Dating Torrential Processes on Fans and Cones: Methods and Their Application for Hazard and Risk Assessment

438 Pages·2013·12.636 MB·English

by  Markus Stoffel (auth.), Michelle Schneuwly-Bollschweiler, Markus Stoffel, Florian Rudolf-Miklau (eds.)

Dating Torrential Processes on Fans and Cones
ADVANCES IN GLOBAL CHANGE RESEARCH
VOLUME47
Editor-in-Chief
MartinBeniston,UniversityofGeneva,Switzerland
Editorial Advisory Board
B. Allen-Diaz, Department ESPM-Ecosystem Sciences, University of California, Berkeley,
CA,U.S.A.
R.S.Bradley,DepartmentofGeosciences,UniversityofMassachusetts,Amherst,MA,U.S.A.
W. Cramer, Department of Global Change and Natural Systems, Potsdam Institute for
ClimateImpactResearch,Potsdam,Germany.
H.F.Diaz,ClimateDiagnosticsCenter,OceanicandAtmosphericResearch,NOAA,Boulder,
CO,U.S.A.
S. Erkman, Institute for communication and Analysis of Science and Technology–ICAST,
Geneva,Switzerland
R.GarciaHerrera,FaculateddeFisicas,UniversidadComplutense,Madrid,Spain
M.Lal,CenterforAtmosphericSciences,IndianInstituteofTechnology,NewDelhi,India.
U. Luterbacher, The Graduate Institute of International Studies, University of Geneva,
Geneva,Switzerland.
I. Noble, CRC for Greenhouse Accounting and Research School of Biological Science,
AustralianNationalUniversity,Canberra,Australia.
L.Tessier,InstitutMediterrane´end’EcologieetPale´oe´cologie,Marseille,France.
F.Toth,InternationalInstituteforAppliedSystemsAnalysisLaxenburg,Austria.
M.M. Verstraete, Institute for Environment and Sustainability, Ec Joint Research Centre,
Ispra(VA),Italy.
Forfurthervolumes:
http://www.springer.com/series/5588
Michelle Schneuwly-Bollschweiler
Markus Stoffel • Florian Rudolf-Miklau
Editors
Dating Torrential Processes
on Fans and Cones
Methods and Their Application for Hazard
and Risk Assessment
123
Editors
MichelleSchneuwly-Bollschweiler MarkusStoffel
LaboratoryofDendrogeomorphology LaboratoryofDendrogeomorphology
InstituteofGeologicalSciences InstituteofGeologicalSciences
UniversityofBerne UniversityofBerne
Baltzerstrasse1C3 Baltzerstrasse1C3
Berne Berne
Switzerland Switzerland
and and
ChairforClimateandClimaticImpacts ChairforClimateandClimaticImpacts
EnvironmentalSciences EnvironmentalSciences
UniversityofGeneva UniversityofGeneva
7,routedeDrizeCarouge-Geneva 7,routedeDrizeCarouge-Geneva
Switzerland Switzerland
FlorianRudolf-Miklau
FederalMinistryforAgriculture
ForestryEnvironmentandWater
Management
DepartmentIV/5–Torrent
andAvalancheControl
Marxergasse5
Vienna
Austria
ISSN1574-0919
ISBN978-94-007-4335-9 ISBN978-94-007-4336-6(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-94-007-4336-6
SpringerDordrechtHeidelbergNewYorkLondon
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2012941287
©SpringerScience+BusinessMediaDordrecht2013
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Preface
Water-relatedprocesses(floods,debrisfloods,flashfloods,anddebrisflows)form
alluvialfansandconesandrepresentmajorgeomorphichazardsinmostmountain
areas of the world. The gentle gradients and workable materials of fans and
cones render this environment a desirable site for residential developments and
transportation corridors. Over the past decades, human pressure has increased in
these regions, leading to an aggravation of conflicts between natural hazards and
infrastructure needs. However, detailed knowledge on frequency and magnitude
of past flood or debris-floweventson alluvialfans and conesstill remainsscarce,
althoughitiswidelyacceptedthatsuchknowledgeisofcrucialimportanceforthe
assessmentofhazards,mitigationofrisks,andland-useplanning.Modernmethods
ofhistoricaldatingofpastdebris-flowandfloodeventssuchasdendrochronology,
radiocarbondating,andlichenometrycanprovidevaluableinsightsintopastprocess
activityandthereforecomplementhistoricalrecords.Inthefield ofnaturalhazard
management, these methods are mostly applied by scientists, but only rarely for
planningorengineeringpurposes.
It is the aim of this book to fill this gap by providing a detailed overview on
methods for the dating of historical events and by fostering the discussion on
the impact of past and potential future climatic changes on torrential processes.
The book summarizes state-of-the-art knowledge on dating methods with a clear
focus on the applicability of these methods in practice. The survey of methods is
complementedwithpotentialfieldsofapplicationandcasestudiesandtakesaccount
ofthespecificlimitationsofdatingmethodsincaseofexcessivenaturalandhuman
interventionsonfansandcones.
Thisbookwasrealizedwithin“AdaptAlp”,aprojectfundedbytheAlpineSpace
ProgramoftheEuropeanCommission.TheAdaptAlpproject(www.adaptalp.org)
contributestoagrowingbodyofscientificresearchontheeffectofclimatechange
withintheAlpineregionandonhowoursocietiescanadapttotheincreasingrisk
of natural disasters. An important issue tackled by AdaptAlp is the provision of
reliable data and design events for the Alpine space under current and possible
future conditions. There is a great need for innovative methods enabling better
and especially faster modelling, forecast, and thus prevention of impacts in a
v
vi Preface
changing world. The book goes far beyond the scope of this project and aims at
thecomprehensivecompilationofalldatingmethodsapplicableonalluvialfansin
thequalityofa“state-of-the-art”report.
Furthermore, this book was also partly realized within the ACQWA project
(www.acqwa.ch)and benefittedfrom supportof the FederalMinistry for Agricul-
ture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management of Austria and the Austrian
Service for Torrent and Avalanche Control. We gratefully acknowledge DI Maria
Patek,M.B.A.forpavingthewayforthisfruitfulcooperation.We wouldalsolike
to thankProf. Dr. Martin Beniston, editor-in-chiefof Advancesin GlobalChange
Research,forgivingustheopportunitytopublishthisbookinhisSpringerseries.
DIAndreasPichleriswarmlyacknowledgedforhishelpfulcommentsonthebook
content.To enumerateall personswho contributedto the elaborationof this book
wouldexceedthescopeofthisprefaceandwethereforegreatlyacknowledgethem
collectively.
Thebookisstructuredinfourparts.Afterashortintroduction(chapter“Dating
Past Events on Fans and Cones – An Introduction”), the fan and cone formation
isdescribed(part“MaterialTransportandFanorConeFormation”).Thecentral
part of the book (part “Dating Past Events”) then presents dating methods that
canbeappliedtotrackpasthydrogeomorphiceventsonfansandcones.Thebasic
principlesofallmethodsaredescribedandtheirapplicationisgivenwithexamples,
alsoillustratingadvantagesandlimitationsofthemethods.Inpart“Documentation
and Monitoring”, the documentationof current-day events and the monitoringof
active channels is presented as current-day events provide a perfect occasion to
learnforanyfutureevents.Inpart“ApplicationofEventDatinginPractice”,we
illustratetheuseandapplicationofdataonpasteventsfortheassessmentofhazard
and risk. The chapter also providesinsights on how to cope with risk induced by
eventsonfansandcones.Possibleimpactsofclimatechangeonhydrogeomorphic
activity are addressed in chapter “Climate Research and Adaptation Strategies –
Examplesfrom the EuropeanAlps”. Finally,chapter “Dating MethodsOverview:
Checklist for Practitioners” provides an overview on the dating methods with
a checklist for practitioners summarizing the main characteristics, advantages,
limitations, and costs of all methods. The book closes then with a short summary
andanoutlook(chapter“SummaryandOutlook”).
BerneandVienna MichelleSchneuwly-Bollschweiler
MarkusStoffel
FlorianRudolf-Miklau
Contents
Dating Past Events on Fans and Cones
–AnIntroduction................................................................ 1
MarkusStoffel, MichelleSchneuwly-Bollschweiler,
andFlorianRudolf-Miklau
PartI MaterialTransportandFanorConeFormation
ProcessesofSedimentSupplytoAlluvialFansandDebrisCones.......... 15
AdrianHarvey
Susceptibility andTriggersforDebris Flows:Emergence,
Loading,ReleaseandEntrainment ............................................ 33
RolandKaitna, MichelleSchneuwly-Bollschweiler,
ThomasSausgruber, MarkusMoser, MarkusStoffel,
andFlorianRudolf-Miklau
SedimentTransportProcesses.................................................. 51
HelmutHabersackandAndreaKreisler
Debris-FlowRunoutandDepositionontheFan.............................. 75
DieterRickenmannandChristianScheidl
EventsonFansandCones:RecurrenceIntervalandMagnitude .......... 95
MatthiasJakob
PartII DatingPastEvents
SilentWitnessesforTorrentialProcesses...................................... 111
RolandKaitnaandJohannesHuebl
AssessmentofPastTorrentialEventsThroughHistoricalSources......... 131
VincenzoD’Agostino
vii
viii Contents
TheUseofAirborneLaserSwathMappingonFansandCones:
AnExamplefromtheColoradoFrontRange................................. 147
DennisM.StaleyandThadA.Wasklewicz
Dendrogeomorphology–TrackingPastEventswithTreeRings........... 165
MichelleSchneuwly-BollschweilerandMarkusStoffel
Tree-Ring Based Record of Debris-Flow Dynamics and
TriggeringRainStormsatRitigraben(SwissAlps)sinceAD1570 ........ 179
MarkusStoffel
VegetationAnalysisonCompositeDebrisCones............................. 187
CarloBaroni,RodolfoGentili,andStefanoArmiraglio
UsingAgeofColonizingDouglas-FirfortheDatingofYoung
GeomorphicSurfaces—ACaseStudy......................................... 203
ThomasC.Pierson
Lichenometric Dating of Debris Avalanche Deposits
withanExamplefromtheFrenchAlps ....................................... 211
VincentJomelli
Lake Sediments as Archives of Recurrence Rates
andIntensitiesofPastFloodEvents ........................................... 225
AdrianGilli, FlavioS.Anselmetti, LukasGlur,
andStefanieB.Wirth
DatingFanDepositswithCosmogenicNuclides.............................. 243
SusanIvy-Ochs, MiriamDu¨hnforth, AlexanderL.Densmore,
andVasilyAlfimov
RadiocarbonDating:AlluvialFan/DebrisConeEvolutionandHazards.. 265
RichardChiverrellandMatthiasJakob
LuminescenceDatingofAlluvialFansandCones............................ 283
AndreasLang
Timing the Interface BetweenMass Wasting and Fluvial
ProcesseswithOSL.............................................................. 297
FritzSchlunegger,KevinNorton,andDamianSteffen
PartIII DocumentationandMonitoring
Debris-FlowMonitoringinItaly ............................................... 309
LorenzoMarchiandPiaRosellaTecca
DocumentationofTorrentialEvents........................................... 319
HansKienholz,JohannesHu¨bl,andAntonLoipersberger
Contents ix
Rainfall Thresholds for Possible Occurrence of Shallow
LandslidesandDebrisFlowsinItaly .......................................... 327
MariaTeresaBrunetti, FabioLuino, CarmelaVennari,
SilviaPeruccacci, MarcellaBiddoccu, DanielaValigi,
SilviaLuciani,ChiaraGiorgiaCirio,MauroRossi,GuidoNigrelli,
FrancescaArdizzone,MaraDiPalma,andFaustoGuzzetti
PartIV ApplicationofEventDatinginPractice
HazardAssessment .............................................................. 343
MarkusZimmermann
Dealingwith NaturalHazardRisks inSwitzerland– The
InfluenceofHazardMappingonRisk-BasedDecisionMaking ............ 355
MichaelBru¨ndl
HazardMappingandLand-UsePlanning–ASwissPerspective .......... 367
ThomasEgliandMajaStucki
DesignCriteriaforTorrentialBarriers........................................ 375
FlorianRudolf-MiklauandJu¨rgenSuda
Forecasting, Early Warning and Event Management:
Non-structural Protection Measures for Flash Floods
andDebrisFlows................................................................. 391
MarcoBorga
Climate Researchand AdaptationStrategies– Examples
fromtheEuropeanAlps......................................................... 399
GernotR.Koboltschnig
DatingMethodsOverview:ChecklistforPractitioners...................... 411
MichelleSchneuwly-Bollschweiler, MarkusStoffel,
andFlorianRudolf-Miklau
SummaryandOutlook .......................................................... 419
MichelleSchneuwly-Bollschweiler, MarkusStoffel,
andFlorianRudolf-Miklau