After megafires, the rapid transport of sediment released from behind burned vegetation can facilitate catastrophic debris flows, and a study presents a probabilistic model showing that slope, particle size, and loss of surface roughness on burned hillslopes influence three distinct regimes of particle motion that could aid understanding of steepland erosion following wildfires; the study finds that burned slopes are measurably smoother than vegetated slopes, according to the authors.
Article #19-22495: "Particle motion on burned and vegetated hillslopes," by Danica L. Roth, Tyler H. Doane, Joshua J. Roering, David J. Furbish, and Aaron Zettler-Mann.
MEDIA CONTACT: Danica L. Roth, Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO; tel: 858-337-4782; e-mail: droth@mines.edu
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Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences