Long-term hillslope erosion and landslide-channel coupling in the area of the catastrophic Wenchuan earthquake

Approximately 200,000 landslides were triggered by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake and subsequent strong rainfall events, and the amount of landslide sediment delivered to the channels within catchments depended on the amount of landslide debris generated by the earthquake and the amount of post-earthquake rainfall. To better understand long-term hillslope erosion and the long-term changes in landslide-channel coupling, this study quantifies the coupling degree of landslide-channel by defining a landslide-channel coupling index (LCCI) and estimates the long-term hillslope erosion driven by landslides within 12 debris flow basins. We track landslide activity using multiyear imagery from 2008 to 2019, and the landslide ratio, landslide new regeneration ratio, and landslide reactivated ratio indicate that the overall landslide activity decayed following the Wenchuan earthquake. The calculation results of the coupling index illustrate that the coupling degree of landslide-channel in the study area follows a power law trend of decay over time. However, due to the influence of landslide activity, the coupling index decreased significantly in the first 5 years after the Wenchuan earthquake and then decreased slowly. The hillslope erosion driven by landslides is estimated using a conservative statistical model. The result shows that the landslide-driven hillslope erosion has decayed following a power law, and elevated levels of erosion may last for an unexpectedly long period. In addition, the landslide-channel coupling degree affects the movement of landslide sediment to channels. While the coupling degree of landslide-channel and the amount of landslide sediment supplied to the channels have decreased significantly in recent years, abundant landslide sediment could still be delivered to the channels when strong rainfall occurs in this region. Furthermore, a considerable amount of sediment appears to remain within the tributary channels and trunk channels, which means the activity of debris flow may last longer period than hillslope erosion.

Automated summary

This study investigates the long-term changes in hillslope erosion and landslide-channel coupling by quantifying the coupling degree using a landslide-channel coupling index (LCCI) and estimating the hillslope erosion driven by landslides. The results show that the overall landslide activity and coupling degree decayed following the Wenchuan earthquake, and the hillslope erosion driven by landslides also followed a power law decay. Although the coupling degree and sediment supply to channels have decreased, strong rainfall events can still result in significant sediment delivery.