GEOTECHNICAL LECTURE SERIES: The USGS Debris-Flow Flume: Past, Present, and Future
RICHARD M. IVERSON, PH.D., Senior Research Hydrologist, U.S. Geological Survey
ABSTRACT: The U.S. Geological Survey debris-flow flume is a unique, large-scale experimental facility located at the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest in the Willamette National Forest, Oregon. Research on the dynamics of debris flows, landslides, and related phenomena began there in 1992 and continues today. More than 160 experiments have been conducted to date. Detailed instrumental monitoring of reproducible, appropriately scaled experiments at the flume has yielded data that have served to both motivate and test new mathematical models of landslide and debris-flow processes, and some of these models are now in widespread practical use. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the factors that spurred development of the debris-flow flume facility and of the scientific advances that have resulted from experimentation there.
BIOGRAPHY: Richard (Dick) Iverson is a senior scientist at the USGS Cascades Volcano Observatory in Vancouver, Washington, where he has worked for more than 33 years. Previously he received a B.S. degree from Iowa State University as well as two M.S. degrees and a Ph.D. from Stanford University. His research focusses on the dynamics of debris flows and landslides as well as other geomechanical phenomena. In the early 1990’s he oversaw design and construction of the USGS debris-flow flume at the H.J.Andrews Experimental Forest, and since that time he has been in charge of science and operations at the facility. Iverson is a fellow of the Geological Society of America and the American Geophysical Union, and has received the Kirk Bryan Award, E.B. Burwell Award, Jahns Lectureship, and Langbein Lectureship from these organizations.
Location: Kearney 112, OSU Campus
Date: November 30, 2017
Time: 4:30 PM