The Mogangling giant landslide triggered by the 1786 Moxi M 7.75 earthquake,China

A good understanding of seismic giant landslides could provide favourable guidance for seismic stability evaluation of nearby slopes. Here, an excellent example of a catastrophic seismic landslide named the Mogangling giant landslide (MGL), located upstream along the Dadu River and triggered by the 1786 Moxi M 7.75 earthquake, is analysed for its deposit characteristics, failure mechanism and dammed lake. The MGL, with a volume of approximately 4500?×?10⁴ m³, 450 m long and 1000 m wide, blocked the Dadu River completely and caused over 100 000 deaths when the landslide dam broke. The MGL occurred on the upper part of a narrow granite ridge; a potentially unstable wedge-shaped rock mass was separated from the remaining massif by unloading fissures and an active fault (Detuo fault) that just crossed the slope foot. The Moxi earthquake coupled with strong site amplification triggered the MGL, which blocked the Dadu River; the elevation of the dam crest was approximately 130 m higher than the present river level. The dammed lake had a volume of approximately 9.504?×?10⁸ m³, an area of 19.91 km² and a length of approximately 31 km; the peak flow of the outburst flood was larger than 7100 m³/s. After hundreds of years of concave bank erosion, the deposit is divided into the right bank deposit (main deposit) and left bank deposit (residual deposit).

     

Progressive evolution and failure behavior of a Holocene river-damming landslide in the SE Tibetan Plateau,China

This paper presents a study on an ancient river-damming landslide in the SE Tibet Plateau, China, with a focus on time-dependent gravitational creep leading to slope failure associated with progressive fragmentation during motion. Field investigation shows that the landslide, with an estimated volume of 4.9?×?10⁷ m³, is a translational toe buckling slide. Outcrops of landslide deposits, buckling, toe shear, residual landslide dam, and lacustrine sediments are distributed at the slope base. The landslide deposits formed a landslide dam over 60 m high and at one time blocked the Jinsha River. Optically stimulated luminescence dating for the lacustrine sediments indicates that the landslide occurred at least 2,600 years ago. To investigate the progressive evolution and failure behavior of the landslide, numerical simulations using the distinct element method are conducted. The results show that the evolution of the landslide could be divided into three stages: a time-dependent gravitational creep process, rapid failure, and granular flow deposition. It probably began as a long-term gravitationally induced buckling of amphibolite rock slabs along a weak interlayer composed of mica schist which was followed by progressive fragmentation during flow-like motion, evolving into a flow-like movement, which deposited sediments in the river valley. According to numerical modeling results, the rapid failure stage lasted 35 s from the onset of sudden failure to final deposition, with an estimated maximum movement rate of 26.8 m/s. The simulated topography is close to the post-landslide topography. Based on field investigation and numerical simulation, it can be found that the mica schist interlayer and bedding planes are responsible for the slope instability, while strong toe erosion caused by the Jinsha River caused the layered rock mass to buckle intensively. Rainfall or an earthquake cannot be ruled out as a potential trigger of the landslide, considering the climate condition and the seismic activity on centennial to millennial timescales in the study area.

     

Characteristics of a rapid landsliding area along Jinsha River revealed by multi-temporal remote sensing and its risks to Sichuan-Tibet railway

The Sichuan-Tibet railway goes across the Upper Jinsha River, along which a large number of large historical landslides have occurred and dammed the river. Therefore, it is of great significance to investigate large potential landslides along the Jinsha River. In this paper, we inspect the deformation characteristics of a rapid landsliding area along the Jinsha River by using multi-temporal remote sensing, and analyzed its future development and risk to the Sichuan-Tibet railway. Surface deformations and damage features between January 2016 and October 2020 were obtained using multi-temporal InSAR and multi-temporal correlations of optical images, respectively. Deformation and failure signs obtained from the field investigation were highly consistent. Results showed that cumulative deformation of the landsliding area is more than 50 cm, and the landsliding area is undergoing an accelerated deformation stage. The external rainfall condition, water level, and water flow rate are important factors controlling the deformation. The increase of rainfall, the rise of water level, and faster flow rate will accelerate the deformation of slope. The geological conditions of the slope itself affect the deformation of landslide. Due to the enrichment of gently dipping gneiss and groundwater, the slope is more likely to slide along the slope. The Jinsha River continuously scours the concave bank of the slope, causing local collapses and forming local free surfaces. Numerical simulation results show that once the landsliding area fails, the landslide body may form a 4-km-long dammed lake, and the water level could rise about 200 m; the historic data shows that landslide dam may burst in 2–8 days after sliding. Therefore, strategies of landslide hazard mitigation in the study area should be particularly made for the coming rainy seasons to mitigate risks from the landsliding area.

     

Logistic regression model for predicting the failure probability of a landslide dam

Landslides may obstruct river flow and result in landslide dams; they occur in many regions of the world. The formation and disappearance of natural lakes involve a complex earth–surface process. According to the lessons learned from many historical cases, landslide dams usually break down rapidly soon after the formation of the lake. Regarding hazard mitigation, prompt evaluation of the stability of the landslide dam is crucial. Based on a Japanese dataset, this study utilized the logistic regression method and the jack-knife technique to identify the important geomorphic variables, including peak flow (or catchment area), dam height, width and length in sequence, affecting the stability of landslide dams. The resulting high overall prediction power demonstrates the robustness of the proposed logistic regression models. Accordingly, the failure probability of a landslide dam can also be evaluated based on this approach. Ten landslide dams (formed after the 1999 Chi-Chi Earthquake, the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake and 2009 Typhoon Morakot) with complete dam geometry records were adopted as examples of evaluating the failure probability. The stable Tsao-Ling landslide dam, which was induced by the Chi-Chi earthquake, has a failure probability of 27.68% using a model incorporating the catchment area and dam geometry. On the contrary, the Tangjiashan landslide dam, which was artificially breached soon after its formation during the Wenchuan earthquake, has a failure probability as high as 99.54%. Typhoon Morakot induced the Siaolin landslide dam, which was breached within one hour after its formation and has a failure probability of 71.09%. Notably, the failure probability of the earthquake induced cases is reduced if the catchment area in the prediction model is replaced by the peak flow of the dammed stream for these cases. In contrast, the predicted failure probability of the heavy rainfall-induced case increases if the high flow rate of the dammed stream is incorporated into the prediction model. Consequently, it is suggested that the prediction model using the peak flow as causative factor should be used to evaluate the stability of a landslide dam if the peak flow is available. Together with an estimation of the impact of an outburst flood from a landslide-dammed lake, the failure probability of the landslide dam predicted by the proposed logistic regression model could be useful for evaluating the related risk.     

Stability of landslide dams and development of knickpoints

The Wenchuan earthquake triggered many landslides and numerous avalanches and created 100 odd quake lakes. The quake lakes may be removed or preserved. The removal strategy was applied to several large landslide dams, which were dangerous because massive amounts of water pooled up in the quake lakes. The dams could eventually fail under the action of dam outburst flooding, potentially endangering the lives of people in the downstream reaches. This paper studied the stability of landslide dams and the development of knickpoints by field investigations and experiments, and analyzing satellite images. The study concluded that if landslide dams were preserved, they would develop into knickpoints and act as a primary control of riverbed incision and, thus, reduce the potential of new landslide. The stability of landslide dams depends mainly on the development of the step-pool system and stream power of the flood flow. If a landslide dam consists of many boulders, a step-pool system may develop on the spillway channel of the dam, which would maximize the resistance, consume most of the flow energy and consequently protect the dam from incision. The development degree of the step-pool system is represented by a parameter S _p, which was measured with a specially designed instrument. A preservation ratio of landslide dams is defined as the ratio of preserved height after flood scouring to the original height of the dam. For streams with peak flood discharge lower than 30 m³/s, the preservation ratio is linearly proportional to S _p. For rivers with a peak flood discharge higher than 30 m³/s (30–30,000 m³/s), the minimum S _p value for stable channel increases with log p, in which p is the unit stream power. For a landslide dam with a poorly developed step-pool system, S _p is smaller than the minimum value and the outburst flood incises the spillway channel and causes failure of the dam. For preserved landslide dams, sediment deposits in the quake lakes. A landslide dam may develop into a knickpoint if it is stabilized by long-term action of the flow. Large knickpoints can totally change the fluvial processes and river morphology. Uplift of the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau has caused extensive channel bed incision along almost all rivers. For many rivers, the incision has been partly controlled by knickpoints. Upstream reaches of a knickpoint have a new and unchanging base level. This brings about a transition from degradation to aggradation and from vertical bed evolution to horizontal fluvial process. Multiple and unstable channels are prominent in the reaches, upstream of the knickpoints. If hundreds of landslide dams occurred simultaneously on a reach of a mountain river, the potential energy of bank failure and the slope erosion would be greatly reduced and sediment yield from the watershed may be reduced to nearly zero. The quake lakes may be preserved long term and become beautiful landscapes. Streams with long-term unfilled quake lakes have good aquatic ecology.     

The 2007 Fox Creek landslide,Peace River Lowland,Alberta, Canada

Fox Creek is a small tributary of the Saddle River, a tributary of the Peace River in northwestern Alberta. It has several dormant landslides with degraded scarps and grabens. A new, reactivated landslide on the north bank of the Fox Creek occurred on 5 May 2007. The landslide formed two major sliding blocks. A rapid translational block slide, it mobilized 47 Mm³ of displaced materials, blocked the creek, and made a natural dam with a maximum height of 19 m at the tips of the displaced blocks. The rupture surfaces of the 2007 landslide were within the advance phase glaciolacustrine sediments. The residual friction angles are about 10° similar to those of the previous landslides in the Peace River Lowland. Precipitation and snow melt prior to the landslide are likely triggers of the 2007 Fox Creek landslide. The farmlands on the crest of the river valley and timber resources were impacted. The current landslide dam in Fox Creek does not have any evidence of seepage downstream; it may last for many years. Eventually, the creek will overtop and erode the dam. The same cycle of actions, landsliding, damming, and erosion will continue in the foreseeable future.     

Combined numerical investigation of the Gangda paleolandslide runout and associated dam breach flood propagation in the upper Jinsha River,SE Tibetan Plateau

A large paleolandslide occurred opposite the Gangda village in the upper Jinsha River, SE Tibetan Plateau. Field geological investigations and remote sensing indicated that the Gangda paleolandslide once blocked the Jinsha River. Evidence of river blocking, including landslide dam relics, upstream lacustrine sediments, and downstream outburst sediments, has been well preserved. To understand the river-blocking event including landslide, dam breach, and associated outburst flooding, optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating and numerical simulations were performed in this study. OSL dating results showed that the paleolandslide dam was formed at 5.4?±?0.5 ka BP and breached at 3.4?±?0.3 ka BP, indicating that the dam lasted approximately 2000 years. The discrete element method was used to simulate the dynamics of the Gangda rock landslide based on the restored topography, while a fluid–solid coupling model was performed to simulate the landslide dam breaching and flooding. The fluid–solid coupling model can simultaneously reflect the process of landslide-dam collapse and the propagation of outburst flood. The simulated results indicate that the whole landslide process lasted about 60 s with a peak velocity of 38 m/s. It is significant that the simulated morphology of the residual landslide dam and downstream outburst sediments is consistent with the field observations. The combined numerical investigation in this paper provided new insights into the research of landscape evolution and helped to understand the chain disaster of landslide, dam breach, and flooding.

     

Characteristics, mechanism and development tendency of deformation of Maoping landslide after commission of Geheyan reservoir on the Qingjiang River, Hubei Province, China

Based on field investigation of the constituent structure and geological formation of the Maoping landslide, the authors made an in-depth study of the deformation characteristics and triggering mechanism of the reservoir-induced slide through comprehensive analysis of the about 13 years observation data. The Maoping landslide, the largest ancient landslide in Geheyan reservoir, with a volume of 23.5 million m³, is located on the left bank of the Qingjiang River, 66 km upstream of Geheyan dam. In April 1993 reservoir inundation reactivated the landslide, which resulted in relocation of a village of 290 people. Since then the landslide body has been experiencing persistent deformation with an observed maximum displacement of 2841.4 mm up to October 2005. Therefore, further development of deformation of the landslide becomes a great concern for the safety of the reservoir and dam. The analysis results show that the Maoping landslide is an ancient landslide that is an accumulation of several consequent slides along the bank slope and experienced several secondary slumps in its front in later stages. The ongoing deformation of the reactivated landslide is controlled by mechanical properties of materials and hydraulic effects induced by reservoir. The slip process is of creep deformation as a whole, and appears to be attenuating in later stage, which indicates very low possibility of the high-speed slip and integral failure of the slide.     

The characteristics and failure mechanism of the largest landslide triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake, May 12, 2008, China

Strong earthquakes are among the prime triggering factors of landslides. The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake (M _w = 7.9) triggered tens of thousands of landslides. Among them, the Daguangbao landslide is the largest one, which covered an area of 7.8 km² with a maximum width of 2.2 km and an estimated volume of 7.5 × 10⁸ m³. The landslide is located on the hanging wall of the seismogenic fault, the Yingxiu–Beichuan fault in Anxian town, Sichuan Province. The sliding mass travelled about 4.5 km and blocked the Huangdongzi valley, forming a landslide dam nearly 600 m high. Compared to other coseismic landslides in the study area, the Daguangbao landslide attained phenomenal kinetic energy, intense cracking, and deformation, exposing a 1-km long head scarp in the rear of the landslide. Based on the field investigation, we conclude that the occurrence of the landslide is controlled mainly by the seismic, terrain, and geological factors. The special location of the landslide and the possible topographic amplification of ground motions due to the terrain features governed the landslide failure. The effects of earthquakes on the stability of slopes were considered in two aspects: First, the ground shaking may reduce the frictional strength of the substrate by shattering of rock mass. Second, the seismic acceleration may result in short-lived and episodic changes of the normal (tensile) and shear stresses in the hillshopes during earthquakes. According to the failure mechanism, the dynamic process of the landslide might contain four stages: (a) the cracking of rock mass in the rear of the slope mainly due to the tensile stress generated by the ground shaking; (b) the shattering of the substrate due to the ground shaking, which reduced the frictional strength of the substrate; (c) the shearing failure of the toe of the landslide due to the large shear stress caused by the landslide gravity; and (d) the deposition stage.     

Redox zonation and oscillation in the hyporheic zone of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta: Implications for the fate of groundwater arsenic during discharge

Riverbank sediment cores and pore waters, shallow well waters, seepage waters and river waters were collected along the Meghna Riverbank in Gazaria Upazila, Bangladesh in Jan. 2006 and Oct.–Nov. 2007 to investigate hydrogeochemical processes controlling the fate of groundwater As during discharge. Redox transition zones from suboxic (0–2 m depth) to reducing (2–5 m depth) then suboxic conditions (5–7 m depth) exist at sites with sandy surficial deposits, as evidenced by depth profiles of pore water (n = 7) and sediment (n = 11; diffuse reflectance, Fe(III)/Fe ratios and Fe(III) concentrations). The sediment As enrichment zone (up to ∼700 mg kg⁻¹) is associated with the suboxic zones mostly between 0 and 2 m depth and less frequently between 5 and 7 m depth. The As enriched zones consist of several 5–10 cm-thick dispersed layers and span a length of ∼5–15 m horizontally from the river shore. Depth profiles of riverbank pore water deployed along a 32 m transect perpendicular to the river shore show elevated levels of dissolved Fe (11.6 ± 11.7 mg L⁻¹) and As (118 ± 91 μg L⁻¹, mostly as arsenite) between 2 and 5 m depth, but lower concentrations between 0 and 2 m depth (0.13 ± 0.19 mg L⁻¹ Fe, 1 ± 1 μg L⁻¹ As) and between 5 and 6 m depth (1.14 ± 0.45 mg L⁻¹ Fe, 28 ± 17 μg L⁻¹ As). Because it would take more than a few hundred years of steady groundwater discharge (∼10 m yr⁻¹) to accumulate hundreds of mg kg⁻¹ of As in the riverbank sediment, it is concluded that groundwater As must have been naturally elevated prior to anthropogenic pumping of the aquifer since the 1970s. Not only does this lend unequivocal support to the argument that As occurrence in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna Delta groundwater is of geogenic origin, it also calls attention to the fate of this As enriched sediment as it may recycle As into the aquifer.     

The 12 May Wenchuan earthquake-induced landslide lakes: distribution and preliminary risk evaluation

The Wenchuan earthquake, measured at M _s 8.0 according to the China Earthquake Administration, occurred at 14:28 on 12 May 2008 in the Sichuan Province of China. It brought overwhelming destruction to eight provinces and cities. Landslides and rock avalanches triggered by the earthquake produced 257 landslide lakes which were distributed along the fault rupture zone and river channels. The authors traveled to the disaster zone immediately after the earthquake to examine some of the features of the debris dams and performed a quick evaluation of the potential for outburst of earthquake-induced landslide lakes for the purpose of disaster relief. The preliminary analysis indicated that the landslide lakes could be classified as those exhibiting extremely high risk, medium risk, and low risk according to field observations and remote sensing, to determine material composition, dam structure, dam height, maximum water storage capacity, and size of the population potentially affected area. The failure risk of 21 debris dams were evaluated as follows: one dam with an extremely high danger risk, seven dams with a high danger, five dams with a medium danger, and eight dams of low danger. More concern was given to the Tangjiashan Lake and different scenarios for the potential sudden failure of its dam were assessed. The risk evaluation result was accepted in full, by the earthquake disaster relief office. A successful emergency dam treatment for risk reduction was planned, based on our assessments, and these measures were quickly carried out. According to this research, the earthquake destabilized the surrounding mountains, resulting in a prolonged geohazard for the area. Landslides and debris flows will continue to develop for at least 5 to 10 years after the Wenchuan earthquake and will produce additional dammed lakes. Recommendations and plans for earthquake–landslide lake mitigation were proposed, based on past successful practices.     

Numerical modeling of the June 24, 2015, Hongyanzi landslide generated impulse waves in Three Gorges Reservoir,China

Subaerial landslides falling into confined water bodies often generate impulsive waves. Damaging landslide tsunamis in Three Gorges Reservoir, China, have struck several times in the last 15 years. On June 24, 2015, a 23?×?10⁴ m³ slope failure occurred on the east bank of the Daning River opposite Wushan Town. The sliding mass intruded into the Three Gorges Reservoir and initiated a reservoir tsunami that resulted in two deaths and significant damage to shipping facilities. A post-event survey revealed the landslide geometry and wave run-up distribution, while an eyewitness video captured most of the landslide motion. Employing these firm constraints, we applied the Tsunami Squares method to simulate the 2015 Hongyanzi landslide and tsunami. The simulation revealed that the landslide experienced a progressive failure in the first few seconds and impacted the water with a maximum velocity of ~?16 m/s. The initial wave propagated to the opposite shore in an arch shape, and the water surface reached a maximum amplitude of ~?11 m near the landslide. Wave amplitude-time curves at four points on the river cross section show that the initial wave reached Wushan town in about 50 s with an average wave velocity of ~?30 m/s. The maximum wave run-ups on the shoreline opposite the landslide are around 6 m and attenuate to less than 1 m beyond 2-km distance. The landslide simulation matches the observed geological profile and the eyewitness video, and the numerical results coincide with the observed wave run-up heights. Nearly 80% of landslide energy is lost due to frictional resistances, but the remaining fraction imparted to the tsunami carried catastrophic consequences to a large region. The numerical results emphasize the efficiency and accuracy of Tsunami Squares method for a “Quick Look” simulation of a potential landslide.     

Mechanism for the rapid motion of the Qianjiangping landslide during reactivation by the first impoundment of the Three Gorges Dam reservoir, China

The first impoundment of the Three Gorges Dam reservoir in China started from a water surface elevation of 95 m on June 1, 2003 and reached 135 m on June 15, 2003. Shortly after the water level reached 135 m, many slopes began to deform and some landslides occurred. The Qianjiangping landslide is the largest one; it occurred on the early morning of July 14, 2003 and caused great loss of lives and property. Field investigation revealed that, although failure occurred after the reservoir reached 135 m, the stability of the slope was already reduced by preexisting sheared bedding planes. To study the mechanism of the rapid motion of this reactivated landslide, two soil samples were taken from a yellow clay layer and a black silt layer in the sliding zone, respectively, and a series of ring shear tests were conducted on the samples. One series of ring shear tests simulates the creep deformation behavior, while the other series simulates different shear rates. Conclusions drawn from analysis of the ring shear tests indicate that the mechanism of the rapid motion of the reactivated landslide was caused by the rate effect of the black silt layer during the motion phase after the creep failure. The yellow clay layer did not play any important role in the rapid motion in the 2003 event.     

1,000-year record of landslide dams at Halden Creek, northeastern British Columbia

Large, rapid, low-gradient landslides are common in clay-rich glacial sediments in northeastern British Columbia. Many of the landslides create upstream impoundments that may persist for years in small watersheds in the region. We have documented such events in the Halden Creek watershed, 60 km southeast of Fort Nelson. The events are recorded geologically in two ways. First, trees are drowned in lakes dammed by the landslides and subsequently buried by deltaic sediments, where they are protected from decay. Bank erosion later exhumes the drowned trees. Second, landslide deposits with entrained wood are exposed along stream banks. We have reconstructed the recent history of landslide damming at Halden Creek by performing radiocarbon dating on exhumed trees and wood in and beneath landslide deposits at 13 sites in the watershed. Drowned trees range in age from 169±59 to 274±49 ¹⁴C year bp. Wood in and below landslide deposits yielded radiocarbon ages ranging from modern to 965±49 ¹⁴C year bp.     

Slope dynamics and streambed uplift during the Pergalla landslide reactivation in March 2016 and discussion of concurrent causes (Northern Apennines,Italy)

On March 28, 2016, the toe zone of the apparently dormant Pergalla earthslide-earthflow (Northern Apennines, Italy) had a paroxysmal reactivation. In the course of 2 days, displacements up to almost 8 m severely damaged several houses and roads. At the bottom of the slope, the emersion of rotational sliding surfaces determined the uplift of almost 3 m of the Nure river streambed that was consequently partially dammed. The paper describes the landslide event on the basis of field surveys and analysis of post-event aerial photos, as well as data from geophysical surveys and pre- to post-failure displacement monitoring. It also discusses the possible concurrent causes of the event, including antecedent rainfall, the migration of active streambed channels of Nure river toward the landslide toe in the previous year, and the existence of long-term pre-failure slow movements. It is concluded that these factors, together with the presence of sliding surfaces extending beneath the valley floor, should be primarily considered if a preventive assessment of river damming potential due to streambed uplift should be made for other similar landslides in the Apennines.     

The Todagin Creek landslide of October 3, 2006, Northwest British Columbia, Canada

The Todagin Creek landslide is located at 57.61° N 129.98° W in Northwest British Columbia. A seismic station 90 km north of the landslide recorded the event at 1643 hours coordinated universal time (UTC; 0943 hours Pacific daylight time (PDT)) on October 3, 2006. The signal verifies the discovery and relative time bounds provided by a hunting party in the valley. The landslide initiated as a translational rock slide on sedimentary rock dipping down slope at 34° and striking parallel to the valley. The landslide transformed into a debris avalanche and had a total volume estimated at 4 Mm³. An elevation drop of 771 m along a planar length of 1,885 m resulted in a travel angle (fahrb?schung) of 21.3°. The narrowest part of the landslide through the transport zone is 345 m. The widest part of the divergent toe of the landslide reaches a width of 1,010 m. Landslide debris impounded a lake of approximately 32 ha and destroyed an additional 67 ha of forest. The impoundment took 7 to 10 days to fill, with muddied waters observed downstream on October 13. No clear linkage exists with precipitation and temperature records preceding the landslide, but strong diurnal temperature cycles occurred in the days prior to the event. The Todagin Creek area appears to have an affinity for large landslides with the deposits of three other landslides >5 Mm³ observed in the valley.     

An anthropogenic landslide dammed the Songmai River,a tributary of the Jinsha River in Southwestern China

On March 20, 2019, a landslide (named Yagu landslide) occurred in eastern Tibetan Plateau. It produced a 10-m-high dam, resulting in a lake on the Songmai River, a tributary of the Jinsha River. This paper describes this slope failure and analyzes the process and cause of the landsliding based on the combination of Google Earth images, PlanetScope satellite optical images, field photography and geologic data. It is speculated that this event was likely induced by local human activity, such as quarrying rather than natural factors. This example raises a challenging issue whether the ongoing projects along the Jinsha River can induce landslides. In addition, the emergency responses of the government and the effort for risk removal of the dammed lake are presented.

     

The large-scale landslide on the flank of caldera in South Sulawesi, Indonesia

An extraordinarily large-scale landslide with a volume of about 200 million m³, a width of about 1,600 m, and a height of about 750 m occurred on 2004 March 26, 13:45 local time, on a steep caldera wall on the northwest flank of Mt. Bawakaraeng (2,830 m) at the headwater of the Jeneberang River in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. The debris avalanche extended about 7 km from the headwater and buried the river valley, causing devastating damage. There are a great many calderas in the world, notably Japan. If a large-scale sector collapse were to occur in a heavily populated area, it would be a devastating disaster for the people living in the area. The aim of this paper is to outline such a landslide and explain its mechanism of occurrence. We evaluated the stability of the original slope before the landslide using the limit equilibrium method and the finite-element-based shear strength reduction method (SSRFEM) with the strength reduction factor. The limit equilibrium method showed that a rise in the groundwater level caused the landslide. Although the critical slip surface predicted by the SSRFEM was shallower than that of the actual slip surface, the end positions of the actual and predicted slip surfaces were almost the same. Moreover, the end position of the critical slip surface before the landslide—the headwater of the Jeneberang River—was a knick point at which the slope inclination became steeper. SSRFEM analysis may be useful for evaluating the slope stability of large-scale landslides, because the critical slip surface predicted by it was close to the actual surface, even though we assumed homogenous conditions without information on the degree of weathering or ground properties. As the knick point formed at the end of the critical slip surface and is equivalent to the end of the actual slip surface, we assume such topographic features to be a primary geomorphologic cause of the landslide.     

Giant ancient landslide in the Alma water gap (Crimean Mountains,Ukraine): notes to the predisposition,structure, and chronology

Large-scale ancient landslides of the area of more than 5 km² and volume exceeding 200 × 10⁶ m³ are characteristic features of the valleys incised in the northern periphery of the Crimean Mountains (Ukraine). The largely affected area is located in the outermost cuesta range of the Crimean Mountains which consists of rigid Sarmatian limestones overlying weak Middle Miocene and Upper Palaeogene deposits. A giant landslide arose in the Alma water gap as a reflection of several coincident preparatory factors such as suitable bedrock stratification, smectite-rich bedrock exposed to swelling activity, presence of faults parallel to the valley trend, and river capture event which preceded the landslide event. The occurrence of such ancient megaslides is particularly interesting in the area which is characterized by low precipitation (<500 mm/year) and weak contemporary seismicity. It probably reflects a more dynamic environment in humid phases of the Holocene; however, seismic triggering along the Mesozoic suture zone cannot be rejected. Compressional features such as gravitational folds in the central and distal parts of the landslide, which probably correlate with the whole landslide genesis or its significant reactivation, arose, according to the radiocarbon dating, during the Holocene climatic optimum in the Atlantic period. The slope deformation has been relatively quiescent since that time, except minor historic reactivization which took place in the frontal part of the landslide. We suppose that the studied landslide could be classified as a transitional type of slope deformation with some signs of spreading and translational block slides.     

Comprehensive analyses of the initiation and landslide-generated wave processes of the 24 June 2015 Hongyanzi landslide at the Three Gorges Reservoir,China

Reservoir landslides pose a great threat to shipping safety, human lives and properties, and the operation of the hydropower station. In this paper, the 24 June 2015 Hongyanzi landslide at the Three Gorges Reservoir is considered as an example to study the initiation mechanism and landslide-generated wave process of a reservoir landslide. The finite difference method and limit equilibrium analysis are used to analyze the deformation and failure characteristics of the Hongyanzi slope. Simulation results show that a large deformation (about 358 mm) happens in the shallow deposits under intermittent rainfall condition, and the slope is in a limit state. At the same time, continuous rapid drawdown of the water level (about ?0.55 m/day during 8–24 June 2015) reduced the support and accelerated the drainage of the water for the bank slope. A coupling effect of intermittent rainfall and rapid drawdown of the water level was the triggering factor of the 24 June Hongyanzi landslide. Landslide-generated wave process was simulated using a fluid–solid coupling method by integrating the general moving object collision model. Simulation results show that the landslide-generated wave is dominated by the impulse wave, which is generated by sliding masses entering the river with high speed. The maximum wave height is about 5.90 m, and the wave would decay gradually as it spreads because of friction and energy dissipation. To prevent reservoir landslides, the speed for the rising or drawdown of the water level should be controlled, and most importantly, rapid drawdown should be avoided.