When it rains in the desert of Patagonia: heavy rains, sediment laden
flash floods and hazard management challenges.
Abstract
Ephemeral streams in dry environments can produce high intensity
sediment-laden flash floods. The research of these events is quite
difficult due to far locations with limited accessibility, unexpected
events, and rough weather conditions. Hence combined data of rainfall,
flood hydrograph and sediment transport is rather scarce in the world.
Recent extreme events (RI > 550 years) in arroyos
(ephemeral streams) of the central Patagonia (Argentina) has called the
attention of public and scientific community. The Sagmata basin (total
drained area of 129 km2), located in the Lower Valley of the Chubut
River (Province of Chubut, Argentina) has been equipped with 4
raingauges, a weather station, four cameras and sediment sampler in four
reaches of the arroyos. Data from a two-year monitoring provides
valuable insights about the hydrological response of basins in
Patagonia, such as the time of response, the shape of hydrographs and
its relations with the hyetographs and duration curves. The arroyos are
wetted a short period of the time (8 to 21 hours a year). Single-peak,
multi-peak and flat top hydrographs have been observed. The lag-time
decreases with the increase of the rainfall intensity and the maximum
water stage. Moreover, the bore front moves with mean speed which value
is between 0.8 to 1.6 m s-1. The wash load in the arroyos depends on
geological settings and vegetation cover of the basin. Mean values are
between 23 – 46 gr l-1. The complex hydrograph shape produced by the
basin has been linked to the rainfall features (duration, mean intensity
and patchiness) and the basin physiography of the basin. Findings from
the present study provide valuable information both for the
comprehension of arroyos in drylands and hazard management as well.