Characterisation and Analysis of Catastrophic Landslides and Related Processes using Digital Cartographic Techniques by Keith Brian Delaney A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Earth Sciences Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2014 © Keith Brian Delaney 2014 Author's Declaration This thesis consists of material all of which I authored or co-authored: see Statement of Contributions included in the thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii Statement Of Contributions This thesis consists of material all of which I authored or co-authored, and will be defined here. I am the main author and contributer of all of the following thesis chapters, excluding Chapter 6: The July 2007 Rock And Ice Avalanches At Mount Steele, St. Elias Mountains, Yukon, Canada, which was co-authored by a consortium of earth scientists. In this chapter, I contributed to the ideas, format, and analysis in the main text, including the geometrics of the rock avalanche event, creation of some of the figures (e.g. 6.1, 6.5, 6.10, 6.11), and was completely responsible for the process modeling with DAN-W. iii Abstract This thesis represents a large body of work that seeks to describe, quantify, and simulate the behaviour of large rock slope failures (> 1 Mm³), in the form of landslides and rock avalanches, and their secondary processes, such as landslide-dammed lakes, utilizing remotely sensed data. Remotely sensed data includes aerial photography, high resolution satellite imagery from various platforms (e.g. LANDSAT, ASTER, EO-1, SPOT), and digital topographic elevation models of the Earth’s surface (e.g. SRTM-3, ASTER GDEM2, LiDAR). This thesis focused on regions in northwest North America (British Columbia, Yukon Territory, and Alaska), and on regions in the Himalaya and Pamir Mountain chains (Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tibet, and India). These study regions are each highly dynamic landscapes, where the occurrence of rock slope failures per area is higher than non- mountainous regions, and these events are aiding to the shape and profile of the landscapes and surfaces found today. This thesis focuses on: 1) the ability to accurately calculate geometrics (e.g. areas, volumes, runouts, debris depths) for large scale landslides and their associated landslide dammed lakes (e.g. areas, volumes, outbursts), utilizing data from remotely sensed sources; 2) the attempt to successfully simulate the observed dynamics for both landslide emplacement and their resulting debris deposits (DAN-W, DAN3D), and possible outburst flood scenarios (FLO2D); and, 3) attempt to quantify the kinetic and specific energy involved in rock avalanches, and how these energetics relate to fragmentation, as well as the lateral spreading and thinning of debris sheets. The river valleys of the northwest Himalayas (Pakistan and India) and the adjacent Pamir Mountains of Afghanistan and Tajikistan contain in excess of two hundred known rockslide deposits of unknown age that have interrupted surface drainage and previously dammed major rivers in the region in recent and prehistoric time. Some prehistoric rockslide dams in the northwest Himalayas have impounded massive lakes with volumes in excess of 20 Gm³. The region contains: 1) the highest rockslide dam in the world (the 1911 Usoi rockslide, Tajikistan), which impounds the current largest rockslide- dammed lake (Lake Sarez) on Earth (est. volume 17 Gm³); 2) the largest documented outburst flood (6.5 Gm³) associated with a historical rockslide dam outburst (the 1841 Indus Flood, Pakistan); and, 3) the world’s most recent rockslide-dammed lake emergency, the 2010 Attabad rockslide dam on the Hunza River, in the Upper Indus basin, including the newly created Lake Gojal. By accurately quantifying the volume of an impoundment, and the downstream valley topography (DEM), floodwave scenarios can be created for various breaching situations, allowing for the delineation of downstream inundation areas, or the creation of hazard and risk scenarios. Two methods are used to iv attempt to quantify the volumes of landslide-dammed lakes: 1) a contour interpolation method, focusing on the creation of contours to represent lake levels in the DEM data; and, 2) a new technique using digitized shorelines and statistical methods to obtain lake elevations on specific dates. A new technique has also been developed to quantify the larger block fragmentation from rock avalanches in the glacial environment, and a credible grain-size curve for the largest blocks can be obtained, aiding in the creation of a more complete grain-size curve for a particular event. The combination of landslides and their associated landslide dammed lakes are an important geomorphic process to study, as these events have a direct relationship to the hazard and risk faced by local communities living and working in these regions. By understanding the emplacement and deposit dynamics of large landslides and/or the outburst flood scenarios from naturally impounded reservoirs, we can attempt to reduce the direct impacts these events have to local communities. v Acknowledgements This thesis would not have been possible without the financial, scientific, and emotional support from several people and institutions. Financial support was provided by the Ontario Graduate Scholarship program over 3 years, which was vital to the completion of my PhD, allowing me to focus solely on my research. In the final two years of support from OGS, the funding was picked up by the TD Bank Graduate Scholarship in the Environment. Additional financial contributions came from the University of Waterloo, through the President’s Graduate Scholarship. Finally, the financial support provided by Professor Evans through several TAs and RAs was fundamental to completing my PhD. I am forever grateful for all the financial support offered throughout my graduate student experience. I would like to thank the organizers and scientists for the opportunity to participate in the prestigious International School of Landslide and Risk Assessment (LARAM), which is held annually in Ravello, Italy. Only 30 international PhD students are chosen each year, and I was honoured to be one of those students. I would also like to acknowledge all of the teaching responsibilities given to me from the Earth and Environmental Sciences department at the University of Waterloo. Although not directly related to my thesis, I believe these experiences have been a vital part of my growth and desire to be a future faculty member, and professor. I would like to acknowledge Professor Evans, Professor Warner, Professor Saunderson, and Professor Dusseault for all their encouragement and assistance in allowing me these opportunities. My most heartfelt and biggest thanks goes to my supervisor, Professor Evans. Without all of the scientific, academic, and moral support he has provided to me, this PhD would not have been possible. Professor Evans provided more than just motivation and guidance, but also friendship and support for all my time at the University of Waterloo and I know that my PhD would not have been as rigorous or thorough without his invaluable assistance. Finally, I would like to thank my loving wife Jennifer and son Alexander. Without Jennifer’s never-ending patience, support, and love, I do not think I would have been able to complete this extensive body of work. vi To all those mentioned above, I feel that these brief words are insufficient in expressing my sincere gratitude and thanks, and I truly appreciated all the help and support. vii Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my loving wife Jennifer Delaney, son Alexander Delaney, and the rest of my amazing family. viii Table of Contents Author's Declaration ............................................................................................................................... ii Statement Of Contributions ................................................................................................................... iii Abstract ................................................................................................................................................. iv Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................................... vi Dedication ........................................................................................................................................... viii Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................. ix List of Figures ..................................................................................................................................... xiv List of Tables ................................................................................................................................... xxviii Chapter 1 ................................................................................................................................................ 1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................................