IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/nathaz/v106y2021i1d10.1007_s11069-021-04501-6.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Study of kinematic characteristics of a rock avalanche and subsequent erosion process due to a debris flow in Wenjia gully, Sichuan, China

Author

Listed:
  • Chao Kang

    (University of Northern British Columbia)

  • Dongxing Ren

    (Chengdu Surveying Geotechnical Research Institute Co., Ltd. of MCC)

  • Xiaofeng Gao

    (Chengdu Surveying Geotechnical Research Institute Co., Ltd. of MCC)

  • Chuntan Han

    (Chinese Academy of Sciences)

  • Yuxi Wang

    (Third Institute Geology and Mineral Exploration of Gansu Province Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources)

Abstract

This paper aims to systematically study kinematic characteristics of Wenjiagou rock avalanche triggered by the M8.0 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and one of subsequent debris flows that occurred on August 13, 2010 (8.13 debris flow), using a numerical approach. The kinematic characteristics of the rock avalanche are back-calculated using an energy-based runout model. The erosion process of the subsequent rainfall-induced debris flow is analyzed using a progressive scouring entrainment model incorporated in the energy-based runout model. The results indicate that Wenjiagou rock avalanche traveled farther than most other rock avalanches with a maximum velocity of approximately 73 m/s detected at about 1700 m away from the source zone. The erosion of the 8.13 debris flow mainly occurred right after the dam failure which contributes to more than 97% of the total eroded volume. Besides, four different scenarios, including no blockage of the runoff (scenario I), no dam failure (scenario II), dam failure at the end of precipitation (scenario III), and no erodible material (scenario IV), are supposed to study the effect of the failure of a check dam on the erosion characteristics of the debris flow. The results reveal that the blockage of the channel without failure could reduce 86% of the total volume and the failure of check dams is the main reason for the destructive consequence of the 8.13 debris flow. This paper proposes an approach to explore kinematic characteristics of a rock avalanche and erosion process of the subsequent rainfall-induced debris flows and also innovatively provides a method to indirectly assess mitigation strategies that can be used for the design of mitigation projects.

Suggested Citation

  • Chao Kang & Dongxing Ren & Xiaofeng Gao & Chuntan Han & Yuxi Wang, 2021. "Study of kinematic characteristics of a rock avalanche and subsequent erosion process due to a debris flow in Wenjia gully, Sichuan, China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 106(1), pages 937-964, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:106:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s11069-021-04501-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11069-021-04501-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11069-021-04501-6
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11069-021-04501-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. H. Ni & W. Zheng & Y. Tie & P. Su & Y. Tang & R. Xu & D. Wang & X. Chen, 2012. "Formation and characteristics of post-earthquake debris flow: a case study from Wenjia gully in Mianzhu, Sichuan, SW China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 61(2), pages 317-335, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yao Shunyu & Nazir Ahmed Bazai & Tang Jinbo & Jiang Hu & Yi Shujian & Zou Qiang & Tashfain Ahmed & Guo Jian, 2022. "Dynamic process of a typical slope debris flow: a case study of the wujia gully, Zengda, Sichuan Province, China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 112(1), pages 565-586, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yao Shunyu & Nazir Ahmed Bazai & Tang Jinbo & Jiang Hu & Yi Shujian & Zou Qiang & Tashfain Ahmed & Guo Jian, 2022. "Dynamic process of a typical slope debris flow: a case study of the wujia gully, Zengda, Sichuan Province, China," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 112(1), pages 565-586, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:nathaz:v:106:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1007_s11069-021-04501-6. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.