Preprints
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2694
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2023-2694
10 Apr 2024
 | 10 Apr 2024

Post-fire Variability in Sediment Transport by Ravel in the Diablo Range

Hayden L. Jacobson, Danica L. Roth, Gabriel Walton, Margaret Zimmer, and Kerri Johnson

Abstract. Post-fire changes to the transport regime of dry ravel, which describes the transport of individual particles downslope, are poorly constrained on a regional level but critical to understand as ravel may contribute to elevated sediment fluxes and associated debris-flow activity observed post-fire in the western United States. In this study, we evaluated post-fire variability in dry ravel travel distance exceedance probabilities and disentrainment rates through a series of field experiments simulating ravel with particles collected in situ. We conducted experiments between March 2021 and March 2022 on soil-mantled hillslopes in the Diablo Range of central coastal California following the Santa Clara Unit Lightning Complex fire of August 2020 with the goal of identifying a regime of “bounded” (light-tailed) or “runaway” (heavy-tailed or nonlocal) motion for different particle sizes between 3 and 35 mm. We conducted this study on both grassy south-facing slopes and oak woodland north-facing slopes. We tracked the post-fire evolution of particle transport regimes by fitting a probabilistic Lomax distribution model to the empirical travel distance exceedance probabilities of different particle sizes on a range of experimental slopes. Our experimental results indicated that a general transition from more runaway to more bounded transport occurred for our largest experimental particles (median intermediate axis of 28 mm) on south-facing slopes as vegetation recovered within the first year post-fire, while small and medium particles (median intermediate axes of 6 and 13 mm respectively) on south- or north-facing slopes and large particles on north-facing slopes did not experience notable changes in transport behavior. After the first year, seasonal variation in vegetation characteristics, such as grass density, appeared to control particle motion.

Publisher's note: Copernicus Publications remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims made in the text, published maps, institutional affiliations, or any other geographical representation in this preprint. The responsibility to include appropriate place names lies with the authors.

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

13 Dec 2024
Post-fire evolution of ravel transport regimes in the Diablo Range, CA
Hayden L. Jacobson, Danica L. Roth, Gabriel Walton, Margaret Zimmer, and Kerri Johnson
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1415–1446, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1415-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1415-2024, 2024
Short summary
Hayden L. Jacobson, Danica L. Roth, Gabriel Walton, Margaret Zimmer, and Kerri Johnson

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2694', Emmanuel Gabet, 09 May 2024
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2694', Anonymous Referee #2, 07 Jul 2024
  • EC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2694', Tom Coulthard, 16 Jul 2024
  • AC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2694', Hayden Jacobson, 01 Sep 2024
  • EC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2694', Tom Coulthard, 04 Sep 2024

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

Comment types: AC – author | RC – referee | CC – community | EC – editor | CEC – chief editor | : Report abuse
  • RC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2694', Emmanuel Gabet, 09 May 2024
  • RC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2694', Anonymous Referee #2, 07 Jul 2024
  • EC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2694', Tom Coulthard, 16 Jul 2024
  • AC1: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2694', Hayden Jacobson, 01 Sep 2024
  • EC2: 'Comment on egusphere-2023-2694', Tom Coulthard, 04 Sep 2024

Peer review completion

AR: Author's response | RR: Referee report | ED: Editor decision | EF: Editorial file upload
AR by Hayden Jacobson on behalf of the Authors (01 Sep 2024)  Author's response   Author's tracked changes   Manuscript 
ED: Referee Nomination & Report Request started (04 Sep 2024) by Tom Coulthard
RR by Emmanuel Gabet (07 Sep 2024)
RR by Anonymous Referee #2 (24 Sep 2024)
ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (25 Sep 2024) by Tom Coulthard
ED: Publish subject to technical corrections (07 Oct 2024) by Tom Coulthard (Editor)
AR by Hayden Jacobson on behalf of the Authors (17 Oct 2024)  Manuscript 

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

13 Dec 2024
Post-fire evolution of ravel transport regimes in the Diablo Range, CA
Hayden L. Jacobson, Danica L. Roth, Gabriel Walton, Margaret Zimmer, and Kerri Johnson
Earth Surf. Dynam., 12, 1415–1446, https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1415-2024,https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-12-1415-2024, 2024
Short summary
Hayden L. Jacobson, Danica L. Roth, Gabriel Walton, Margaret Zimmer, and Kerri Johnson

Data sets

Lomax2 Hayden L. Jacobson https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10048974

Model code and software

Lomax2 Hayden L. Jacobson https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10048974

Hayden L. Jacobson, Danica L. Roth, Gabriel Walton, Margaret Zimmer, and Kerri Johnson

Viewed

Total article views: 540 (including HTML, PDF, and XML)
HTML PDF XML Total BibTeX EndNote
285 134 121 540 28 29
  • HTML: 285
  • PDF: 134
  • XML: 121
  • Total: 540
  • BibTeX: 28
  • EndNote: 29
Views and downloads (calculated since 10 Apr 2024)
Cumulative views and downloads (calculated since 10 Apr 2024)

Viewed (geographical distribution)

Total article views: 565 (including HTML, PDF, and XML) Thereof 565 with geography defined and 0 with unknown origin.
Country # Views %
  • 1
1
 
 
 
 
Latest update: 13 Dec 2024
Download

The requested preprint has a corresponding peer-reviewed final revised paper. You are encouraged to refer to the final revised version.

Short summary
Loose grains travel farther after a fire because no vegetation is left to stop them. This matters since loose grains at the base of a slope can turn into a debris flow if it rains. To find if grass growing back after a fire had different impacts on grains of different sizes on slopes of different steepness, we dropped thousands of natural grains and measured how far they went. Large grains went farther 7 months after the fire than 11 months after, and small grain movement didn’t change much.