Recent expansion of talus slopes in the northern Taihang Mountain Range, China: an example from the Xiaowutai Region

Talus slopes play an important role in landscape evolution in some mid-altitude mountains. In this study, we analyzed talus slope activity on Xiaowutai Mountain in the Northern Taihang Mountain Belt, China, using a combination of aerial map interpretation, topographic analysis, field investigation,...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Landslides 2021-09, Vol.18 (9), p.3027-3040
Main Authors: Wu, Jialiang, Ma, Chao, Yang, Wentao, Lyu, Liqun, Miao, Lv
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agriculture
Altitude
Civil Engineering
Climate
Climate change
Climate monitoring
Climatic analysis
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Elevation
Field investigations
Freeze thaw cycles
Freeze-thawing
Freezing
Geography
Geology
Global warming
Ice
Ice melting
Map interpretation
Midaltitude
Mountains
Natural Hazards
Original Paper
Precipitation
Rain
Rhyolite
Rhyolites
Roughness
Slope
Slope gradients
Slopes
Surface runoff
Thawing
Topography
Vegetation
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Summary:Talus slopes play an important role in landscape evolution in some mid-altitude mountains. In this study, we analyzed talus slope activity on Xiaowutai Mountain in the Northern Taihang Mountain Belt, China, using a combination of aerial map interpretation, topographic analysis, field investigation, and climate monitoring. Most of the identified talus slopes were located in the elevation range 1501–2882 m, on south-facing slopes with a gradient of 20.1–45°, and in areas with sparse vegetation and underlying rhyolite geology. Their number and area significantly increased between 2003 and 2017 in association with a warming climate. The annual change in the area covered by talus slopes was positively and negatively correlated to thawing and freezing indexes, respectively, with the largest coverage increase recorded in 2016. Furthermore, the average area of high-roughness talus slopes increased more between 2015 and 2016 compared to low-roughness talus slopes. We show that surface runoff is the primary factor driving talus slope expansion in this area, which is secondary to freeze-thaw cycling. These results provide a new understanding of the development of talus slopes in similar mid-altitude regions in comparison to alpine and polar areas, where ice melting is considered the dominant formation mechanism.
ISSN:1612-510X
1612-5118
DOI:10.1007/s10346-021-01715-4