Work

Modelling combined flow-like mass movements: the case study of an Italian Alps catchment with protection works

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: In high-mountain contexts, rainfall can trigger various flow-like mass movements, from debris flows to hyperconcentrated flows and flash floods. Despite similar runout and velocity, propagation mechanisms are different. In such complex phenomena, also the existing protection structures play a fundamental role. In this paper, a multi-phase mathematical framework is adopted to simulate the propagation of a mixture of soil and water along a 3D terrain model. The mass and momentum conservation equations are solved including the rheological behavior models for the materials involved: frictional for soil, Newtonian for water. Some selected scenarios are discussed for a site-specific case study in Northern Italy. The controversial role played by two storage basins located at the toe of the gully is explored numerically and compared to the field evidence. The novelty of the paper is to show how the water temporarily impounded in the basins enhanced the mobility of an incoming debris flow, which turned into an hyperconcentrated flow and went out of the protections structure.

Source: Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment

DOI: 10.1007/s10064-025-04268-1

Authors: Sabatino Cuomo, Ettore Iannuzzi, Martin Mergili, Angela Di Perna

Institutions: University of Salerno, University of Graz

Language: English

Topic: Landslides and related hazards

Subfield: Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $3,990

Funder: Università degli Studi di Salerno