Scientific article
OA Policy
English

Regional reconstruction of flash flood history in the Guadarrama range (Central System, Spain)

Published inScience of the total environment, vol. 550, p. 406-417
Publication date2016
Abstract

Flash floods are a common natural hazard in Mediterranean mountain environments and responsible for serious economic and human disasters. The study of flash flood dynamics and their triggers is a key issue; however, the retrieval of historical data is often limited in mountain regions as a result of short time series and the systematic lack of historical data. In this study, we attempt to overcome data deficiency by supplementing existing records with dendrogeomorphic techniqueswhichwere employed in sevenmountain streams along the northern slopes of the Guadarrama Mountain range. Here we present results derived from the tree-ring analysis of 117 samples from 63 Pinus sylvestris L. trees injured by flash floods, to complement existing flash flood records covering the last ~200 years and comment on their hydro-meteorological triggers. To understand the varying number of reconstructed flash flood events in each of the catchments, we also performed a comparative analysis of geomorphic catchment characteristics, land use evolution and forest management. Furthermore, we discuss the limitations of dendrogeomorphic techniques applied in managed forests.

Keywords
  • Flash flood
  • Regional analysis
  • Dendrogeomorphology
  • Tree rings
  • Managed forest
  • Guadarrama Mountains
Citation (ISO format)
RODRIGUEZ MORATA, Clara et al. Regional reconstruction of flash flood history in the Guadarrama range (Central System, Spain). In: Science of the total environment, 2016, vol. 550, p. 406–417. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2016.01.074
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Article (Accepted version)
accessLevelPublic
Identifiers
Journal ISSN0048-9697
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