Gully recharge rates and debris flows: A combined numerical modeling and field-based investigation, Haida Gwaii, British Columbia

Abstract

Rainfall, snowmelt and/or other mass movements are possible triggers to initiate debris flows. In supply-limited landscapes, clastic and organic materials (together termed debris) accumulate in the gully via various geomorphic processes that occur on gully sidewalls. The conceptualization of this phenomenon has been termed the gully recharge rate, with several recent field studies measuring such rates in coastal British Columbia. In the present study, a simple numerical model is introduced to estimate debris flow volumes in Haida Gwaii, British Columbia based on debris flow recurrence intervals, gully recharge rates and factors affecting deposition of debris flow material. Debris flow volumes obtained in model runs are somewhat lower than field-based values by about half, which is a reasonable result for this exploratory study. The annual erosion rate (clastic material) for debris flows in the model run is 0.031mmyr−1. This value is about 0.57× of the field-based value and is lower than the erosion rate for debris slides in Haida Gwaii of ~0.1mmyr−1. Deposition of debris flows in the model occurs in 60% of cases due to a decrease in channel gradient, with deposition resulting from high stream junction angles being less common. Locations for initiation of debris flow deposition were situated in stream orders 3 and 4 in 60% of cases. Sensitivity analysis shows that in comparison to other model variables, recharge rate has the greatest effect on the statistics and frequency distributions of debris flow volumes and total debris flow volume (summation of all debris activity in a basin) over the study time period.