Место издания:Shaheed Bhagat Singh college, University of Delhi
Аннотация:Impacts of snow avalanche and debris flow releases are reflected in the structure and ecological state of landscapes and their components, allowing the state of a landscape to be used as an indicator of their activity especially in areas where direct observations are difficult or impossible. Avalanche and debris flow activity in the Caucasus Mountains and their effect on landscapes were investigated on the basis of long-term field observations, interpretation of remote sensing data, landscape mapping and profiling. The character of landscape change depends on the type of avalanches and debris flows, their frequency and the internal features of the affected landscapes. Large changes occur following wet avalanches. A single influence, especially accompanied by the airwave, often results in relatively rapid recover of zonal vegetation. A series of geosystems with different vegetation and soils indicating the frequency and duration of avalanches and debris flows appear in the places of their prolonged impact. The common and individual features of landscape succession on the debris flow and avalanche deposits of the last decade in the forest belt on the different altitudes were studied on the model plots. Several types of landscape patterns were distinguished in zones of avalanche and debris flow impacts according to their activity. Intensification of landscape changes in recent decades due to the large avalanche and debris flow releases was detected. It was found that snow avalanches initiated some debris flows in the places where they were not observed for the past 40-50 years if ever. Large-scale landscape maps for zones affected by disasters were compiled for some river valleys.