In the 1920s Swedish geologists believed that a thick layer of silt mapped north (Map from Høgaas and colleagues, 2023) Icebergs from Østerdalen far out to sea The researchers have been able to infer the maximum flood level from theĪble to reconstruct just how large the flooded areas were, as shown on the map below.Ī closer view of the map above shows more precisely where the red circles are, which is where the researchers took samples. This height reflects the peakįlooding, and no trace of the flood sediments are found above that.” Of these water beds we found a lot of sediments from the flood.”īased on the principle that the sediments carried by the masses of water wereĭeposited up to a certain elevation in the landscape. That lakes and marshes acted as natural "sediment traps" during the Silt bed upwards along the sides of the impacted terrain by examining sediments Have now been able to precisely delineate the areas that were flooded by the megafloodīy using the distribution of the sediment records in this silt bed. Silt is fine sand, dust-like but solid, which has been transported by water or ice and been deposited as sediment. Mjelen or mjela refers to the silt bed remains after the flood, Into the ground in Romerike a little, in a lot of places you’ll find aĬharacteristic light layer of silt that is called Romeriksmjele in Two years, Høgaas and his colleagues have been taking a closer look at theĭestruction wrought in the areas of Eastern Norway that were inundated by the Gravel, sand and mud,” says the geologist. Millions of people were displaced while others suffered from starvation, dehydration, and diseases.Related The inner parts of the Oslofjord contains some of the most exciting traces of Stone Age people in Europe The flooding was fueled by heavy rainfall which began in July. The river is Asia’s longest, and flooding on its banks has been a concern since ancient times. The Yangtze River causes nearly three-quarters of China’s floods, and in 1935, 145,000 people were killed after it broke its banks. By the end of the flood, an estimated 231,000 people had died. The disaster had not been forecasted, and evacuation activities were hampered by poor communication in the awful weather conditions. However, in the wake of Typhoon Nina in 1975 water surpassed that threshold and the dam broke. The dam’s construction was targeted to contain the Ru River and a precipitation maximum of 300 mm daily. The Banqiao Dam lies on the River Ru in the Henan Province of China. This event has been termed as the “largest act of environmental warfare in history.” Banqiao Dam (Ru River) An estimated 500,000 - 800,000 people drowned, starved, or succumbed to diseases. The destruction of the dike at Huayuankous on the river’s south bank sent water rushing to thousands of kilometers of farmland. Its creation was ordered by the Nationalist Government under the leadership of Chiang Kai-Shek as an impediment to the advance of Japanese forces during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Yellow River flood of 1938 in Central China was human induced. The casualties are estimated to number between 1,000,000 and 4,000,000. A staggering millions of people drowned while others succumbed to water-borne ailments and starvation. The Huai River soon also overflowed, and the water reached Nanjing, which was the capital of China at the time. The rivers thus held more water than usual, and the Yangtze River was the first to burst its banks. Nine Cyclones were also recorded in these months from the normal two per year. However, by mid-1931 changes were felt in the form of heavy snowfall and heavy rainfall. In the years preceding the catastrophe, the country had been experiencing terrible drought conditions. Worst Floods Recorded Since 1900 Yangtze River And Huai Riverįrom July to November 1931, central China experienced devastating floods. This list consists of the deadliest floods recorded since the turn of the 20th century, in 1900. Floods adversely impact human activities prompting people to implement mitigation strategies to counter their effect including constructing dams and levees. A number of causes have been recognized as leading to floods ranging from heavy rainfall, tsunamis, high tides, cyclones, to earthquakes. Floods are classified as wild weather, and they occur when water overflows from its usual confines to land not usually covered by water. The flood of Yangtze and Huai Rivers in China were responsible for millions of casualties, making it one of the deadliest floods in recent history.
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