Landscape evolution characteristics of large-scale erosion and landslides at the Putanpunas Stream, Taiwan

Abstract

This study used multi-temporal terrain and remote sensing images to investigate the geomorphological evolution of the Putanpunas stream caused by large-scale erosion and landslides over the last decade. Discrete element method was then performed to gain the physical insight of the slope failure mechanisms and landslide movement. Our results show topographical changes in the alluvial fan downstream and the deposits in the midstream and downstream segments of the Putanpunas Stream between 2005 and 2009. In 2009, torrential rainfall induced large-scale landslides (the volume was about 8.4x 10(7) m(3)) that greatly altered the terrain of the Putanpunas Stream valley and the alluvial fan. A thick, unstable layer of colluvium (the thick of colluvium more than 150 m) was also deposited in the valley. In 2012, further large-scale landslides turned the colluvial layer into debris flows that cut across the Ryukyu Terraces downstream to the downstream segment of the Laonong Stream to the south-west. The change of debris flow direction from southeast to south-west eventually posed a considerable threat to the safety of protected targets and the access road downstream.