Investigating landslide‐related cracks along the edge of two loess platforms in northwest China

Cracks are widely developed along the edge of loess platforms in northwest China. Field surveys reveal that these cracks can be grouped into shallow and deeply penetrating ones. The former occur at a small distance from the platform edge, normally penetrate into the top unsaturated loess with the penetration depth being controlled by the joints in loess. The latter penetrate deeper into the saturated loess farther away from the platform edge. These cracks control the inflow and drainage of irrigation water. The shallow penetrating crack can fail as a slide or fall with a volume of up to hundreds of cubic meters. The deeply penetrating crack can fail as a flow‐like landslide with a volume of thousands of cubic meters or more. A full‐scale field test simulating irrigation on the platform surface was conducted. The two types of crack can be interconnected so that the water applied in the test finally flowed into the deep crack and was discharged from the platform. Analysis of soil stress states and the results of field test show that the deeply‐penetrating cracks could have both positive as well as negative effects on slope stability. On the one hand, water can flow more freely in the cracks, and the loess could be saturated and trigger a landslide. On the other hand, the water can drain more easily along the crack and slope stability could be enhanced as the groundwater level is suppressed. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.