Identification of debris flow hazard on alluvial fans in the Canadian Rocky Mountains

1987 ◽  
pp. 115-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lionel E. Jackson ◽  
R. A. Kostaschuk ◽  
G. M. MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flow ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Alluvial Fans ◽  
Canadian Rocky Mountains ◽  
Debris Flow Hazard

Unusual disturbance: forest change following a catastrophic debris flow in the Canadian Rocky Mountains

2006 ◽  
Vol 36 (9) ◽  
pp. 2204-2215 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stewart B Rood
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flow ◽  
Populus Tremuloides ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Forest Type ◽  
Populus Trichocarpa ◽  
Heavy Rain ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Canadian Rocky Mountains ◽  
Forest Change ◽  
Riparian Tree

Trees are often well adapted to periodic physical disturbances such as fires or floods. However, I investigated forest response to an extremely unusual disturbance event. Following heavy rain in June 1995 a catastrophic debris flow from Vimy Peak in the Canadian Rocky Mountains terminated as an alluvial debris fan that plowed through a trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) grove. I analyzed the site over a decade to monitor forest response and determine whether there would be recolonization to the prior forest type. In contrast to my expectation, aspen recolonization did not occur; instead, black cottonwoods (Populus trichocarpa Torr. & Gray) colonized the site. These originated from seedlings and not through clonal propagation, and by 2004, black cottonwoods composed 99% of the saplings and were typically 0.6–1.4 m tall with a density of about 1/m2. The debris fan dramatically changed the physical environment, which partly resembled a floodplain depositional zone and was colonized by the regionally dominant riparian tree. I propose the concept of foreign disturbance to recognize an unusual disturbance that an organism would very rarely experience and thus to which it is unlikely to be adapted. In this example the disturbance produced an abrupt transition to an alternative forest type and this response may provide insight into forest response to other unusual disturbances, such as extreme weather events, that might increase with climate change.

Process and discharge estimation in ephemeral channels, Canadian Rocky Mountains

1984 ◽  
Vol 21 (9) ◽  
pp. 1050-1060 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph R. Desloges ◽  
James S. Gardner
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flow ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Canadian Rocky Mountains ◽  
Alluvial Channels ◽  
Channel Processes ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Ephemeral Channels ◽  
Multiple Process ◽  
Instantaneous Discharge ◽  
Discharge Estimation

Process determinations and discharge estimates are made for 10 steep alpine channels in the Front and Main ranges of the southern Canadian Rocky Mountains. The catchments, which range in size from 0.17 to 1.13 km2, are sufficiently small that their runoff patterns are dominantly ephemeral and are characterized by processes that include water floods, debris flows, and snow avalanches.Longitudinal and cross-sectional channel profiles demonstrate the importance of bedrock control and the influence of one or more dominant processes. Debris flow channels have been partially scoured by water floods, and avalanche and debris flow sediments are noted in modified alluvial channels. The distribution and sorting of sediments support the multiple-process origin of specific channels or channel reaches.The discrimination of channel processes is essential for estimates of channel discharge. Slope/area and competence methods employed in fluvially dominated reaches of the 10 channels yield maximum instantaneous discharge estimates of between 1.1 and 12.2 m3 s−1. These discharges are generally not representative of the potential volumes of water and sediment released from the channels because of augmentation by both debris flow and avalanche processes. The design of roads and railways traversing these channels requires consideration of a range of processes of varying magnitudes.

Late Pleistocene subaerial debris-flow facies of the Bow Valley, near Banff, Canadian Rocky Mountains

Sedimentology ◽  
1988 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 465-480 ◽  
Author(s):  
NICHOLAS EYLES ◽  
CAROLYN H. EYLES ◽  
A. MARSHALL McCABE
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flow ◽  
Late Pleistocene ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Canadian Rocky Mountains

IDENTIFICATION OF ALLUVIAL FANS PRONE TO DEBRIS-FLOW HAZARD IN NORTHWESTERN BANKS PENINSULA

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline H. Nellis ◽  
◽  
Josh W. Borella ◽  
Josh W. Borella ◽  
Josh W. Borella
Keyword(s):  
Debris Flow ◽  
Alluvial Fans ◽  
Debris Flow Hazard
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document