<abstract xml:lang="en" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Large debris flows have destroyed the infrastructure and caused the death of people living in the Moxi Basin (Sichuan Province, Southwestern China). Inhabitants of the Moxi Basin live on the flat surfaces of debris-flow fans, which are also attractive for farming. During the monsoon season debris flows are being formed above the fans. Debris flows can destroy the houses of any people living within the fan surfaces. In order to prevent the adverse effects of flows, people plant alder trees (Alnus nepalensis) at the mouths of debris flow gullies running above debris flow fans. Alders are able to capture the debris transported during flow events. Trees are well adapted to surviving in conditions of environmental stress connected with abrupt transport and deposition of sediment from debris flows. Numerous wounds, tilting and bending of alder trees caused by debris flows only very rarely cause the death of trees. By dating scars and dating the time of alder tilting (through the analysis of annual rings), we have determined the frequency of debris flows occurring at the mouth of the Daozhao valley. In 1980–2012 within the studied debris-flow fan and the Daozhao gully, 2 large debris flow events occurred (1996, 2005) and some smaller events were probably recorded every 2–3 years.</p></abstract>

Large debris flows have destroyed the infrastructure and caused the death of people living in the Moxi Basin (Sichuan Province, Southwestern China). Inhabitants of the Moxi Basin live on the flat surfaces of debris-flow fans, which are also attractive for farming. During the monsoon season debris flows are being formed above the fans. Debris flows can destroy the houses of any people living within the fan surfaces. In order to prevent the adverse effects of flows, people plant alder trees (Alnus nepalensis) at the mouths of debris flow gullies running above debris flow fans. Alders are able to capture the debris transported during flow events. Trees are well adapted to surviving in conditions of environmental stress connected with abrupt transport and deposition of sediment from debris flows. Numerous wounds, tilting and bending of alder trees caused by debris flows only very rarely cause the death of trees. By dating scars and dating the time of alder tilting (through the analysis of annual rings), we have determined the frequency of debris flows occurring at the mouth of the Daozhao valley. In 1980–2012 within the studied debris-flow fan and the Daozhao gully, 2 large debris flow events occurred (1996, 2005) and some smaller events were probably recorded every 2–3 years.

Human-planted alder trees as a protection against debris flows (a dendrochronological study from the Moxi Basin, Southwestern China)

Department of Reconstructing Environmental Change, Faculty of Earth Sciences, University of Silesia, ul. Będzińska 60, 41-200, Sosnowiec, Poland

Chengdu Centre of China Geological Survey, State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, No. 2 of N-3-Section of First Ring Road, Chengdu, China

Institute of Geography and Regional Development, University of Wrocław, pl. Uniwersytecki 1, 50-137, Wrocław, Poland

Geochronometria

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Large debris flows have destroyed the infrastructure and caused the death of people living in the Moxi Basin (Sichuan Province, Southwestern China)....

Human-planted alder trees as a protection against debris flows (a dendrochronological study from the Moxi Basin, Southwestern China)

Published Online: Jun 19, 2013

Page range: 208 - 216

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s13386-013-0113-x

Keywords
debris flow, dendrochronology, tree wound dating, eccentric growth of trees dating, South-Western China

© 2012 Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Human-planted alder trees as a protection against debris flows (a dendrochronological study from the Moxi Basin, Southwestern China)

Published Online: Jun 19, 2013

Page range: 208 - 216

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/s13386-013-0113-x

Keywordsdebris flow, dendrochronology, tree wound dating, eccentric growth of trees dating, South-Western China

© 2012 Silesian University of Technology, Gliwice, Poland

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
debris flow, dendrochronology, tree wound dating, eccentric growth of trees dating, South-Western China