Debris-flow activity and snow avalanches in a steep watershed of the Valais Alps (Switzerland): Dendrogeomorphic event reconstruction and identification of triggers

Szymczak, Sonja; Bollschweiler, Michelle; Stoffel, Markus; Dikau, Richard

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2009.10.012

Cited by 55 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 40 publications

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“…On the other hand, both the lag in and persistence of TRD and reaction wood formation are speciesspecific and differ along the stem, which is a source of uncertainty in dating (Heinrich and Gärtner, 2008;Gärt-ner and Heinrich, 2009;Schneuwly et al, 2009). Mainly in places where two or more types of mass movements are common and differ only in the season of their occurrence does this type of sample analysis play a key role Szymczak et al, 2010;KogelnikMayer et al, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The most important information recorded in TRDs is their position inside a tree ring; therefore, they are very often used to achieve better than one-year resolution in dating Szymczak et al, 2010). The basic principle is that the TRDs in one of the first layers of cells of a specific tree ring indicate mechanical damage to the tree during the previous dormancy; TRDs occurring in the second half of the tree ring indicate that a disturbance took place during the growing season Szymczak et al, 2010).…”

Section: Traumatic Resin Ducts (Trd)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The basic principle is that the TRDs in one of the first layers of cells of a specific tree ring indicate mechanical damage to the tree during the previous dormancy; TRDs occurring in the second half of the tree ring indicate that a disturbance took place during the growing season Szymczak et al, 2010). However, a tree's response to disturbances seems to be complex and species-specific (Gärtner and Heinrich, 2009).…”

Section: Traumatic Resin Ducts (Trd)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Meta-analysis of dendrochronological dating of mass movements

Tumajer

Treml

2012

Geochronometria

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Absolute dating of mass movements is crucial for disentangling possible release factors and determining the frequency of events. Here, we present an overview of a recent approach to dendrochronological dating of rockfalls, flows, landslides and avalanches. The results, based on 69 casestudies, show that methodological approaches to sampling and material processing differ considerably for different types of mass movements. Landslides are usually detected through abrupt growth changes and changes in stem eccentricity, whereas high-energy events as avalanches and flows are mostly identified by the formation of traumatic resin ducts, reaction wood, growth injuries and eccentricity changes. Cross-dating of dead wood is applicable as well. The dating of most mass movements except landslides is common, even with sub-annual resolution. In comparison to other methods of absolute dating, the main benefit of dendrochronology still lies in the high temporal resolution of the results. If living material is accessible, on-going research progress makes absolute dating of most mass-wasting events possible with sub-annual precision.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Traumatic Resin Ducts (Trd)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Traumatic Resin Ducts (Trd)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Meta-analysis of dendrochronological dating of mass movements

Tumajer

Treml

2012

Geochronometria

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“…Observations in the source area also indicate that dry ravel of gravel and sand is also common in the summer months when the hillslopes are relatively dry. According to the event inventory, debris flows occur mainly between April and October (Szymczak et al, 2010). Small debris flows start and deposit in the upper catchment, often depositing at an area of lower slope located an elevation of approximately 2000 m a.s.l.…”

Section: Meretschibach Catchment Switzerlandmentioning

confidence: 99%

Debris-flow modeling at Meretschibach and Bondasca catchments, Switzerland: sensitivity testing of field-data-based entrainment model

Frank

McArdell

Oggier³

et al. 2017

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Debris-flow volumes can increase due to the incorporation of sediment into the flow as a consequence of channel-bed erosion along the flow path. This study describes a sensitivity analysis of the recently introduced RAMMS (Rapid Mass Movements) debris-flow entrainment model, which is intended to help solve problems related to predicting the runout of debris flows. The entrainment algorithm predicts the depth and rate of erosion as a function of basal shear stress based on an analysis of erosion measurements at the Illgraben catchment, Switzerland (Frank et al., 2015). Starting with a landslide-type initiation in the RAMMS model, the volume of entrained sediment was calculated for recent well-documented debris-flow events at the Bondasca and the Meretschibach catchments, Switzerland. The sensitivity to the initial landslide volume was investigated by systematically varying the initial landslide volume and comparing the resulting debris-flow volume with estimates from the field sites. In both cases, the friction coefficients in the RAMMS runout model were calibrated using the model, whereby the entrainment module was (1) inactivated to find plausible values for general flow properties by adjusting both coefficients (ξ and µ) and then (2) activated to further refine coefficient µ, which controls erosion (patterns). The results indicate that the model predicts plausible erosion volumes in comparison with field data. By including bulking due to entrainment in runout models, more realistic runout patterns are predicted in comparison to starting the model with the entire debris-flow volume (initial landslide plus entrained sediment). In particular, lateral bank overflow -not observed during these events -is prevented when using the sediment entrainment model, even in very steep (≈ 60-65 %) and narrow (4-6 m) torrent channels. Predicted sediment entrainment volumes are sensitive to the initial landslide volume, suggesting that the model may be useful for both reconstruction of historical events and the modeling of scenarios as part of a hazard analysis.

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“…Arbellay et al, 2010;Szymczak et al, 2010), as well as on (iii) periods of activity in currently abandoned channels .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Debris-flow activity in abandoned channels of the Manival torrent reconstructed with LiDAR and tree-ring data

Lopez-Saez¹,

Corona²,

Stoffel

et al. 2011

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. Hydrogeomorphic processes are a major threat in many parts of the Alps, where they periodically damage infrastructure, disrupt transportation corridors or even cause loss of life. Nonetheless, past torrential activity and the analysis of areas affected during particular events remain often imprecise. It was therefore the purpose of this study to reconstruct spatio-temporal patterns of past debris-flow activity in abandoned channels on the forested cone of the Manival torrent (Massif de la Chartreuse, French Prealps). A Light Detecting and Ranging (LiDAR) generated Digital Elevation Model (DEM) was used to identify five abandoned channels and related depositional forms (lobes, lateral levees) in the proximal alluvial fan of the torrent. A total of 156 Scots pine trees (Pinus sylvestris L.) with clear signs of debris flow events was analyzed and growth disturbances (GD) assessed, such as callus tissue, the onset of compression wood or abrupt growth suppression. In total, 375 GD were identified in the tree-ring samples, pointing to 13 debris-flow events for the period 1931-2008. While debris flows appear to be very common at Manival, they have only rarely propagated outside the main channel over the past 80 years. Furthermore, analysis of the spatial distribution of disturbed trees contributed to the identification of four patterns of debris-flow routing and led to the determination of three preferential breakout locations. Finally, the results of this study demonstrate that the temporal distribution of debris flows did not exhibit significant variations since the beginning of the 20th century.

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Debris-flow activity and snow avalanches in a steep watershed of the Valais Alps (Switzerland): Dendrogeomorphic event reconstruction and identification of triggers

Cited by 55 publications

References 40 publications

Meta-analysis of dendrochronological dating of mass movements

Meta-analysis of dendrochronological dating of mass movements

Debris-flow modeling at Meretschibach and Bondasca catchments, Switzerland: sensitivity testing of field-data-based entrainment model

Debris-flow activity in abandoned channels of the Manival torrent reconstructed with LiDAR and tree-ring data

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