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Debris flows in the Lushan earthquake area: formation characteristics, rainfall conditions, and evolutionary tendency

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Abstract

Debris flows often occur in the mountainous watersheds of earthquake-affected areas, and in the Lushan earthquake area of southwestern China, they have become a significant hazard. In this study, the influencing factors and spatial distribution of debris flows were analyzed through a review of their occurrence history. Debris flows are mainly distributed in the northwestern part of the study area, which hosts the greatest density of active faults. The debris flows are generally formed by the ‘progressive bulking’ effect in channels, and deep incision, lateral erosion, and blockage breaking are common processes that amplify the magnitude of such debris flows. Rainfall thresholds for different types of debris flow were proposed to explain the spatial differences between debris-flow regions, and the temporal variations of those thresholds highlighted how the rainfall conditions required for the occurrence of debris flows have changed. Natural vegetation recovery, reduction in the availability of solid material, and artificial debris-flow control projects play important roles in raising the threshold of the rainfall conditions required for triggering debris flows.

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Source material distribution and debris-flow development process

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Second Qinghai-Tibet Plateau Scientific Research (2019QZKK0903-02), National Research and Development Program (2020YFC1512000 and 2017YFC1502504), NSFC (41977257), Department of Land and Resources Project of Sichuan Province (KJ-2018-22), and Western Light of Young Scholars, CAS. We thank James Buxton MSc from Liwen Bianji, Edanz Group China (www.liwenbianji.cn/ac), for editing the English text of this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Mountain Hazards and Surface Process, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Xiaojun Guo

  2. CAS Center for Excellence in Tibetan Plateau Earth Sciences, Beijing, 100101, China

    Xiaojun Guo

  3. School of Environment and Resource, Southwest University of Science and Technology, Mianyang, 621020, China

    Xingchang Chen

  4. Sichuan Institute of Geological Engineering Investigation Group Co. LTD, Chengdu, 610032, China

    Guohu Song

  5. School of Geological Engineering and Surveying, Changan University, Xi’an, 710064, China

    Jianqi Zhuang

  6. Sichuan Provincial Meteorological Observatory, Chengdu, 610072, China

    Jianglin Fan

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  1. Xiaojun Guo
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Guo, X., Chen, X., Song, G. et al. Debris flows in the Lushan earthquake area: formation characteristics, rainfall conditions, and evolutionary tendency. Nat Hazards 106, 2663–2687 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-021-04559-2

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