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Geoarchaeological evidence of an ancient landslide dam (13–4.7 ka) and consequent outburst flood on the Minjiang River near Wenchuan, China

Lookup NU author(s): Dr Mike Storozum

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Abstract

© 2024. Dammed lakes are a common phenomenon in high relief river valleys and, depending on various circumstances, they can either remain stable for thousands of years or outburst as soon as they overtop. Here, we present geological evidence of a landslide dam (barrier lake) on the Minjiang River in Wenchuan, Sichuan province, on the eastern Qingzang Plateau, that formed a 27 km2 paleo-lake around 13 ka. This barrier lake was stable for about eight thousand years until the dam broke around 4.7 ka, creating an outburst flood with a peak discharge of 26,000 m3/s. After the barrier lake drained out into the plain, the 15 Neolithic sites situated along the banks of this paleo-lake that date from 5.3 to 4.7 ka and include the Yingpanshan site were rapidly abandoned. From this evidence, we argue that this barrier lake and the subsequent outburst flood highlight how local changes in the geomorphology of landforms during the Holocene can shape settlement patterns and migrations, exploring the cultural exchanges between the Majiayao Culture of North China and the Baodun Culture of the Chengdu Plain as a case study of this phenomenon.

Publication metadata

Author(s): Fan N, Yang X, Storozum MJ, Cheng X, Li L, Liu W, Lin Z, Liu X

Publication type: Article

Publication status: Published

Journal: Catena

Year: 2024

Volume: 242

Print publication date: 01/07/2024

Online publication date: 02/06/2024

Acceptance date: 27/05/2024

ISSN (print): 0341-8162

ISSN (electronic): 1872-6887

Publisher: Elsevier BV

URL: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.catena.2024.108137

DOI: 10.1016/j.catena.2024.108137

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