Spatiotemporal variation of the loose deposits in Baisha River Basin after the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.

Extensive landslides were triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake (in China) on 12 May 2008, causing a tremendous amount of loose material suspended on the hillslopes, likely to be eroded and transported by rain. It is of great significance to study the long-term variation of the quantity and spatiotemporal distribution of loose deposits after a great earthquake in order to understand the restoration process, to assess the risk of future soil erosion, including geological hazards, and to further develop ecological governance strategy. In this study, information about the multi-temporal loose deposits on the ranges of the Baisha River Basin, an alpine valley near the epicenter, was extracted by object-oriented remote sensing interpretation, and analysis on their spatiotemporal variation showed that the earthquake in 2008 resulted in loose deposits covering an additional area of 81.09 km², with a volume estimated at 0.357 billion m³. Within five years after the earthquake, the vegetation had recovered rapidly, and the extent of the deposits was significantly less. From 5 to 13 years after the earthquake, the vegetation continued to recover but at a slower rate and a decreasing trend in newly formed deposits was evident. The total area, volume and quantity of the loose deposits gradually stabilized. The geometric mean center of the loose deposits gradually moved back towards the upstream area after the earthquake and, by 2021, the mean center was about 4 km away from its pre-earthquake position. Taking the mean center of the loose deposits in 2008 as the center, the deposits in the downstream area shrank significantly after the earthquake, but collapses and landslides of deposits persisted in the upstream area to the west-southwest, west-northwest and north-northwest from the mean center, indicating future source areas of new loose deposits in the basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]