Articles | Volume 11, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-1117-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-1117-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| 
09 Nov 2023
Research article |
| 09 Nov 2023
| 09 Nov 2023
Steady-state forms of channel profiles shaped by debris flow and fluvial processes
Luke A. McGuire
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Geosciences, The University of Arizona, Gould-Simpson Building, 1040 East Fourth Street, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
Scott W. McCoy
Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA
Odin Marc
Géosciences Environnement Toulouse (GET), UMR 5563, CNRS/IRD/CNES/UPS, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
William Struble
Department of Geosciences, The University of Arizona, Gould-Simpson Building, 1040 East Fourth Street, Tucson, Arizona 85721, USA
Katherine R. Barnhart
U.S. Geological Survey, P.O. Box 25046, MS 966, Denver, Colorado 80225, USA
Related authors
Elaine T. Spiller, Luke A. McGuire, Palak Patel, Abani Patra, and E. Bruce Pitman
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.173687440.07138680/v1, https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.173687440.07138680/v1, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (NHESS).
Short summary
Short summary
Fire in steep landscapes increases the potential for debris flows that can develop during intense rainstorms. To explore possible debris flow hazards, we utilize a computational model of the physical processes of debris flow initiation and runout. Such process-based models are computationally intensive and of limited use in rapid hazard assessments. Thus we build statistical surrogate of these physical models to examine how inundation footprints vary with rainfall intensity and time since fire.
Jon D. Pelletier, Robert G. Hayes, Olivia Hoch, Brendan Fenerty, and Luke A. McGuire
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 219–238, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-219-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-219-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We demonstrate that landscapes with more planar initial conditions tend to have lower mean junction angles. Geomorphic processes on alluvial piedmonts result in especially planar initial conditions, consistent with a correlation between junction angles and the presence/absence of Late Cenozoic alluvial deposits and the constraint imposed by the intersection of planar approximations to the topography upslope from tributary junctions. We caution against using junction angles to infer paleoclimate.
Tao Liu, Luke A. McGuire, Ann M. Youberg, Charles J. Abolt, and Adam L. Atchley
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-151, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-151, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for NHESS
Short summary
Short summary
After a fire, soil infiltration decreases, increasing flash flood risks, worsened by intense rainfall from climate change. Using data from a burned watershed in Arizona and a hydrological model, we examined postfire soil changes under medium and high emissions scenarios. Results showed soil infiltration increased sixfold from the first to third postfire year. Both scenarios suggest that rainfall intensification will extend high flood risks after fires by late century.
Alexander B. Prescott, Luke A. McGuire, Kwang-Sung Jun, Katherine R. Barnhart, and Nina S. Oakley
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2359–2374, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2359-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2359-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Fire can dramatically increase the risk of debris flows to downstream communities with little warning, but hazard assessments have not traditionally included estimates of inundation. We unify models developed by the scientific community to create probabilistic estimates of inundation area in response to rainfall at forecast lead times (≥ 24 h) needed for decision-making. This work takes an initial step toward a near-real-time postfire debris-flow inundation hazard assessment product.
Luke A. McGuire, Francis K. Rengers, Ann M. Youberg, Alexander N. Gorr, Olivia J. Hoch, Rebecca Beers, and Ryan Porter
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 1357–1379, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1357-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1357-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Runoff and erosion increase after fire, leading to a greater likelihood of floods and debris flows. We monitored debris flow activity following a fire in western New Mexico, USA, and observed 16 debris flows over a <2-year monitoring period. Rainstorms with recurrence intervals of approximately 1 year were sufficient to initiate debris flows. All debris flows initiated during the first several months following the fire, indicating a rapid decrease in debris flow susceptibility over time.
Francis K. Rengers, Luke A. McGuire, Katherine R. Barnhart, Ann M. Youberg, Daniel Cadol, Alexander N. Gorr, Olivia J. Hoch, Rebecca Beers, and Jason W. Kean
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 2075–2088, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-2075-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-2075-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Debris flows often occur after wildfires. These debris flows move water, sediment, and wood. The wood can get stuck in channels, creating a dam that holds boulders, cobbles, sand, and muddy material. We investigated how the channel width and wood length influenced how much sediment is stored. We also used a series of equations to back calculate the debris flow speed using the breaking threshold of wood. These data will help improve models and provide insight into future field investigations.
Tao Liu, Luke A. McGuire, Nina Oakley, and Forest Cannon
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 361–376, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-361-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-361-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
A well-constrained rainfall-runoff model forced by radar-derived precipitation is used to define rainfall intensity-duration (ID) thresholds for flash floods. The rainfall ID doubles in 5 years after a severe wildfire in a watershed in southern California, USA. Rainfall ID performs stably well for intense pulses of rainfall over durations of 30-60 minutes that cover at least 15%-25% of the watershed. This finding could help issuing flash flood warnings based on radar-derived precipitation.
Rafael Jan Pablo Schmitt, Shikshita Bhandari, Adrian Vogl, and Odin Marc
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3733, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-3733, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (NHESS).
Short summary
Short summary
Landslides put humans at risk in the world's mountain regions. Many of these regions are data scarce, and models to evaluate hazards and plan for adaptation do consider for some key aspects of landslides. Here, we propose a simple method that maps both where a landslide can occur and how far debris may travel. Our work was motivated by the need of planners to better site infrastructure and plan for mitigation options, such as reforestation, that can cut risk and protect mountain communities.
Elaine T. Spiller, Luke A. McGuire, Palak Patel, Abani Patra, and E. Bruce Pitman
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.173687440.07138680/v1, https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.173687440.07138680/v1, 2025
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (NHESS).
Short summary
Short summary
Fire in steep landscapes increases the potential for debris flows that can develop during intense rainstorms. To explore possible debris flow hazards, we utilize a computational model of the physical processes of debris flow initiation and runout. Such process-based models are computationally intensive and of limited use in rapid hazard assessments. Thus we build statistical surrogate of these physical models to examine how inundation footprints vary with rainfall intensity and time since fire.
Jon D. Pelletier, Robert G. Hayes, Olivia Hoch, Brendan Fenerty, and Luke A. McGuire
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 219–238, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-219-2025, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-219-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short summary
We demonstrate that landscapes with more planar initial conditions tend to have lower mean junction angles. Geomorphic processes on alluvial piedmonts result in especially planar initial conditions, consistent with a correlation between junction angles and the presence/absence of Late Cenozoic alluvial deposits and the constraint imposed by the intersection of planar approximations to the topography upslope from tributary junctions. We caution against using junction angles to infer paleoclimate.
Nicole M. Gasparini, Adam M. Forte, and Katherine R. Barnhart
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1227–1242, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1227-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1227-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
The time it takes for a landscape to adjust to new environmental conditions is critical for understanding the impacts of past and future environmental changes. We used different computational models and methods and found that predicted times for a landscape to reach a stable condition vary greatly. Our results illustrate that reporting how timescales are measured is important. Modelers should ensure that the measurement technique addresses the question.
Tao Liu, Luke A. McGuire, Ann M. Youberg, Charles J. Abolt, and Adam L. Atchley
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-151, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-2024-151, 2024
Revised manuscript accepted for NHESS
Short summary
Short summary
After a fire, soil infiltration decreases, increasing flash flood risks, worsened by intense rainfall from climate change. Using data from a burned watershed in Arizona and a hydrological model, we examined postfire soil changes under medium and high emissions scenarios. Results showed soil infiltration increased sixfold from the first to third postfire year. Both scenarios suggest that rainfall intensification will extend high flood risks after fires by late century.
Gregory A. Ruetenik, Ken L. Ferrier, and Odin Marc
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 863–881, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-863-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-863-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Fluvial sediment fluxes increased dramatically in Taiwan during Typhoon Morakot in 2009, which produced some of the heaviest landsliding on record. We analyzed fluvial discharge and suspended sediment concentration data at 87 gauging stations across Taiwan to quantify fluvial sediment responses since Morakot. In basins heavily impacted by landsliding, rating curve coefficients sharply increased during Morakot and then declined exponentially with a characteristic decay time of <10 years.
Alexander B. Prescott, Luke A. McGuire, Kwang-Sung Jun, Katherine R. Barnhart, and Nina S. Oakley
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2359–2374, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2359-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2359-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Fire can dramatically increase the risk of debris flows to downstream communities with little warning, but hazard assessments have not traditionally included estimates of inundation. We unify models developed by the scientific community to create probabilistic estimates of inundation area in response to rainfall at forecast lead times (≥ 24 h) needed for decision-making. This work takes an initial step toward a near-real-time postfire debris-flow inundation hazard assessment product.
Francis K. Rengers, Samuel Bower, Andrew Knapp, Jason W. Kean, Danielle W. vonLembke, Matthew A. Thomas, Jaime Kostelnik, Katherine R. Barnhart, Matthew Bethel, Joseph E. Gartner, Madeline Hille, Dennis M. Staley, Justin K. Anderson, Elizabeth K. Roberts, Stephen B. DeLong, Belize Lane, Paxton Ridgway, and Brendan P. Murphy
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 2093–2114, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2093-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-2093-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Every year the U.S. Geological Survey produces 50–100 postfire debris-flow hazard assessments using models for debris-flow likelihood and volume. To refine these models they must be tested with datasets that clearly document rainfall, debris-flow response, and debris-flow volume. These datasets are difficult to obtain, but this study developed and analyzed a postfire dataset with more than 100 postfire storm responses over a 2-year period. We also proposed ways to improve these models.
Katherine R. Barnhart, Christopher R. Miller, Francis K. Rengers, and Jason W. Kean
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 1459–1483, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1459-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1459-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Debris flows are a type of fast-moving landslide that start from shallow landslides or during intense rain. Infrastructure located downstream of watersheds susceptible to debris flows may be damaged should a debris flow reach them. We present and evaluate an approach to forecast building damage caused by debris flows. We test three alternative models for simulating the motion of debris flows and find that only one can forecast the correct number and spatial pattern of damaged buildings.
Luke A. McGuire, Francis K. Rengers, Ann M. Youberg, Alexander N. Gorr, Olivia J. Hoch, Rebecca Beers, and Ryan Porter
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 1357–1379, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1357-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1357-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
Runoff and erosion increase after fire, leading to a greater likelihood of floods and debris flows. We monitored debris flow activity following a fire in western New Mexico, USA, and observed 16 debris flows over a <2-year monitoring period. Rainstorms with recurrence intervals of approximately 1 year were sufficient to initiate debris flows. All debris flows initiated during the first several months following the fire, indicating a rapid decrease in debris flow susceptibility over time.
Greg Balco, Alan J. Hidy, William T. Struble, and Joshua J. Roering
Geochronology, 6, 71–76, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-71-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-71-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
We describe a new method of reconstructing the long-term, pre-observational frequency and/or intensity of wildfires in forested landscapes using trace concentrations of the noble gases helium and neon that are formed in soil mineral grains by cosmic-ray bombardment of the Earth's surface.
Lucas Zeller, Daniel McGrath, Scott W. McCoy, and Jonathan Jacquet
The Cryosphere, 18, 525–541, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-525-2024, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-525-2024, 2024
Short summary
Short summary
In this study we developed methods for automatically identifying supraglacial lakes in multiple satellite imagery sources for eight glaciers in Nepal. We identified a substantial seasonal variability in lake area, which was as large as the variability seen across entire decades. These complex patterns are not captured in existing regional-scale datasets. Our findings show that this seasonal variability must be accounted for in order to interpret long-term changes in debris-covered glaciers.
Francis K. Rengers, Luke A. McGuire, Katherine R. Barnhart, Ann M. Youberg, Daniel Cadol, Alexander N. Gorr, Olivia J. Hoch, Rebecca Beers, and Jason W. Kean
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 23, 2075–2088, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-2075-2023, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-2075-2023, 2023
Short summary
Short summary
Debris flows often occur after wildfires. These debris flows move water, sediment, and wood. The wood can get stuck in channels, creating a dam that holds boulders, cobbles, sand, and muddy material. We investigated how the channel width and wood length influenced how much sediment is stored. We also used a series of equations to back calculate the debris flow speed using the breaking threshold of wood. These data will help improve models and provide insight into future field investigations.
Katy Burrows, Odin Marc, and Dominique Remy
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 2637–2653, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2637-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-2637-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
The locations of triggered landslides following a rainfall event can be identified in optical satellite images. However cloud cover associated with the rainfall means that these images cannot be used to identify landslide timing. Timings of landslides triggered during long rainfall events are often unknown. Here we present methods of using Sentinel-1 satellite radar data, acquired every 12 d globally in all weather conditions, to better constrain the timings of rainfall-triggered landslides.
Robert Emberson, Dalia B. Kirschbaum, Pukar Amatya, Hakan Tanyas, and Odin Marc
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 1129–1149, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-1129-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-1129-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Understanding where landslides occur in mountainous areas is critical to support hazard analysis as well as understand landscape evolution. In this study, we present a large compilation of inventories of landslides triggered by rainfall, including several that are described here for the first time. We analyze the topographic characteristics of the landslides, finding consistent relationships for landslide source and deposition areas, despite differences in the inventories' locations.
Gregory E. Tucker, Eric W. H. Hutton, Mark D. Piper, Benjamin Campforts, Tian Gan, Katherine R. Barnhart, Albert J. Kettner, Irina Overeem, Scott D. Peckham, Lynn McCready, and Jaia Syvitski
Geosci. Model Dev., 15, 1413–1439, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-1413-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-15-1413-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Scientists use computer simulation models to understand how Earth surface processes work, including floods, landslides, soil erosion, river channel migration, ocean sedimentation, and coastal change. Research benefits when the software for simulation modeling is open, shared, and coordinated. The Community Surface Dynamics Modeling System (CSDMS) is a US-based facility that supports research by providing community support, computing tools and guidelines, and educational resources.
Tao Liu, Luke A. McGuire, Nina Oakley, and Forest Cannon
Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 22, 361–376, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-361-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-22-361-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
A well-constrained rainfall-runoff model forced by radar-derived precipitation is used to define rainfall intensity-duration (ID) thresholds for flash floods. The rainfall ID doubles in 5 years after a severe wildfire in a watershed in southern California, USA. Rainfall ID performs stably well for intense pulses of rainfall over durations of 30-60 minutes that cover at least 15%-25% of the watershed. This finding could help issuing flash flood warnings based on radar-derived precipitation.
Brianna Rick, Daniel McGrath, William Armstrong, and Scott W. McCoy
The Cryosphere, 16, 297–314, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-297-2022, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-16-297-2022, 2022
Short summary
Short summary
Glacial lakes impact societies as both resources and hazards. Lakes form, grow, and drain as glaciers thin and retreat, and understanding lake evolution is a critical first step in assessing their hazard potential. We map glacial lakes in Alaska between 1984 and 2019. Overall, lakes grew in number and area, though lakes with different damming material (ice, moraine, bedrock) behaved differently. Namely, ice-dammed lakes decreased in number and area, a trend lost if dam type is not considered.
William T. Struble and Joshua J. Roering
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 1279–1300, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1279-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-1279-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
We used a mathematical technique known as a wavelet transform to calculate the curvature of hilltops in western Oregon, which we used to estimate erosion rate. We find that this technique operates over 1000 times faster than other techniques and produces accurate erosion rates. We additionally built artificial hillslopes to test the accuracy of curvature measurement methods. We find that at fast erosion rates, curvature is underestimated, raising questions of measurement accuracy elsewhere.
Odin Marc, Jens M. Turowski, and Patrick Meunier
Earth Surf. Dynam., 9, 995–1011, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-995-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-9-995-2021, 2021
Short summary
Short summary
The size of grains delivered to rivers is an essential parameter for understanding erosion and sediment transport and their related hazards. In mountains, landslides deliver these rock fragments, but few studies have analyzed the landslide properties that control the resulting sizes. We present measurements on 17 landslides from Taiwan and show that their grain sizes depend on rock strength, landslide depth and drop height, thereby validating and updating a previous theory on fragmentation.
Cited articles
Clubb, F. J., Mudd, S. M., Attal, M., Milodowski, D. T., and Grieve, S. W.: The relationship between drainage density, erosion rate, and hilltop curvature: Implications for sediment transport processes, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 121, 1724–1745, 2016. a
DiBiase, R. A. and Whipple, K. X.: The influence of erosion thresholds and runoff variability on the relationships among topography, climate, and erosion rate, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 116, 2156–2202, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JF002095, 2011. a, b, c, d
DiBiase, R. A., Whipple, K. X., Heimsath, A. M., and Ouimet, W. B.: Landscape form and millennial erosion rates in the San Gabriel Mountains, CA, Earth Planet. Sci. Lett., 289, 134–144, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.epsl.2009.10.036, 2010. a, b
DiBiase, R. A., Heimsath, A. M., and Whipple, K. X.: Hillslope response to tectonic forcing in threshold landscapes, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 37, 855–865, https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.3205, 2012. a, b, c, d
Flint, J.-J.: Stream gradient as a function of order, magnitude, and discharge, Water Resour. Res., 10, 969–973, 1974. a
Haas, T. D. and Woerkom, T. V.: Bed scour by debris flows: experimental investigation of effects of debris-flow composition, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 41, 1951–1966, 2016. a
Hack, J. T.: Studies of longitudinal stream profiles in Virginia and Maryland, vol. 294, US Geological Survey report, US Government Printing Office, https://pubs.usgs.gov/pp/0294b/report.pdf (last access: 7 November 2023), 1957. a
Herman, J. and Usher, W.: SALib: An open-source Python library for sensitivity analysis, J. Open Source Softw., 2, 97, https://doi.org/10.21105/joss.00097, 2017. a
Hsu, L., Dietrich, W. E., and Sklar, L. S.: Experimental study of bedrock erosion by granular flows, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 113, F02001, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JF000778, 2008. a, b, c, d
Iverson, R. M.: Elementary theory of bed-sediment entrainment by debris flows and avalanches, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 117, F03006, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JF002189, 2012. a
Iverson, R. M. and Ouyang, C.: Entrainment of bed material by Earth-surface mass flows: Review and reformulation of depth-integrated theory, Rev. Geophys., 53, 27–58, 2015. a
Lamb, M. P., Dietrich, W. E., and Venditti, J. G.: Is the critical Shields stress for incipient sediment motion dependent on channel-bed slope?, J. Geophys. Res., 113, F02008, https://doi.org/10.1029/2007JF000831, 2008. a
Lavé, J. and Burbank, D.: Denudation processes and rates in the Transverse Ranges, southern California: Erosional response of a transitional landscape to external and anthropogenic forcing, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 109, F01006, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003JF000023, 2004. a
May, C. L.: Debris flows through different forest age classes in the central Oregon Coast Range, J. Am. Water Resour. As., 38, 1097–1113, 2002. a
May, C. L. and Gresswell, R. E.: Processes and rates of sediment and wood accumulation in headwater streams of the Oregon Coast Range, USA, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., 28, 409–424, 2003. a
McCoy, S., Kean, J. W., Coe, J. A., Tucker, G., Staley, D. M., and Wasklewicz, T.: Sediment entrainment by debris flows: In situ measurements from the headwaters of a steep catchment, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 117, F03016, https://doi.org/10.1029/2011JF002278, 2012. a
McCoy, S. W.: Controls on erosion and transport of mass by debris flows, PhD thesis, University of Colorado, Boulder, 2012. a
McCoy, S. W.: Infrequent, large-magnitude debris flows are important agents of landscape change, Geology, 43, 463–464, 2015. a
McGuire, L. A., Kean, J. W., Staley, D. M., Rengers, F. K., and Wasklewicz, T. A.: Constraining the relative importance of raindrop-and flow-driven sediment transport mechanisms in postwildfire environments and implications for recovery time scales, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 121, 2211–2237, 2016. a
McGuire, L. A., Rengers, F. K., Kean, J. W., and Staley, D. M.: Debris flow initiation by runoff in a recently burned basin: Is grain-by-grain sediment bulking or en masse failure to blame?, Geophys. Res. Lett., 44, 7310–7319, 2017. a
McGuire, L. A., McCoy, S. W., Odin, M., Struble, W., and Barnhart, K. R.: Numerical models for steady state channels shaped by debris flow and fluvial processes, HydroShare [code], http://www.hydroshare.org/resource/53dc6bada7d441179fae07df079fcd75 (last access: 11 July 2023), 2023. a
Montgomery, D. R. and Foufoula‐Georgiou, E.: Channel network source representation using digital elevation models, Water Resour. Res., 29, 3925–3934, https://doi.org/10.1029/93WR02463, 1993. a, b, c
Morisawa, M. E.: Quantitative geomorphology of some watersheds in the Appalachian Plateau, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 73, 1025–1046, 1962. a
Neely, A. B. and DiBiase, R. A.: Sediment controls on the transition from debris flow to fluvial channels in steep mountain ranges, Earth Surf. Proc. Land., https://doi.org/10.1002/esp.5553, in press, 2023. a
Pianosi, F. and Wagener, T.: A simple and efficient method for global sensitivity analysis based on cumulative distribution functions, Environ. Modell. Softw., 67, 1–11, 2015. a
Prancevic, J. P., Lamb, M. P., and Fuller, B. M.: Incipient sediment motion across the river to debris-flow transition, Geology, 42, 191–194, 2014. a
Rengers, F. K., McGuire, L. A., Kean, J. W., Staley, D. M., Dobre, M., Robichaud, P. R., and Swetnam, T.: Movement of sediment through a burned landscape: Sediment volume observations and model comparisons in the San Gabriel Mountains, California, USA, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 126, e2020JF006053, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JF006053, 2021. a
Seidl, M., Dietrich, W., Schmidt, K., and de Ploey, J.: The problem of channel erosion into bedrock, Functional Geomorphology, 23, 101–124, 1992. a
Shelef, E. and Hilley, G. E.: A unified framework for modeling landscape evolution by discrete flows, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 121, 816–842, https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JF003693, 2016. a
Silbert, L. E., Ertaş, D., Grest, G. S., Halsey, T. C., Levine, D., and Plimpton, S. J.: Granular flow down an inclined plane: Bagnold scaling and rheology, Phys. Rev. E, 64, 051302, https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevE.64.051302, 2001. a
Sklar, L. and Dietrich, W. E.: River longitudinal profiles and bedrock incision models: Stream power and the influence of sediment supply, Geophysical Monograph-American Geophysical Union, 107, 237–260, 1998. a
Sklar, L. S. and Dietrich, W. E.: A mechanistic model for river incision into bedrock by saltating bed load, Water Resour. Res., 40, W06301, https://doi.org/10.1029/2003WR002496, 2004. a
Tang, H., McGuire, L. A., Rengers, F. K., Kean, J. W., Staley, D. M., and Smith, J. B.: Evolution of debris-flow initiation mechanisms and sediment sources during a sequence of postwildfire rainstorms, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 124, 1572–1595, 2019. a
Toro, E. F.: The HLL and HLLC Riemann solvers, in: Riemann solvers and numerical methods for fluid dynamics, Springer, 315–344, https://doi.org/10.1007/b79761, 2009. a
Turowski, J. M.: Alluvial cover controlling the width, slope and sinuosity of bedrock channels, Earth Surf. Dynam., 6, 29–48, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-6-29-2018, 2018. a
Turowski, J. M.: Upscaling Sediment-Flux-Dependent Fluvial Bedrock Incision to Long Timescales, J. Geophys. Res.-Earth, 126, e2020JF005880, https://doi.org/10.1029/2020JF005880, 2021. a
Vázquez-Cendón, M. E.: Improved treatment of source terms in upwind schemes for the shallow water equations in channels with irregular geometry, J. Comput. Phys., 148, 497–526, 1999. a
Whipple, K. X. and Dunne, T.: The influence of debris-flow rheology on fan morphology, Owens Valley, California, Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 104, 887–900, 1992. a
Whipple, K. X., Dibiase, R. A., and Crosby, B.: Bedrock rivers, in: Fluvial Geomorphology, 550–573, Elsevier Inc., https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-818234-5.00101-2, 2013. a
Short summary
Debris flows are mixtures of mud and rocks that can travel at high speeds across steep landscapes. Here, we propose a new model to describe how landscapes are shaped by debris flow erosion over long timescales. Model results demonstrate that the shapes of channel profiles are sensitive to uplift rate, meaning that it may be possible to use topographic data from steep channel networks to infer how erosion rates vary across a landscape.
Debris flows are mixtures of mud and rocks that can travel at high speeds across steep...
