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Abstract Pyroclastic density currents (PDCs) are the most lethal volcanic process on Earth. Forecasting their inundation area is essential to mitigate their risk, but existing models are limited by our poor understanding of their dynamics. Here, we explore the role of evolving grain-size distribution in controlling the runout of the most common PDCs, known as block-and-ash flows (BAFs). Through a combination of theory, analysis of deposits and experiments of natural mixtures, we show that rapid changes of the grain-size distribution transported in BAFs result in the reduction of pore volume (compaction) within the first kilometres of their runout. We then use a multiphase flow model to show how the compressibility of granular mixtures leads to fragmentation-induced fluidisation (FIF) and excess pore-fluid pressure in BAFs. This process dominates the first ~2 km of their runout, where the effective friction coefficient is progressively reduced. Beyond that distance, transport is modulated by diffusion of the excess pore pressure. Fragmentation-induced fluidisation provides a physical basis to explain the decades-long use of low effective friction coefficients used in depth-averaged simulations required to match observed flow inundation.
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A closed-form criterion to identify high-mobility flowslides
This paper derives a closed-form criterion to assess the risk of flowslide runout in loose frictional soil. The derivations rely on a recently proposed framework to simulate pre- and post-failure motion in infinite slopes. An analytical solution of the coupled differential equations capturing flowslide hydromechanics is obtained by specifying them for a perfectly plastic constitutive law. This result enables a comprehensive examination of the factors that control whether the landslide motion, once triggered, autonomously comes to rest (self-regulating behaviour with low mobility) or continues to propagate (self-feeding behaviour with high mobility). It is found that the time history of motion is regulated by non-dimensional property groups reflecting the timescale of excess pore pressure dissipation and the inertial properties of the liquefied zone, which are in turn governed by material (e.g. hydraulic conductivity, dilation coefficient, elastic moduli) and slope properties (e.g. thickness, inclination). The solution is used to build charts identifying the critical ranges of soil properties and triggering factors that differentiate between high-mobility and low-mobility flowslides. Most importantly, it is shown that the fate of flowslide motions is predicted by a critical ratio expressed in terms of excess pore pressure and flow velocity, here defined as the factor of mobility, FM, with values above 1 indicating a self-feeding runout.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1854951
- PAR ID:
- 10523202
- Publisher / Repository:
- Emerald
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Géotechnique
- ISSN:
- 0016-8505
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 1 to 13
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1680/jgeot.23.00171
