Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Freppaz, Michele
• Godone, Danilo
• Filippa, Gianluca
• Maggioni, Margherita
• Lunardi, Stefano
• Williams, Mark W
• Zanini, Ermanno

Titel

Soil Erosion Caused by Snow Avalanches: a Case Study in the Aosta Valley (NW Italy)

Ist Teil von

• Arctic, antarctic, and alpine research, 2010-11, Vol.42 (4), p.412-421

Ort / Verlag

UCB 450, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309-0450, U.S.A: The Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research

Erscheinungsjahr

2010

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

EZB Electronic Journals Library

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Snow avalanches can exert considerable erosive forces on soils. If a snow avalanche flows directly over bare ground, basal shear forces may scrape away and entrain soil. Soil material entrained by the avalanche is transported to the deposition zone, changing the chemical composition of the soils and potentially contributing to unique landforms. The quantity of soil material eroded and accumulated depends on avalanche characteristics and on morphological features, as well as soil properties and vegetation cover. We monitored a channeled avalanche path in the Aosta Valley of NW Italy in order to assess the contribution of avalanche debris to the formation of soils in the runout zone. Sediment concentration estimates and measurements of the avalanche deposit volumes were used to estimate the total sediment load. The collected sediments were separated into fine sediments (<2 mm) and large (>2 mm) organic and mineral fractions. Results, obtained from the winter seasons of 2006, 2007, and 2008, showed that the amount of sediment deposited on the preexistent soil at the foot of the avalanche path was mainly the fine sediments fraction. The total carbon and nitrogen content in the fine sediment fraction ranged respectively from 6.6 to 9.0% and 0.37 to 0.42%. The total sediment load transported out of the 3.5 km2 basin was estimated to be 7585 kg in 2006, 27,115 kg in 2007, and 2323 kg in 2008. This mass transport resulted in basin averaged denudation rates ranging from 0.67 g m−2 event−1 in 2008 to 7.77 g m−2 event−1 in 2007. Annual accumulation in the runout zone was 240 Mg ha−1 in 2006, 38 Mg ha−1 in 2007 and 10 Mg ha−1 in 2008. The inorganic N concentration of the snow in the runout zone was significantly greater than in the starting zone and was correlated with the organic fraction accumulated by the avalanche. By redistributing snow, avalanches not only redistribute water but also nutrients that can be available for plants in the growing season. Moreover, avalanche paths are places where soil accumulates in some areas and erodes in others, contributing to potentially unique pedo-environmental conditions.