Geohazard cascade and mechanism of large debris flows in Tianmo gully, SE Tibetan Plateau and implications to hazard monitoring

Abstract

Alpine glaciers and permafrost are sensitive to climate change, and their degradation due to annual temperature increasing has already induced many mass movements such as debris flows. On September 4 of 2007, July 25–31 and September 5–8 of 2010, three large debris flows took place in Tianmo gully, a left-bank tributary of Parlung River, southeast Tibetan Plateau. The debris flows blocked the river, and a section of highway 450m long including a bridge 76m long were destroyed by the subsequent outburst flood. This paper, based on post-event investigations, witness accounts, news reports and satellite image interpretation, systematically analyses the geo-environments, climate conditions and sources of these debris flow events. Their differences in flow process, surge numbers and velocity suggest that they resulted from different geohazard processes, cascades and initiation mechanisms. The 2007 debris flow originated from a bare rock/moraine collapse next to the cirque due to strong alternation of wet and dry conditions. The mass moved down the gully with velocity of 30–40m/s estimated by back-calculation using superelevation and run-up. It entrained moraine, avalanched snow-ice and water from the channel, and transformed into high-speed debris flow, crossing the Parlung River and finally depositing onto the highway. The other two events in July and September of 2010 initiated from two channel-bank landslides triggered by melt-water and concentrated rainfall, which dammed the channel. The subsequent landslide dam failure generated debris flows over several days, with velocities of 12–14m/s, that temporally blocked Parlung River. The initiation mechanisms of most large debris flows recorded in Parlung region are similar to the events in Tianmo gully, originating either from rock/moraine avalanches or from the collapse of a landslide dam. This implies that the periglacial degradation of bedrock and moraine is the key process to be monitored and assessed under climate warming. The paper applies the geohazard mechanisms and cascade to hazard monitoring in order to protect the existing Sichuan-Tibet highway and the forthcoming railway.