Potential sediment sources identification of debris flows in the Jiangjia Gully,China

It is of great significance for gully prevention and management to identify the potential sediment source of debris flow. Debris flow in a gully always originates from tributaries that have different gravity potential energies and sediment condition. In this study, tributaries of the Jiangjia Gully(JJG) in Yunnan province, China, are taken as the study area to determine the possible sediment sources of debris flow. It was found that tributaries with a high evolution index(EI, the integral of the hypsometric curve) always had high gravity potential energy, which favors the occurrence of landslide activity. Furthermore, the relationship between sediment distribution, gravity potential energy, and EI is compared, respectively. The results showed that the EI had a greater influence on the occurrence of landslides, and sediments were concentrated in tributaries with EI between 0.5 and 0.6. Accordingly, tributaries with EI 0.5 were identified as the sediment sources of debris flow. In addition, the shape of a tributary was related to EI and can reflect the condition of water and sediment storage.