Factors controlling bed and bank erosion in the Illgraben (CH)
Debris flows can grow greatly in size and hazardous potential by eroding bed and bank materials. However, erosion mechanisms are poorly understood because debris flows are complex hybrids between a fluid flow and a moving mass of colliding particles, bed erodibility varies between events, and field...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
EDP Sciences
2023-01-01
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| Series: | E3S Web of Conferences |
| Online Access: | https://www.e3s-conferences.org/articles/e3sconf/pdf/2023/52/e3sconf_dfhm82023_01004.pdf |
| _version_ | 1828716239451586560 |
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| author | de Haas Tjalling McArdell Brian Nijland Wiebe Åberg Amanda Hirschberg Jacob de Jong Steven Huguenin Pierre |
| author_facet | de Haas Tjalling McArdell Brian Nijland Wiebe Åberg Amanda Hirschberg Jacob de Jong Steven Huguenin Pierre |
| author_sort | de Haas Tjalling |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Debris flows can grow greatly in size and hazardous potential by eroding bed and bank materials. However, erosion mechanisms are poorly understood because debris flows are complex hybrids between a fluid flow and a moving mass of colliding particles, bed erodibility varies between events, and field measurements are hard to obtain. Here, we (i) quantify the spatio-temporal patterns of erosion and deposition and (ii) identify the key controls on debris-flow erosion in the Illgraben (CH). We use a dataset that combines information on flow properties, antecedent rainfall, and bed and bank erosion for 13 debris flows that occurred between 2019 and 2021. We show that spatio-temporal patterns of erosion and deposition in natural debris-flow torrents can be highly variable and dynamic, and we identify a memory effect where erosion is strong at locations of strong deposition during previous flows and vice versa. We find that flow conditions and antecedent rainfall (affecting bed wetness) jointly control debris-flow erosion. We find statistically significant correlations between channel erosion/deposition and a wide range of flow conditions, including frontal flow depth, velocity, and discharge, and flow volume, cumulative shear stress and seismic energy, as well as antecedent rainfall. Overall, flow conditions describing the cumulative forces exerted at the bed during an event, such as cumulative shear stress and flow volume, best explain erosion. A shear-stress approach accounting for bed erodibility may therefore be applicable for modelling and predicting debris-flow erosion. This work can provide input for model development by identifying correlations of flow and bed conditions with erosion that models should oblige. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:09:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4eab9293988f42be8314c2cac138eff1 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2267-1242 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:09:33Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | EDP Sciences |
| record_format | Article |
| series | E3S Web of Conferences |
| spelling | doaj.art-4eab9293988f42be8314c2cac138eff12023-08-21T09:02:37ZengEDP SciencesE3S Web of Conferences2267-12422023-01-014150100410.1051/e3sconf/202341501004e3sconf_dfhm82023_01004Factors controlling bed and bank erosion in the Illgraben (CH)de Haas Tjalling0McArdell Brian1Nijland Wiebe2Åberg Amanda3Hirschberg Jacob4de Jong Steven5Huguenin Pierre6Department of Physical Geography, Utrecht UniversitySwiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLDepartment of Physical Geography, Utrecht UniversityDepartment of Physical Geography, Utrecht UniversitySwiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLDepartment of Physical Geography, Utrecht UniversitySwiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research WSLDebris flows can grow greatly in size and hazardous potential by eroding bed and bank materials. However, erosion mechanisms are poorly understood because debris flows are complex hybrids between a fluid flow and a moving mass of colliding particles, bed erodibility varies between events, and field measurements are hard to obtain. Here, we (i) quantify the spatio-temporal patterns of erosion and deposition and (ii) identify the key controls on debris-flow erosion in the Illgraben (CH). We use a dataset that combines information on flow properties, antecedent rainfall, and bed and bank erosion for 13 debris flows that occurred between 2019 and 2021. We show that spatio-temporal patterns of erosion and deposition in natural debris-flow torrents can be highly variable and dynamic, and we identify a memory effect where erosion is strong at locations of strong deposition during previous flows and vice versa. We find that flow conditions and antecedent rainfall (affecting bed wetness) jointly control debris-flow erosion. We find statistically significant correlations between channel erosion/deposition and a wide range of flow conditions, including frontal flow depth, velocity, and discharge, and flow volume, cumulative shear stress and seismic energy, as well as antecedent rainfall. Overall, flow conditions describing the cumulative forces exerted at the bed during an event, such as cumulative shear stress and flow volume, best explain erosion. A shear-stress approach accounting for bed erodibility may therefore be applicable for modelling and predicting debris-flow erosion. This work can provide input for model development by identifying correlations of flow and bed conditions with erosion that models should oblige.https://www.e3s-conferences.org/articles/e3sconf/pdf/2023/52/e3sconf_dfhm82023_01004.pdf |
| spellingShingle | de Haas Tjalling McArdell Brian Nijland Wiebe Åberg Amanda Hirschberg Jacob de Jong Steven Huguenin Pierre Factors controlling bed and bank erosion in the Illgraben (CH) E3S Web of Conferences |
| title | Factors controlling bed and bank erosion in the Illgraben (CH) |
| title_full | Factors controlling bed and bank erosion in the Illgraben (CH) |
| title_fullStr | Factors controlling bed and bank erosion in the Illgraben (CH) |
| title_full_unstemmed | Factors controlling bed and bank erosion in the Illgraben (CH) |
| title_short | Factors controlling bed and bank erosion in the Illgraben (CH) |
| title_sort | factors controlling bed and bank erosion in the illgraben ch |
| url | https://www.e3s-conferences.org/articles/e3sconf/pdf/2023/52/e3sconf_dfhm82023_01004.pdf |
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