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AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Keywords

  • mudslides
  • nutrient loss
  • ecosystem degradation

Index Terms

  • Hydrology: Debris flow and landslides
  • Hydrology: Eco-hydrology
  • Hydrology: Geomorphology: general
  • Hydrology: Geomorphology: hillslope
  • Hydrology: Geomorphology: fluvial

Abstract

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS, VOL. 36, L05401, 5 PP., 2009
doi:10.1029/2008GL036702

Mudslide-caused ecosystem degradation following Wenchuan earthquake 2008

Diandong Ren

Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA

Jiahu Wang

State Key Laboratory of Hydrology-Water Resources and Hydraulic Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, China

School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA

Rong Fu

Department of Geological Sciences, Jackson School of Geosciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA

David J. Karoly

School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Yang Hong

School of Civil Engineering and Environmental Sciences, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA

Lance M. Leslie

School of Meteorology, University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, USA

Congbin Fu

Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

Gang Huang

Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

We have applied a scalable and extensible geo-fluid model (SEGMENT) that considers soil mechanics, vegetation transpiration and root mechanical reinforcement, and hydrological processes to simulate two dimensional maps of the landslides occurrence following the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Modeled locations and areas generally agree with observations. The model suggests that the potential energy of earth was lowered by 1.52 × 1015 J by these landslides. With this, the vegetation destroyed transfer ∼235 Tg C to the dead respiring pool and transforms 5.54 × 10−2 Tg N into unavailable sediments pools and the atmosphere. The cumulative CO2 release to the atmosphere over the coming decades is comparable to that caused by hurricane Katrina 2005 (∼105 Tg) and equivalent to ∼2% of current annual carbon emissions from global fossil fuel combustion. The nitrogen loss is twice as much as that released by the 2007 California Fire (∼2.5 × 10−2 Tg). A significant proportion of the nitrogen loss (14%) is in the form of nitrous oxide, which can affect the atmospheric ozone layer.

Received 25 November 2008; accepted 29 January 2009; published 4 March 2009.

Citation: Ren, D., J. Wang, R. Fu, D. J. Karoly, Y. Hong, L. M. Leslie, C. Fu, and G. Huang (2009), Mudslide-caused ecosystem degradation following Wenchuan earthquake 2008, Geophys. Res. Lett., 36, L05401, doi:10.1029/2008GL036702.

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