[Back]

A. Bartsch, S.D Gurney, M. Gude:
"Catchment scale budget estimates of mass movements in the Swedish Kärkevagge";
Talk: EGU 2009, Vienna; 2009-04-19 - 2009-04-24; in: "Geophysical Research Abstracts", 11 (2009), Paper ID EGU2009-9763, 1 pages.

Research on sediment transport processes in the periglacial mountain environments of Scandinavia started already
in the 1950s. A wide range of measurements is available for the Kärkevagge (northern Sweden) including transport
rates for solifluction, slope wash, dirty avalanches and rock- and boulder falls.
Terrain parameters and optical satellite data have been jointly analyzed in order to identity active process areas
and to define Geomorphic Process Units (GPUs) at catchment scale. Terrain parameters such as slope, curvature,
aspect, topology together with NDVI (Normalized Difference vegetation Index; source Landsat TM) have been
investigated for their suitability of process area identification. The actual method differs depending on the nature
of the process: (1) Slow and/or spatially continuous processes below image data resolution: processes that are in
general summarized as solifluction; processes that are associated with nivation; slope wash and rill erosion. (2)
Rapid mass movements with separate area of source and deposition, which are directly adjacent to each other:
rock- and boulder falls, dirty avalanches, mud and debris flow. (3) Rapid mass movements with separate area of
source and deposition, which are separated by area of transport: slush flows and torrents.
Mass movement rates based on existing field measurements have been used in the budget calculations. 80% of the
of the Kärkevagge catchment can be identified either as a source area for sediments or as a zone where sediments
are deposited.

http://publik.tuwien.ac.at/files/PubDat_175564.pdf