Articles | Volume 12, issue 1
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-135-2024
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-135-2024
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
16 Jan 2024
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 16 Jan 2024

Geomorphological and hydrological controls on sediment export in earthquake-affected catchments in the Nepal Himalaya

Emma L. S. Graf, Hugh D. Sinclair, Mikaël Attal, Boris Gailleton, Basanta Raj Adhikari, and Bishnu Raj Baral

Related authors

Sediment aggradation rates in Himalayan rivers revealed through the InSAR differential residual topographic phase
Jingqiu Huang and Hugh D. Sinclair
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 531–547, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-531-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-531-2025, 2025
Short summary
Controls on fluvial grain sizes in post-glacial landscapes
Anya H. Towers, Mikael Attal, Simon M. Mudd, and Fiona J. Clubb
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3084,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2024-3084, 2024
Short summary
Downstream rounding rate of pebbles in the Himalaya
Prakash Pokhrel, Mikael Attal, Hugh D. Sinclair, Simon M. Mudd, and Mark Naylor
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 515–536, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-515-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-515-2024, 2024
Short summary
Insight into the dynamics of a long-runout mass movement using single-grain feldspar luminescence in the Pokhara Valley, Nepal
Anna-Maartje de Boer, Wolfgang Schwanghart, Jürgen Mey, Basanta Raj Adhikari, and Tony Reimann
Geochronology, 6, 53–70, https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-53-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gchron-6-53-2024, 2024
Short summary
CHONK 1.0: landscape evolution framework: cellular automata meets graph theory
Boris Gailleton, Luca C. Malatesta, Guillaume Cordonnier, and Jean Braun
Geosci. Model Dev., 17, 71–90, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-71-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-17-71-2024, 2024
Short summary

Related subject area

Physical: Geomorphology (including all aspects of fluvial, coastal, aeolian, hillslope and glacial geomorphology)
Sediment aggradation rates in Himalayan rivers revealed through the InSAR differential residual topographic phase
Jingqiu Huang and Hugh D. Sinclair
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 531–547, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-531-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-531-2025, 2025
Short summary
The glacial paleolandscapes of Southern Africa: the legacy of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age
Pierre Dietrich, François Guillocheau, Guilhem A. Douillet, Neil P. Griffis, Guillaume Baby, Daniel P. Le Héron, Laurie Barrier, Maximilien Mathian, Isabel P. Montañez, Cécile Robin, Thomas Gyomlai, Christoph Kettler, and Axel Hofmann
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 495–529, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-495-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-495-2025, 2025
Short summary
Multiple equilibrium configurations in river-dominated deltas
Lorenzo Durante, Nicoletta Tambroni, and Michele Bolla Pittaluga
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 455–471, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-455-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-455-2025, 2025
Short summary
Investigating the celerity of propagation for small perturbations and dispersive sediment aggradation under a supercritical flow
Hasan Eslami, Erfan Poursoleymanzadeh, Mojtaba Hiteh, Keivan Tavakoli, Melika Yavari Nia, Ehsan Zadehali, Reihaneh Zarrabi, and Alessio Radice
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 437–454, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-437-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-437-2025, 2025
Short summary
Short communication: Multiscale topographic complexity analysis with pyTopoComplexity
Larry Syu-Heng Lai, Adam M. Booth, Alison R. Duvall, and Erich Herzig
Earth Surf. Dynam., 13, 417–435, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-417-2025,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-417-2025, 2025
Short summary

Cited articles

Acharya, T. D., Mainali, S. C., Yang, I. T., and Lee, D. H.: Analysis of Jure landslide dam, Sindhupalchowk using GIS and Remote Sensing, International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sens. Spat. Inform. Sci., 41, 201–203, https://doi.org/10.5194/isprsarchives-XLI-B6-201-2016, 2016. a, b
Ao, M., Zhang, L., Dong, Y., Su, L., Shi, X., Balz, T., and Liao, M.: Characterizing the evolution life cycle of the Sunkoshi landslide in Nepal with multi-source SAR data, Sci. Rep., 10, 1–12, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-75002-y, 2020. a
Avouac, J. P.: Dynamic Processes in Extensional and Compressional Settings – Mountain Building: From Earthquakes to Geological Deformation, Treat. Geophys., 6, 377–439, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-044452748-6.00112-7, 2007.  a
Avouac, J. P., Meng, L., Wei, S., Wang, T., and Ampuero, J. P.: Lower edge of locked Main Himalayan Thrust unzipped by the 2015 Gorkha earthquake, Nat. Geosci., 8, 708–711, https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2518, 2015. a
Baskota, S., Khanal, G. P., Bhusal, B., Bhandari, G., and Bhattarai, N.: Investigation of Cause of Disaster and Future Risk around Melamchi-Bhemathang area, Sindhupalchok, Tech. rep., Nepal's Department of Mines and Geology (DMG) and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority (NDRRMA), https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.19824.58883, 2021. a, b, c, d, e, f, g, h, i, j, k, l, m, n, o
Download
Editor
Do earthquakes result in higher levels of sediment in rivers in the years following the event? There are several reasons to believe this could be the case. Previous studies have even provided evidence of increased sediment loads in mountainous areas after major earthquakes. However, a study by Graf et al. challenges this perspective. They demonstrate that despite the thousands of landslides triggered by the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake in Nepal, there were only minimal increases in coarse sediment in river channels during the subsequent years. Instead, the study reveals a different story. In June 2021, a single, exceptionally heavy rainfall event mobilized large volumes of sediment, leading to riverbed elevation by as much as 12 meters. This effect greatly overshadowed any sedimentary impact left by the earthquake along the river corridor. The study underscores that earthquake evidence may not always be found in the sedimentary records of alluvial areas. In high-mountainous regions, records of riverbed elevation may be strongly influenced by unique and localized events.
Short summary
Using satellite images, we show that, unlike other examples of earthquake-affected rivers, the rivers of central Nepal experienced little increase in sedimentation following the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. Instead, a catastrophic flood occurred in 2021 that buried towns and agricultural land under up to 10 m of sediment. We show that intense storms remobilised glacial sediment from high elevations causing much a greater impact than flushing of earthquake-induced landslides.
Share