Coarse-grained debris-flow deposits in the Miocene fan deltas, SE Korea: A scaling analysis

Abstract

The viscoplastic and inertial grain-flow models have been widely used as tools for description and interpretation of ancient debris-flow deposits, providing a basis to estimate yield strength, viscosity, cohesion, and internal friction angle. Recent studies suggest, however, that a debris flow is an intimate mixture of solid and fluid, in which a number of momentum-transfer mechanisms operate. It is therefore necessary to evaluate the relative importance of different momentum-transport processes to properly describe a debris flow. Scaling analysis may be useful to this end, using the Bagnold number (the ratio of inertial grain stress to viscous shear stress), Savage number (the ratio of inertial grain stress to shear stress borne by sustained grain contacts), friction number (the ratio of frictional shear stress to viscous shear stress), and Darcy number (the ratio of grain-fluid interaction stress to inertial grain stress). Scaling analyses of Miocene gravelly debris-flow deposits in Korea suggest that different types of debris flows can be better distinguished by the analyses, providing some implications for debris-flow processes.