Abstract
Landslide dam formation can be influenced by the erosive capacity of river flow and the dynamic characteristics of the landslide. When the deposition rate of a landslide that reaches a river is higher than the erosion rate of river flow, the landslide can form a dam by blocking the channel. Hence, in this paper, a dimensionless discharge threshold for landslide dam formation considering landslide and river dynamics is established and studied numerically. A two-layer depth-averaged model coupled with an erosion term is presented to simulate river and landslide movements and their interactions. Several numerical cases are simulated to study the influence of landslide and river dynamics on the critical threshold for dam formation by considering some key factors, such as landslide velocity and the angle between the river and landslide transport directions. Through the simulations, three types of landslide intrusion into river can be reflected: a dam forms quickly, a dam forms or does not form close to a critical state, and no dam forms. The results show that these factors together affect the process of dam formation if the difference between the landslide and river discharges is relatively small. All results are helpful to further clarify the formation of such dams for natural hazard prevention under future climate change conditions.
Introduction
Landsides occurring in river valleys have the potential to block river channels by forming dams, and a cascade of negative consequences, such as dam-break floods and debris flows, can be induced if a dam forms (; ). Such a chain effect can greatly enlarge the broad scope and destructive power of disasters, resulting in serious economic loss and high casualties. Recent examples include the 2014 Bujumbura floods resulting from the failure of a landslide dam in Burundi, which caused 64 casualties and destroyed more than 940 houses , and the 2018 Baige landslide dam in Southwest China, which caused economic losses of approximately RMB 74.3 billion (). Finding the critical condition for forming a landslide dam has become a key issue that needs solution in landslide dam disaster prevention.
Numerous studies have demonstrated that geomorphological features ; ; ; and hydrological conditions ; ; jointly determine whether a landslide dam can be formed. Based on these studies, the following three conditions are essentially mandatory to form a landslide dam: first, the landslide needs to cross the river channel; second, the erosive rate of river flow must be smaller than the depositional rate of the landslide; and three, the thickness of landslide deposits in the river channel must be greater than the water depth (; ; ). To find the threshold, (e.g. landslide runout distance and dam height) for satisfying these conditions, empirical database analysis ; and experimental measurements ; are widely used, and several dimensionless critical indexes that are composed of variables characterizing the different elements involved, (e.g. landslide and river) have been proposed; these indexes have high significance (; ; ). However, although the indexes can be used to forecast and discriminate between possible dam evolutions, they cannot quantitatively describe the formation process of landslide dam. From this point of view, numerical modeling in recent years has been devoted to studying landslide dam formation by using different physical models (; ; ; ; ). In summary, these models apply two distinct equations with corresponding rheological properties to describe the dynamics of the landslide and the river. Furthermore, some behaviours of the landslides, such as the high mobility of landslide , the entrainment induced by landslide , and the interactions between river flow and submerged landslide , are also investigated by these models since these behaviours may have appreciable impacts on the process of landslide dam formation. However, most of the existing studies focus on the first and three conditions mentioned above, and works related to the second condition are still rare.
The erosive capacity of the river and the deposition rate of the landslide determine whether a dam can be formed when a landslide reaches a river. The former factor is significantly influenced by river conditions, including flow depth, flow velocity and river slope (; ; ; ). The latter factor depends mostly on the characteristics, (e.g. mass volume, velocity and material composition) of the landslide (; ; ). Although some studies have investigated the mechanism of granular deposition in fluid and its influence on dam formation ; ; , they do not consider the impacts of the erosive capacity of river flow on dam formation. Recently, suggested a critical threshold that reflects the influence of river erosive capacity on dam formation in a quantitative way. However, one drawback of this threshold is that it does not consider the dynamic characteristics of the landslide. This factor determines the coverage area and deposition rate of a landslide in a river. In addition, in most field cases, the landslides enter river in an orthogonal (or oblique) direction, which may have an influence on dam formation and needs to be considered.
Because only average river erosive capacity can be observed in the experiment performed by , there are no way to quantify dynamic processes and dynamic change of different enter river direction (between the river channel and landslide movement direction). Therefore, we need to use numerical simulation to clarify the dynamic process of landslide movement, landslide dam formation and river erosive capacity. At the same time we also observe the dynamic effects of different river entry directions and thus more accurately capture the block point of landslide dam based on river erosive capacity.
In this study, focusing on the second condition, we attempt to determine a critical threshold that incorporates the dynamic characteristics of both landslide and river, in order to reflect the erosive capacity of river flow and its effect on dam formation more reasonably. To describe the dynamics of a landslide and a river during the process of landslide dam formation, a two-layer model based on the depth-averaged theory is used, which incorporates the erosion term between the landslide and the water flow. By analyzing the existing laboratory experimental data and numerical simulation results in combination, a critical threshold value is determined. Finally, the variation in the critical threshold value is discussed by simulating several numerical cases that consider different landslide dynamic characteristics.
Critical Threshold for Landslide Dam Formation
Several works have demonstrated that the formation of a landslide dam is determined by the erosive capacity of the river and the deposition rate of the landslide, both of which are related to the landslide and river discharges, particle diameter and river slope (; ; ). Based on experiments, suggest that landslide-generated dams form once the ratio of the erosion rate of river flow to the deposition rate of the landslide exceeds a threshold value. As a matter of fact, these rates represent the discharges of eroded mass and intruding landslide per unit time and therefore, the dimensionless critical discharge can be written in the form of discharge as where qe is the discharge of mass eroded by river flow with a discharge qw, qs is the discharge of landslide intrusion into river, ρf is the flow density, ρs is the landslide density, D50 is the median grain size of the landslide, and g represents the gravitational acceleration. As mentioned above, the experiments by were performed with a constant discharge of sediment into the flow channel. In general, during the process of landslide intrusion into a river, the landslide discharge changes over time in practical cases, as reflected by the variations in the depth and velocity of the sliding mass. This in turn affects the flow erosive capacity, which depends on the interactions between the landslide and the river. Thus, the dimensionless discharge also changes with time and a time-averaged value of this variable may be more suitable for predicting landslide dam formation. To achieve this, instantaneous discharges of the landslide and the river are required, which are relative to their dynamic characteristics.
Physical Model Framework
Governing Equations
The dynamics of the landslide and river are influenced by many different factors, including initial and boundary conditions, material properties, and topography (). This means that a reliable method of predicting both landslide and river dynamics is needed. From this point of view, a two-layer model that describes the landslide and river dynamics simultaneously has been developed and widely used (; ; ; ). Thus, a two-layer model incorporating the erosion term between the landslide and river flow is presented here, following and . A detailed derivation of the model equations is presented in Supplmentary Appendix A. Since we focus on studying the erosive capacity of river flow and its effect on dam formation, bed entrainment is not considered. By assuming that both layers are incompressible, the mass and momentum equations in a Cartesian coordinate system for each layer can be written as where t is the time; h1 is the river flow depth; and h2 is the landslide depth. The two flowing layers, river and landslide, are assumed to have distinct densities ρf and ρs, with corresponding velocities u1 = (u1, v1) and u2 = (u2, v2), respectively. γ = ρf/ρs is the density ratio; zb is the fixed bed surface; E is the erosion rate; kap is the earth-pressure coefficient, which reflects the state of stress when a material element deforms ; and φbed is the basal frictional angle. The term Cfs(u1–u2)|u1–u2| represents the shear stress at the interface when the landslide moves underneath the water flow, where Cfs = gn2/h11/3 and n is the Manning roughness coefficient. In other cases, this term for water flow can be reduced to Cfsu1|u1|. u1m = (u1m, v1m) and u2m = (u2m, v2m) are the velocities for the landslide and water flow at the interface boundary, respectively. In simplified situations, as suggested by , u(1m,2m) is considered simply as u(1, 2).
To close the model, the quantity E must be expressed in terms of variables such as river flow depth, flow velocity and solid density. Currently, researchers have gradually reached an agreement that the erosion rate results from the inequality between the shear stress imparted by water flow and the shear resistance by sediment material (; ; ). Thus, hydraulic erosion rates are quantified by using a -style equation that can be empirically fitted to each shear stress-bed load relation (; ).where a is an erodibility coefficient and b is an empirically derived exponent; the shear stress τs can be expressed as τs = ρfCfs|u1–u2|2; the critical shear stress τb is calculated using equation, τb = τcD50g (ρs–ρf) , in which τc is the dimensionless shear stress or Shield’s number modified for sediment materials.
In summary, Eqs. 2, 3 control the state of river flow and landslide, respectively. The first Eqs. 2, 3 represent mass conservation. The second and third Eq 2 represent the momentum conservation in the x and y directions, and the terms on the right-hand side represent the effects of momentum production due to erosion, the gradient induced by the river bed and landslide, and the interface shear stress. Similarly, the terms on the right-hand side of the momentum conservation Eqs. 3 represent the effects of momentum production generated by erosion, buoyancy-related force, gradient induced by the river bed, interface shear stress and friction loss. By coupling (2)–(4), the process of dam formation can be quantitatively described while considering the dynamic characteristics of the river and the landslide. To verify the feasibility of the presented model, the numerical case proposed by and further used by is calculated (see Supplmentary Appendix B).
Computational Scheme
In this paper, the Godunov-type scheme based on the finite volume method is adopted to solve the presented model equations. The Godunov-type scheme is a conservative numerical scheme which solves exact or approximate Riemann problems at each inter-cell boundary (). Here, the Riemann problem at the cell interface is solved by using Harten–Lax–van Leer contact (HLLC) approximation as a robust and efficient solver (). In convenience, the model equations can be written in vector format as following:where,A simplest space-splitting type has also been used for dividing the model equations into two 1-D problems as following (; ).
After that, the solution at next time step can be obtained by an efficient step as following:where n represents the time level; Lx and Ly represent the operator in x and y directions, respectively. For Lx, the internal flux, e.g., Fw, is computed as follows:where Fl and Fr are the interface fluxes on both sides of a cell interface; F*l and F*r represent the left and right sides of the contact wave, respectively. Both of them are calculated from the left and right Riemann states Ul and Ur. Sl, Sm, and Sr represent the speeds of the left, middle, and right waves, respectively, for a local Riemann problem. The fluxes F* in the middle region are needed to calculate F*l and F*r, which is obtained from the Harten–Lax–van Leer (HLL) formula ().Considering the dry-bed condition from the two-rarefaction approximate Riemann solver, the wave speeds are calculated as follows (; ).where c is the speed of gravity waves; ul, ur, hl, hr are the components of the left and right Riemann states for a local Riemann problem; u* and h* are the components of the middle Riemann states, which are calculated as follows:In order to obtain high-order of accuracy and avoid spurious oscillations, we couple the monotonic upstream-centered scheme for conservation laws (MUSCL) with HLLC scheme to reconstruct the interface data. The reconstruction form can be expressed as where,The function M is a Roe’ Superbee flux limiter and can be written as The time step ∆t that satisfies the demand of two layers dynamic computing simultaneously can be calculated by the stability criterion ().where cfl is the Courant number and its value should be less than one; η is the ratio of the area of the grid to its perimeter.
Computing Dimensionless Discharge
Landslide and river dynamics and mass exchange between two layers are simulated for each of the cases under different conditions, which allows us to compute the dimensionless discharge as a function of time for every channel location in the basin. Since we are interested in the value of q* within channel areas at the times when a landslide intrusion enters the river, we compute time-averaged values of qe and qs (which allows us to calculate q*) with the channel network over a length of time from the moment when the landslide reaches the river to the moment when the landslide dam forms. The reasons why we compute time-averaged values of q* rather than instantaneous values or final values are that the formation of a landslide dam is a gradual process and the erosive capacity of river flow changes over time.
Results
The present model is first applied to simulate laboratory experiments on landslide dam formation over a fixed bed. Then, based on numerical case studies, the value changes in the dimensionless critical discharge for landslide dam formation are presented by considering different dynamic conditions for the landslide.
The setup of the laboratory experiments by consisted of two acrylic flumes: one for transporting water and the other for transporting sediment. The water channel was rectangular, 200 cm long, 15.5 cm wide and 20 cm high, with an adjustable slope and a flow valve. The sediment flume was located above the water channel with a longitudinally adjustable gate and was used to supply sediment to simulate a landslide mass entering a river channel. A water reservoir at the upstream end of the flume was used to provide water. The flow valve was attached to the water supply line behind the reservoir. The slope of the water channel was adjusted by attaching a shaft to the upstream end of the flume and a height-adjustable cross-bar at the downstream end. The sediment flume was 180 cm long, 14 cm wide, and 20 cm high, positioned in parallel above the water channel and inclined at a 40° angle, (i.e. the slope angle was always greater than the internal friction angle of the sediment). This arrangement ensured that the deposited sediments were evenly distributed along the width of the water channel. The rate of sediment supply discharge was controlled through an adjustable gate and an acrylic panel at the upstream end of the sediment flume (see Figure 1). Based on experimental results of , a dimensionless velocity index equation was proposed. If , the landslide mass would block the river channel and form a landslide dam; if , the landslide mass would not be able to block the river flow; and if was between 47 and 54, the formation of a landslide dam would be inconclusive. The experimental results showed an 89% accuracy when the dimensionless velocity index () was used to evaluate conditions for which a landslide dam forms. As suggested by , the empirical value of τc for pure sand materials was found to be 0.004 for grain sizes larger than 0.5 mm. The value of qs for each case was in the experiments. Values of other parameters were adjusted in a trial-and-error procedure until empirical adequacy was reached. An overview of the required parameters for the model is shown in Table 1.
FIGURE 1
TABLE 1
| Symbol | Unit | Definition | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| g | m/s2 | Gravity acceleration | 9.8 | |
| ρs | kg/m3 | Landslide density | 2,630 | |
| ρf | kg/m3 | River flow density | 1,000 | |
| n | s/m1/3 | Manning coefficient | 0.015 | |
| D50 | mm | Median grain size | 0.62 | |
| τc | – | Shield’s number | 0.004 | |
| a | – | Erodibility coefficient | 0.01 | Calibration |
| b | – | Empirically derived exponent | 1.5 | |
| φbed | Degree | Basal frictional angle | 34.4 | |
| φint | Degree | Internal frictional angle | 34.4 |
Model parameter values used in numerical simulations of landslide dam formation.
Figure 2 shows the computed erosion discharge qe and dimensionless discharge q* obtained by simulating the processes of 46 experiments in which landslide dams formed in 20 experimental runs and did not form in 26 runs. The dynamic processes of the landslide and river for some cases (1, 3, and 40) are provided in Supplementary Figures S1–S3 (see Supplementary Material). The results show that the mass of the landslide obstructs flow in the river channel and forms a landslide dam when the ratio of qe and qs is larger than a certain value (Figure 2B). This trend is similar to the results from
FIGURE 2

Relationship between depositional capacity of landslides qs and erosive capacity of river flows qe obtained from
Next, the processes of dam formation under different dynamic conditions for the river and landslide are simulated. In general, the dynamic condition of surface flow can be reflected by flow velocity and flow depth; thus, these two variables are considered in our simulation. In addition, field surveys indicate that landslide debris always enters river in an oblique (or orthogonal) direction
FIGURE 3

Critical threshold of dimensionless discharge q* derived from numerical simulations as a function of river slope θ, by considering different dynamic conditions for the river and the landslide. Values of q* are obtained as an average from the time that the landslide starts entering the river until the time that the landslide dam forms.
Discussion
The results demonstrate that the thresholds for dimensionless discharge obtained in our experimental simulations are smaller than the thresholds for dimensionless discharge suggested by
FIGURE 4

Variation histories of (A) erosion rates and (B) dimensionless critical discharge for the experiment simulation cases 7, 19, 23, and 40. The arrow in the figure represents the critical point of dam formation. q*sa and q*e represent the average value of q* calculated with the data from the simulation and
The choice to average values of dimensionless discharge over a length of time from when the landslide starts entering the river until a dam forms is based on past observations in laboratory experiments that no landslide mass is transported after dam formation (see Supplementary Videos S1). Simulations indicate similar trends between the results obtained by
On the other hand, the presented model assumes that landslide materials are uniform, which is simple if more complex scenarios are considered e.g., different grain size distributions of landslide material. Some complex behaviours that may influence the value of the erosion rate are also not considered. Thus, further research is needed to improve the physical model for providing more accurate results that are closer to reality.
Conclusion
In this study, we derive critical thresholds for the formation of a landslide dam based on slope-dependent values of dimensionless discharge. Furthermore, we present a method for estimating dimensionless discharge thresholds using a process-based two-layer model and the proposed physically based thresholds. The erosion rate and dimensionless discharge derived from the present method indicate trends similar to those estimated by the empirical formula for the experimental cases. The results establish a new method to estimate the thresholds for dam formation focusing on the relationship between the erosive rate of river flow and the deposition rate of a landslide. Several dynamic conditions for the landslide are considered to study their influences on the dimensionless discharge threshold. The physically based dam formation thresholds derived here also make it possible to incorporate the effects of changes in dynamic conditions on the landslide and the river, which could be particularly valuable in addressing landslide dam hazards when landslides and river flow have small differences in discharge.
Statements
Data availability statement
The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.
Author contributions
WL and YH did a lot of work in numerical data analysis; SH and JZ helped perform the analysis with constructive discussions; WL and KC performed the data analyses, wrote the manuscript, made all figures and approved the final version.
Funding
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41907241, U19A2049, and U20A20111), Open Project of State Key Laboratory of Hydraulics and Mountain River Engineering (Grant No. SKHL 2025), the Soil and Water Conservation Innovation Research Projects in 2021 (SWCB-110–026), the CAS “Light of West China” Program and the Foundation for Young Scientists of the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, CAS (Grant No. SDS-QN-1912, No. SDS-QN-1901).
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank the Editor (Mark Bebbington) and two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments which helped to improve the manuscript.
Conflict of interest
The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Supplementary material
The Supplementary Material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feart.2021.651887/full#supplementary-material
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Summary
Keywords
landslide dam formation, dimensionless discharge threshold, experimental analysis, numerical simulation, climate change
Citation
Liu W, Hu Y, He S, Zhou J and Chen K-T (2021) A Numerical Study of the Critical Threshold for Landslide Dam Formation Considering Landslide and River Dynamics. Front. Earth Sci. 9:651887. doi: 10.3389/feart.2021.651887
Received
11 January 2021
Accepted
17 May 2021
Published
28 May 2021
Volume
9 - 2021
Edited by
Mark Bebbington, Massey University, New Zealand
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Copyright
© 2021 Liu, Hu, He, Zhou and Chen.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Kun-Ting Chen, kuntingchen@mail.npust.edu.tw
This article was submitted to Geohazards and Georisks, a section of the journal Frontiers in Earth Science
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