GEOMORPHIC ANALYSIS OF MUD-FLOW HAZARD ON THE GORGE SHIROKAYA BALKA (THE BLACK SEA COAST OF THE CAUCASUS)

Abstract

Catastrophic mud-flows on the Black sea coast may be caused by water twisters. The mudflow on the 9^th of August 2002 was one of the most disruptive from the beginning of land development in the region. The precipitation of the twister reached 42 mm/m² that gave the main impulse to the mud-flow formation. Its total solid and liquid runoff consist 268305 m³ and 73222 m³ respectively. The total water volume carried by twister was more than 600000 m³. The mud-flow parameters were obtained by special method based on the mud-flow velocity formula. Initial data were obtained during the field studies. Calculations were fulfilled for the alignment with known morphometric parameters near the river mouth.