Morphometry of the relief and debris flow features on the northern slope of the Great Caucasus

Abstract

The morphometric indicators of the relief significantly affect the debris flow features in the mountains. The key characteristics are the angles of inclination and height, and when considering heights in the first place we pay attention not to their absolute values, but to the nature of the distribution. In the presented study, the analysis of the numerical values of these two indicators for the Western, Central and Eastern Caucasus was carried out on the basis of the original digital model of the relief. The average value of the tilt angles in the Western Caucasus is 0,5° more than in the Central and Eastern, which contributes to more active debris flows. On the other hand, the Western Caucasus is distinguished by smaller elevation differences. From the position of this factor, the Central Caucasus is the most dangerous. Thus, the nature of the distribution of absolute altitudes, along with high forestation, neutralizes the factor of more significant angles of inclination of surfaces and causes less debris flow danger in the Western Caucasus relative to the Central and Eastern.