Sensitivity of the initiation of debris flow to initial soil moisture

International audienceThe initiation of debris flows is commonly attributed either to fluidization as a result of rainfall-induced landslides or to gully erosion induced by concentrated runoffs. A series of flume tests have been performed to show how the initial soil moisture influences the initiation of debris flows. At the start of each experiment, surface runoff was generated over loose granular deposits, triggering debris flows. These experimental debris flows enacted different scenarios according to the small variations among the initial soil moistures. In the loose granular deposits with initial soil moistures ranging from 1 to 5%, most runoff water could infiltrate and trigger a landslide, which accelerated within 1 s to speed over 1ms −1 and then transformed into a debris flow. In the same soil deposits with initial moistures >5 or