Quantifying rainfall controls on catchment-scale landslide erosion in Taiwan

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)

CHEN, Y.-C.

Dep. of Civil Engineering, National Univ. of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, Province de Chine

CHANG, K.-T.

Kainan Univ., Taoyuan County, Taiwan, Province de Chine

CHIU, Y.-J.

Hydrotech Research Inst., National Taiwan Univ., Taipei, Taiwan, Province de Chine

LAU, S.-M.

Hydrotech Research Inst., National Taiwan Univ., Taipei, Taiwan, Province de Chine

LEE, H.-Y.

Dep. of Civil Engineering, National Univ. of Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, Province de Chine

Description :
The AA. quantified landslide erosion triggered by 24 rainfall events from 2001 to 2009 in 3 mountainous watersheds in Taiwan and investigated relationships between landslide erosion and rainfall variables. The results show positive power-law relations between landslide erosion and rainfall intensity and cumulative rainfall. Additionally, landslide erosion caused by Typhoon Morakot is of comparable magnitude to landslide erosion caused by the Chi-Chi Earthquake or 22-24 years of basin-averaged erosion. Comparison of the 3 watersheds indicates that deeper landslides that mobilize soil and bedrock are triggered by long-duration rainfall, whereas shallow landslides are triggered by short-duration rainfall. These results suggest that rainfall intensity and watershed characteristics are important controls on rainfall-triggered landslide erosion and that severe typhoons, like high-magnitude earthquakes, can generate high rates of landslide erosion in Taiwan.

Type de document :
Article de périodique

Source :
Earth surface processes and landforms, issn : 0197-9337, 2013, vol. 38, n°. 4, p. 372-382, nombre de pages : 11, Références bibliographiques : 2 p.

Date :
2013

Editeur :
Pays édition : Royaume-Uni, Chichester, Wiley

Langue :
Anglais