Ebook: Geomorphological Hazards in High Mountain Areas
- Tags: Hydrogeology, Physical Geography, Environmental Management
- Series: The GeoJournal Library 46
- Year: 1998
- Publisher: Springer Netherlands
- Edition: 1
- Language: English
- pdf
On the basis of a total of thirteen case examples from the Tien Shan, Karakorum, Himalaya and Tangula Shan (central Tibet), the risk potential and hazards are inferred from the development of landscape during the Quaternary. The history of glaciers can be seen as of central importance for this. The Ice Age glacial erosion created V-shaped valleys, which with their steep flanks - as a consequence of the interglacial formation of V -valleys - have prepared and brought about landslides as well as rockslides and the hazards, combined with them. The same is true for the moraines, which the gla ciers have deposited high-up in the valley flanks and related loose stone deposits. Dry and wet mass movements follow after heavy precipitation, especially in the semi-arid investigation areas, and are catastrophes for the settlements and the communication routes in the valley floors. Their key-forms are debris cones and debris slopes, as well as mudflows and alluvial fans. In addition to the Ice Age glaciation history, as a preparatory, indirect factor, the Holocene to present glaciation history is, as a result of the danlming-up of glacier- and moraine lakes and their outbursts, a direct risk factor. The examples presented of acute and already occurred cases of damage were inves tigated in the years 1989-1994. Acknowledgements The authors wish to thank the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), the Max Planck-Gesellschaft (MPG), the Volkswagen-Stiftting (VW) and the Deutscher Aka demischer Austauschdienst (DAAD) for the financial support for the field-work.
This volume presents a collection of papers by specialists contributing to the activities of the International Geographical Union Commission on `Natural Hazard Studies'. The main topics are: morphotectonic activities, slope movements, glacial, erosion and weathering hazards and man-made rapid modellation processes. Research on basic geomorphological hazards in high mountains can be understood not only as a set of case studies, but primarily as a rare opportunity for the preparation of theoretical models and for the understanding of the general architecture of the origin of natural disasters.
Audience: This specialized book will be useful for natural scientists, graduate geographers and geologists and postgraduate students in earth sciences.