ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Earth Sci.
Sec. Geohazards and Georisks
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feart.2025.1649068
This article is part of the Research TopicNatural Disaster Prediction Based on Experimental and Numerical MethodsView all 23 articles
Quantitative Risk Assessment and Eco-Engineering Mitigation Strategies for Debris Flows Utilizing Dynamic Process Simulation in Shuzheng Gully, Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area
Provisionally accepted
- 1School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, State Key Laboratory of Geological Hazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu, China
- 2School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, China
- 3School of Emergency Management, Xihua University, Chengdu, China
- 4College of Management Science, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
We develop an integrated framework to mitigate debris flow risks in ecologically sensitive World Heritage sites by coupling high-resolution dynamic simulation with adaptive eco-engineering solutions. Using the Massflow model calibrated with empirical hydrodynamic parameters and 1 m-resolution DEM data, we simulated debris flow scenarios under 20-and 50-year rainfall return periods. Under the 50-year event, debris flows reached peak velocities of 6.49 m/s and discharges of 38.33 m³ /s. Hazard zoning identified high-, medium-, and low-risk zones covering 1.16%, 8.07%, and 90.77% of the study area, respectively, threatening 11745.33 m² of infrastructure in Shuzheng Village. To reconcile disaster risk reduction with landscape conservation, we propose an innovative pine pile-gabion composite dam (PPGD) integrated with slope-adapted ecological restoration tailored to the terrain. The PPGD elevates the erosion base level to dissipate impact energy, while its stepped gabion design facilitates progressive solid-liquid separation, reducing sediment concentration and enhancing ecological resilience. Simulation results show that implementing three cascaded PPGDs reduced inundation extent by 45.78%, and peak flow velocities downstream of Dams No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 were decreased by 45.34%, 40.34%, and 37.14%, respectively, compared to upstream values-effectively dissipating impact forces and enhancing sediment retention and deposition control. Our findings demonstrate the advantages of integrating eco-engineering with dynamic modeling for quantitative risk governance and landscape preservation in ecologically sensitive World Heritage sites.
Keywords: Debris Flow1, Jiuzhaigou2, Massflow3, dynamic process simulation4, risk assessment5, ecological control measures6
Received: 18 Jun 2025; Accepted: 21 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Yang, Zong, Wu, Wang, Liang, Wan, Liu and Peng. 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) or licensor 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: Dongxu Yang, School of Environmental and Civil Engineering, Chengdu University of Technology, State Key Laboratory of Geological Hazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.