Prolonged seismically induced erosion and the mass balance of a large earthquake

Hovius, Niels; Meunier, Patrick; Lin, Chih Chung; Chen, Hongey; Chen, Yue‐Gau; Dadson, Simon; Horng, Ming-Jame; Lines, Max

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2011.02.005

Cited by 370 publications

(362 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…In the event of the 6.4 (M S ) earthquake during 1999 in Garhwal Himalaya, Barnard et al (2001) found that only one-third of all 338 reactivated and induced landslides reached the rivers. However, stronger earthquakes with magnitudes M S < 7 might yield an even more pronounced effect on the overall sediment flux (Hovius et al, 2011). Despite several studies elaborating the link between earthquakes, landslides, and fluvial sediment transport in seismically active mountain belts (e.g.…”

Section: Geologic Controls On Suspended Sediment Fluxmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatic and geologic controls on suspended sediment flux in the Sutlej River Valley, western Himalaya

Wulf

Bookhagen

Scherler

2012

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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Abstract. The sediment flux through Himalayan rivers directly impacts water quality and is important for sustaining agriculture as well as maintaining drinking-water and hydropower generation. Despite the recent increase in demand for these resources, little is known about the triggers and sources of extreme sediment flux events, which lower water quality and account for extensive hydropower reservoir filling and turbine abrasion. Here, we present a comprehensive analysis of the spatiotemporal trends in suspended sediment flux based on daily data during the past decade (2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)) from four sites along the Sutlej River and from four of its main tributaries. In conjunction with satellite data depicting rainfall and snow cover, air temperature and earthquake records, and field observations, we infer climatic and geologic controls of peak suspended sediment concentration (SSC) events. Our study identifies three key findings: First, peak SSC events (≥ 99th SSC percentile) coincide frequently (57-80 %) with heavy rainstorms and account for about 30 % of the suspended sediment flux in the semi-arid to arid interior of the orogen. Second, we observe an increase of suspended sediment flux from the Tibetan Plateau to the Himalayan Front at mean annual timescales. This sediment-flux gradient suggests that averaged, modern erosion in the western Himalaya is most pronounced at frontal regions, which are characterized by high monsoonal rainfall and thick soil cover. Third, in seven of eight catchments, we find an anticlockwise hysteresis loop of annual sediment flux variations with respect to river discharge, which appears to be related to enhanced glacial sediment evacuation during late summer. Our analysis emphasizes the importance of unconsolidated sediments in the high-elevation sector that can easily be mobilized by hydrometeorological events and higher glacialmeltwater contributions. In future climate change scenarios, including continuous glacial retreat and more frequent monsoonal rainstorms across the Himalaya, we expect an increase in peak SSC events, which will decrease the water quality and impact hydropower generation.

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Section: Geologic Controls On Suspended Sediment Fluxmentioning

confidence: 99%

Climatic and geologic controls on suspended sediment flux in the Sutlej River Valley, western Himalaya

Wulf

Bookhagen

Scherler

2012

Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci.

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“…The analysis of earthquake-triggered landslide inventories was initiated by Keefer (1984) who performed a statistical analysis The 21 September 1999, Mw 7.5 Chi-chi earthquake in Taiwan resulted in a landslide inventory map that is comprised of 9,272 landslides interpreted from SPOT images (Liao and Lee 2000;Liao et al 2002). Furthermore, this inventory has also been used extensively to compare various landslide controlling factors with the landslide distribution (Weissel and Stark 2001;Wang et al 2003;Lin and Tung 2004;Lee et al 2008;Khazai and Sitar 2004) and geomorphology evolution in a part of the earthquake-affected area (Dadson et al 2003(Dadson et al , 2004(Dadson et al , 2005Hovius et al 2009Hovius et al , 2011Harp et al 2011a;Wasowski et al 2011). In addition, Wang et al (2002) reported the numbers of landslides to be approximately 26,000 (Wasowski et al 2011) when landslides of smaller size are included.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Three (nearly) complete inventories of landslides triggered by the May 12, 2008 Wenchuan Mw 7.9 earthquake of China and their spatial distribution statistical analysis

et al. 2013

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“…Only a few publications deal with landslide triggering and/or evolution in arid contexts such as the western Andean flank, where several gigantic scarps disrupt the forearc piedmont (Audin and Bechir, 2006;Pinto et al, 2008;Strasser and Schlunegger, 2005;Wörner et al, 2002;Mather et al, 2014;Crosta et al, 2015). In contrast, because of the potential seismotectonic trigger (Keefer, 1984(Keefer, , 2002McPhillips et al, 2014), landslide triggering along subduction active margins has been studied for a number of years, but most previous studies focused on humid climatic settings (Taiwan, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Japan; Meunier et al, 2008;Hovius et al, 2011). In southern Peru, the topographic gradient (average slope of 4 % between the coast and the Western Cordillera), the crustal seismotectonic activity and the aridity of the forearc region has been directly linked to Andean uplift and subduction of the Nazca Plate for the last 25 Myr at least (Devlin et al, 2012;Alpers and Brimhall, 1988;Dunai et al, 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tectonic and climatic controls on the Chuquibamba landslide (western Andes, southern Peru)

et al. 2015

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Abstract. The contribution of landslides to the Quaternary evolution of relief is poorly documented in arid contexts. In southern Peru and northern Chile, several massive landslides disrupt the arid western Andean front. The Chuquibamba landslide, located in southern Peru, belongs to this set of large landslides. In this area, the Incapuquio fault system captures the intermittent drainage network and localizes rotational landslides. Seismic activity is significant in this region with recurrent M w 9 subduction earthquakes; however, none of the latest seismic events have triggered a major landslide. New terrestrial cosmogenic dating of the Chuquibamba landslide provides evidence that the last major gravitational mobilization of these rotational landslide deposits occurred at ∼ 102 ka, during the Ouki wet climatic event identified on the Altiplano between 120 and 98 ka. Our results suggest that wet events in the arid and fractured context of the Andean forearc induced these giant debris flows. Finally, our study highlights the role of tectonics and climate on (i) the localization of large Andean landslides in the Western Cordillera and on (ii) the long-term mass transfer to the trench along the arid Andean front.

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Prolonged seismically induced erosion and the mass balance of a large earthquake

Cited by 370 publications

References 58 publications

Climatic and geologic controls on suspended sediment flux in the Sutlej River Valley, western Himalaya

Climatic and geologic controls on suspended sediment flux in the Sutlej River Valley, western Himalaya

Three (nearly) complete inventories of landslides triggered by the May 12, 2008 Wenchuan Mw 7.9 earthquake of China and their spatial distribution statistical analysis

Tectonic and climatic controls on the Chuquibamba landslide (western Andes, southern Peru)

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