The formation and failure of natural dams

Costa, John E.; Schuster, Robert L.

doi:10.3133/ofr87392

Cited by 253 publications

(443 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Natural dams most commonly result from blockage of drainage paths by landslides, debris flows, glaciers, and glacial moraines [Costa and Schuster, 1988 …”

Section: Natural and Constructed Damsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methods for predicting peak discharge of floods caused by failure of natural and constructed earthen dams

Walder¹,

O’Connor²

1997

Water Resources Research

311

219

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that may be poorly known, especially for natural dams. We will show that the essential kinematics of breach formation and hydraulics of flow through a breach can be summarized in a physical model that leads to a computationally simple, essentially graphical method of predicting peak discharge from breaching of an earthen dam. Our method "predicts" peak discharges that agree well with observational data from past dam failures and involves no arbitrarily adjustable parameters.The remainder of this paper is organized as follows: We first discuss briefly the diverse characteristics of earthen dams. We then present and critically assess regression equations relating peak discharge (

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“…Natural dams most commonly result from blockage of drainage paths by landslides, debris flows, glaciers, and glacial moraines [Costa and Schuster, 1988 …”

Section: Natural and Constructed Damsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Methods for predicting peak discharge of floods caused by failure of natural and constructed earthen dams

Walder¹,

O’Connor²

1997

Water Resources Research

311

219

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The formation of a landslide dam results from the natural blockage of the river channels by hillslope-derived mass movements (Costa and Schuster 1988). Most landslide dam disasters due to excessively rainfall or earthquake events (Schuster 1993) occur in landslideprone countries, including New Zealand (Korup 2004, Korup 2005Korup and Tweed 2007), Japan (Tabata et al 2002), China (Chen et al 1992;Dai et al 2005;Liu et al 2010), and especially Taiwan with its frequent torrential rainfall and earthquake events (Chen 1999;Shou and Wang 2003;Hsu and Hsu 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The floods resulting from the bursting of a landslide dam can result in serious bank erosion and inundation of populated areas and farmland near the river. The longevity of a landslide dam depends on the discharge into the impoundment, geomorphologic factors, and the composition of the dam (Costa and Schuster 1988). The existence time of a landslide dam directly determines the seriousness of the subsequent flooding.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The existence time of a landslide dam directly determines the seriousness of the subsequent flooding. Due to the seriousness of the event and insufficient reaction time, the failure of a landslide dam and the subsequent flooding have often resulted in numerous deaths (Costa and Schuster 1988;Shroder 1998;Chen et al 1992;Dai et al 2005;Duman 2009). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Formation, failure, and consequences of the Xiaolin landslide dam, triggered by extreme rainfall from Typhoon Morakot, Taiwan

Wu¹,

Chen²,

Zhang³

2013

Landslides

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An extreme rainfall event on August 9, 2009, which was close to setting a world record for 48-h accumulated rainfall, induced the Xiaolin deep-seated landslide, which was located in southwestern Taiwan and had volume of 27.6×10 6 m 3 , and caused the formation of a landslide dam. The landslide dam burst in a very short time, and little information remained afterward. We reconstructed the process of formation and failure of the Xiaolin landslide dam and also inferred the area of the impoundment and topographic changes. A 5 × 5-m digital elevation model, the recorded water stage of the Qishan River, and data from field investigation were used for analysis. The spectral magnitude of the seismic signals induced by the Xiaolin landslide and flooding due to failure of the landslide dam were analyzed to estimate the timing of the dam breach and the peak discharge of the subsequent flood. The Xiaolin landslide dam failure resulted from overtopping. We verified the longevity of the Xiaolin landslide dam at about 2h relying on seismic signals and water level records. In addition, the inundated area, volume of the impoundment behind the Xiaolin landslide dam, and peak discharge of the flood were estimated at 92.3ha, 19.5×10 6 m 3 , and 17×10 3 m 3 /s, respectively. The mean velocity of the flood-recession wave front due to the dam blockage was estimated at 28km/h, and the peak flooding velocity after failure of the dam was estimated at 23km/h. The Xiaolin landslide provides an invaluable opportunity for understanding the mechanism of deep-seated landslides and flooding processes following a landslide dam failure.

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“…Glacier-dammed lakes are common in glacierized mountain regions around the world (Costa and Schuster, 1988;Clague and Evans, 1994); Post and Mayo (1971) and Clague, 1984;Costa and Schuster, 1988;Clague and Evans, 1994;Clague and Evans, 1997;Oswald and Wohl, 2007;Mayer et al, 2008). Hundreds of lives have been lost and hundreds of millions of dollars damage have resulted from sudden outbursts of rapidly evolving glacial lakes because the hazard was not been identified until after disasters (Wessels et al, 2002).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolution of glacier-dammed lakes through space and time; Brady Glacier, Alaska, USA

Capps

Clague

2014

Geomorphology

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Glacier-dammed lakes and their associated jökulhlaups cause severe flooding in downstream areas and substantially influence glacier dynamics. The goal of this dissertation is to identify and characterize the evolution of glacier-dammed lakes in order to predict their future behaviour using ground-truthed remote sensing techniques and dendrochronology. Brady Glacier in southeast Alaska is particularly well suited for a study of these phenomena because it presently dams ten large (> 1 km 2 ) lakes and many smaller ones. This dissertation comprises three studies. First, I used interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR) to identify and characterize three previously unknown subglacial lakes. InSAR allowed me to quantify the vertical displacement and volume of water discharged from the three lakes through time. From the fall of 1995 to the spring of 1996, subsidence ranged from 4 to 26 cm/day and the volume of water discharged ranged from 22,000 ± 2000 to 243,000 ± 14,000 m 3 /day. Subsidence and discharge rates declined significantly during the winter and continued at a lesser rate through March. Second, I used dendrochronology and precise elevation-constrained mapping to date glacially overridden and drowned trees at the glacier margin. Brady Glacier impounded Spur Lake to an elevation of 83 m a.s.l. around AD 1830 and 121 m a.s.l. around 1839. The glacier continued to advance, thickening by at least 77 m between ca. 1844 and 1859 at a site down-glacier of Spur Lake on the opposite glacier margin. Farther down-glacier, North Trick Lake began to form by 1861 and reached its highest elevation at approximately 130 m a.s.l. when Brady Glacier reached its maximum extent around 1880. Third, I georeferenced a variety of maps, airphotos, and optical satellite imagery to characterize the evolution of the glacier and lakes and also created five bathymetric maps. The main terminus of Brady Glacier has changed little since 1880. However, it downwasted at rates of 2-3 m/yr between 1948 and 2000, more than the regional average. The most dramatic retreat (2 km) and downwasting (123 m) occurred adjacent to glacierdammed lakes. These lakes will continue to evolve and play a pivotal role in the evolution of Brady Glacier. If downwasting and retreat continue at rates comparable to the past, the glacier may return to a tidewater regimen and retreat catastrophically until it stabilizes in shallow water.

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The formation and failure of natural dams

Abstract: In the Oisans, Western Alps, a (land)slip in 1181 made a lake ten kilometers long, known as Lac de St. Laurent, and the farmers of the valley became fishermen...." (Davis, 1882; p. 370-371).

Cited by 253 publications

References 28 publications

Methods for predicting peak discharge of floods caused by failure of natural and constructed earthen dams

Methods for predicting peak discharge of floods caused by failure of natural and constructed earthen dams

Formation, failure, and consequences of the Xiaolin landslide dam, triggered by extreme rainfall from Typhoon Morakot, Taiwan

Evolution of glacier-dammed lakes through space and time; Brady Glacier, Alaska, USA

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