Debris Flows in a Changing Climate: Experimental and Field Investigations of the Influence of Changes in Moisture on Matrix Properties, Interparticle Interactions, and Subsequent Debris Flow Behaviors

Debris flows, rapid gravity-driven mixtures of sediment (boulders, gravels, sands, and mud) and water, are important geomorphological agents of landscape change and common natural hazards in mountainous regions. Worldwide, there is evidence that the frequency and magnitude of debris flows are increasing under recent changes in macro and micro climate. We investigate the influence of moisture differences associated with climate change on debris flow behaviors at the field and laboratory scales. Field measurements of debris flow fan deposits in Owens Valley during glacial and interglacial periods - likely corresponding to periods of higher and lower levels of water content in the soil and flows - show marked differences in avulsion frequencies, channel aspect ratios, sorting in the deposits and depositional geometries. These measurements suggest that differing moisture levels change the density and rheology of the matrix - the watery / muddy interstitial fluid - which, in turn, can significantly alter the dynamic behavior of the debris flow itself. This supports recent experimental results (Kaitna et al., 2014 & 2015) that changing the properties of the matrix of experimental flows appears to change the nature and relative importance of interparticle interactions compared to those associated with the fluid and subsequently influence the flow dynamics. We test these hypotheses using controlled laboratory experiments in flumes of two different sizes and where we systematically vary interstitial fluid properties and scale of the experiments. In both flumes we present high speed particle tracking and measurements of pore pressure and stress at the bed to show how the flow and entrainment behavior varies as the flow transitions from inertial to viscous, that is, as pore pressures and other fluid effects become increasingly dominant over inter-particle interactions, reflected in the Bagnold (1954) number. We also demonstrate that some effects, like bed fabric and fragility associated with repeated flow events are influenced by scale and interstitial fluid. We then discuss implications of these results in the context of changing intermittency and magnitude of rainfall in a changing climate.