/d以上时,边坡内部体积含水率空间变化主要受降雨历时影响,降雨历时越长,降雨入渗深度和体积含水率变化越大。     

Prediction of rainfall-triggered landslides: a test of the Antecedent Water Status Model

A rainfall-based landslide-triggering model, developed from previous landslide episodes in Wellington City, New Zealand, is tested for its ability to provide a 24-hour forecast of landslide occurrence. The model, referred to as the Antecedent Water Status Model, calculates an index of soil water, by running a daily water balance and applying a soil drainage factor to excess precipitation, over the preceding ten days. Together with the daily rainfall input, the soil water status has been used empirically to identify a threshold condition for landslide triggering. The prediction process provides a daily update of the soil water status and thereby the amount of rainfall required on the following day to equal or exceed the triggering threshold. The probability that this triggering rainfall will occur is then determined from the frequency/magnitude distribution of the local rainfall record. The model produces a satisfactory level of prediction, particularly for periods of concentrated landslide activity. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

中国东部夏季持续性降水日变化在淮河南北的差异分析

本文利用1961-2006年我国285站观测的逐时降水数据,分析了中国东部不同地区夏季平均降水日变化随降水持续时间的变化特征. 虽然整个东部地区都表现为短时降水峰值较一致地出现在下午17时左右,持续较长时间降水在清晨前后发生峰值降水,但持续性降水日变化的平均峰值时间以淮河为界存在显著南北差异. 北部地区的持续性降水峰值主要出现在02-06时前后;南部地区的持续性降水峰值时间出现在06-10时. 无论是降水强度或频次的日变化峰值的南北差异均较明显,但降水强度差异更为突出,且主要表现在持续性强降水中. 进一步分析发现：一方面北部地区持续性强降水开始时间较南部地区更早;另一方面,北部地区降水从开始到峰值经历的时间更短. 最后,对持续性强降水峰值时间南北差异的可能原因进行了初步讨论.