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Characteristics of debris flows from the lower part of the Lotru River basin (South Carpathians, Romania)

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Abstract

This paper focuses on characteristics of debris flows from the lower part of the Lotru River basin (South Carpathians, Romania). The damage produced by these debris flows has included burial of agricultural land, roads covered by debris flows, and even the obstruction of the Lotru River. Simple statistical analysis has been used to emphasize the characteristics of the debris flow sites. The collected data show that heavy rainfall is the main triggering mechanism of debris flow events in the Lotru hydrographic basin. The daily rainfall data for this region show that important debris flow events generally occur when rainfall exceeds 40 mm in 24 h, while rainfall levels between 25 and 40 mm in 24 h result in hyperconcentrated flows. For 11 of 14 studied debris flow sites, the fan area is greater than the source area, probably due to the thickness of the regolith, which is up to 5–10 m deep. Both source area and deposition area are very dynamic. The retreat rate calculated for five debris flow sites ranges from 5 to 30 m in 30 years (from 1975 to 2005). Channel cross section measurements on one of the debris flows show that velocity values vary from 1.31 to 2.64 m/s; corresponding discharge values vary from 4 to 10.03 m3/s.

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Acknowledgments

Most of the work is part of the author’s Ph.D. at University of Bucharest, Faculty of Geography (Romania). I would like to thank Dr. Viorica Milu for reviewing and improving the manuscript. Ana-Maria Tamaş and Diana Avătavului improved the English manuscript. I am also grateful to Dr. Gheorghe Ploaie who sent and allowed me to use the photo taken in 1975 at Brădişor 1 debris flow. We thank Dr. Mauri McSaveney and two anonymous reviewers for suggestions and critically reviewing the manuscript. Many thanks to Dr. Eileen McSaveney for English editing and comments.

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  1. Geological Institute of Romania, 1 Caransebeş St., RO-012271, Bucharest, Romania

    Viorel Ilinca

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  1. Viorel Ilinca
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Correspondence to Viorel Ilinca.

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Ilinca, V. Characteristics of debris flows from the lower part of the Lotru River basin (South Carpathians, Romania). Landslides 11, 505–512 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-014-0489-6

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