Risk assessment and landslide prevention design using numerical modelling——A case study in Qingliu,China

Numerous Quaternary deposits are existed in the mountainous areas of Southwest China,especially in the transition zone between the QinghaiTibet Plateau and the Sichuan Basin, where strong tectonic movements and frequent climatic changes increase the potential landslides. The possible deformation and failure process of potential landslides and their impacts on the surrounding environment are important research topics. Field investigation and monitoring indicate that the Qingliu landslide in Xiame...     

Spatial association between landslides and environmental factors over Guizhou Karst Plateau,China

Guizhou Karst Plateau is located at the center of the karst region in Asia, where landslides are a typical disaster. Affected by the local karst environment, the landslides in this region have their own characteristics. In this study, 3975 landslide records from inventories of the Guizhou karst plateau are studied. The geographical detector method is used to detect the dominant casual factor and predominant multi-factor combinations for the local landslides. The results show that landslides are prone to areas on slopes between 10° and 35°, of clay rock, in close proximity to gullies, and especially in areas of moderate vegetation, dryland, and mild rocky desertification. Continuous precipitation over 10 days has a great effect on landslide occurrence. Compared with the individual factors, the impact of two-factor interaction has greater explanatory power for landslide volume. The volume of earthquake-induced landslides is predominantly controlled by the interactions of faults and slopes, while that of humaninduced landslides is affected by the interactions of land cover and hydrological conditions. For rainfallinduced landslides, the dominant interactions vary in different regions. In the central karst basin, the interactions between faults and precipitation can explain over 90% of the variations in landslide volumes. In the southern hilly karst region, the interactions between lithology and slope can explain over 71% of the variations in landslide volume and those between fault and land-use can explain 50% of the variations of the landslide volumes in the northeastern mountainous karst region.     

Coseismic landslide sediment increased by the “9.5” Luding earthquake,Sichuan, China

The "9.5" Luding earthquake(Ms 6.8),which occurred on September 5,2022,has triggered thousands of landslides,and caused coseismic landslide sediment in the mountain basin to increase significantly.After the Luding earthquake,landslide sediment may continue to divert to channels,and increase the activity of debris flows.Importantly,the formation of debris flows can pose a major threat to infrastructure,lives and property.To better understand the landslide sediment that increased by the "9.5" Ludi...     

Early landslide mapping with slope units division and multi-scale objectbased image analysis——A case study in the Xianshui River basin of Sichuan,China

Previous studies on optical remote sensing mapping of landslides mainly focused on new landslides that have occurred, but little attention was paid to the early landslide due to its high concealment. In SAR technology, a prevalent method to detect early landslides, only can be used to identify the potential hazards of slow deformation. Therefore, it is necessary to explore new method of early landslides mapping by integrating all types of direct and indirect early features, such as cracks on slo...     

GIS-based evaluation on the fault motion-induced coseismic landslides

Earthquake-induced potential landslides are commonly estimated using landslide susceptibility maps. Nevertheless, the fault location is not identified and the ground motion caused by it is unavailable in the map. Thus, potential coseismic landslides for a specific fault motion-induced earthquake could not be predicted using the map. It is meaningful to incorporate the fault location and ground motion characteristics into the landslide predication model. A new method for a specific fault motion-induced coseismic landslide prediction model using GIS (Geographic Information System) is proposed herein. Location of mountain ridges, slope gradients over 45 o , PVGA (Peak Vertical Ground Accelerations) exceeded 0.15 g, and PHGA (Peak Horizontal Ground Accelerations) exceeded 0.25 g of slope units were representing locations that initiated landslides during the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake in Taiwan. These coseismic landslide characteristics were used to identify areas where landslides occurred during Meishan fault motion-induced strong ground motions in Chiayi County in Taiwan. The strong ground motion (over 8 Gal in the database, 1 Gal = 0.01 m/s 2 , and 1 g = 981 Gal) characteristics were evaluated by the fault length, site distance to the fault, and topography, and their attenuation relations are presented in GIS. The results of the analysis show that coseismic landslide areas could be identified promptly using GIS. The earthquake intensity and focus depth have visible effects on ground motion. The shallower the focus depth, the larger the magnitude increase of the landslides. The GIS-based landslide predication method is valuable combining the geomorphic characteristics and ground motion attenuation relationships for a potential region landslide hazard assessment and in disaster mitigation planning.     

Spatial distribution of large-scale landslides induced by the 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake

The 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake in 2008 induced hundreds of large-scale landslides. This paper systematically analyzes 112 large-scale landslides (surface area > 50000 m2), which were identified by interpretation of remote sensing imagery and field investigations. The analysis suggests that the distribution of large-scale landslides is affected by the following four factors: (a) distance effect: 80% of studied large-scale landslides are located within a distance of 5 km from the seismic faults. The farther the distance to the faults, the lower the number of large-scale landslides; (b) locked segment effect: the large-scale landslides are mainly located in five concentration zones closely related with the crossing, staggering and transfer sections between one seismic fault section and the next one, as well as the end of the NE fault section. The zone with the highest concentration was the Hongbai-Chaping segment, where a great number of large-scale landslides including the two largest landslides were located. The second highest concentration of large-scale landslides was observed in the Nanba-Donghekou segment at the end of NE fault, where the Donghekou landslide and the Woqian landslide occurred; (c) Hanging wall effect: about 70% of the large-scale landslides occurred on the hanging wall of the seismic faults; and (d) direction effect: in valleys perpendicular to the seismic faults, the density of large-scale landslides on the slopes facing the seismic wave is obviously higher than that on the slopes dipping in the same direction as the direction of propagation of the seismic wave. Meanwhile, it is found that the sliding and moving directions of large-scale landslides are related to the staggering direction of the faults in each section. In Qingchuan County where the main fault activity was horizontal twisting and staggering, a considerable number of landslides showed the feature of sliding and moving in NE direction which coincides with the staggering direction of the seismic faults.     

Study on stability and reinforcement of a landslide on Ji''''an-Dandong highway

This study clarified the failure mechanism of a landslide on Ji'an-Dandong highway,through the detailed analysis of its geological condition.Then based on the back analysis of the broken landslide,take limit equilibrium method to evaluate the stability of the potential landslide.The result shows that the landslide is lack of safety stock,so anchor rope is designed to reinforce the landslide.     

A catastrophic natural disaster chain of typhoon–rainstorm–landslide–barrier lake–flooding in Zhejiang Province,China

On August 10, 2019, due to the effect of a rainstorm caused by Super Typhoon Lekima, a landslide occurred in Shanzao Village, China. It blocked the Shanzao stream, forming a barrier lake, and then the barrier lake burst. This is a rare natural disaster chain of typhoon–rainstorm–landslide–barrier lake–flooding. This study was built on field surveys, satellite image interpretation, the digital elevation model(DEM), engineering geological analysis and empirical regression. The purpose was to reveal the characteristics and causes of the landslide, the features and formation process of the barrier lake and the dam break flooding discharge. The results show that the volume of the landslide deposit is approximately 2.4 × 105 m3. The burst mode of the landslide dam is overtopping, which took only 22 minutes from the formation of the landslide dam to its overtopping. The dam-break peak flow was 1353 m3/s, and the average velocity was 2.8-3.0 m/s. This study shows that the strongly weathered rock and soil slope has low strength and high permeability under the condition of heavy rainfall, which reminds us the high risk of landslides and the importance of accurate early warning of landslides under heavy rainfalls in densely populated areas of Southeast China, as well as the severity of the disaster chain of typhoon–rainstorm–landslide–barrier lake–flooding.     

Study on stability and reinforcement of a landslide on Ji＇an-Dandong highway

This study clarified the failure mechanism of a landslide on Ji＇ an-Dandong highway, through the detailed analysis of its geological condition. Then based on the back analysis of the broken landslide, take limit equilibrium method to evaluate the stability of the potential landslide. The result shows that the landslide is lack of safety stock, so anchor rope is designed to reinforce the landslide.     

Micromorphology of landslide soil——Case study on the Jibazi landslide in Yunyang in the Three Gorges Region, China

Introduction The studies on landslides in the Three Gorges Region were conducted, e.g., those on affecting factors and forming mechanism of landslide (YIN Kunlong et al. 1998, DENG Qinglu et al. 2000, CHEN Yongbo et al. 2003, XU Qiang et al. 2003), on ris…     

Distribution and features of landslides in the Tianshui Basin,Northwest China

Landslides in Tianshui Basin, Gansu Province, Northwest China, severely affect the local population and the economy;therefore,understanding their evolution and kinematics is of great interest for landslide risk assessment and prevention. However, there is no unified classification standard for the types of loess landslides in Tianshui.In this study, we explored the landslide distribution and failure characteristics by means of field investigation,remotesensinginterpretation,geological mapping, drilling exploration and shearwave velocity tests, and established a database of Tianshui landslides. Our analysis shows that shear zones in mudstone usually develop in weak intercalated layers. Landslides occur mainly along the West Qinling faults on slopes with gradients of 10° to 25° and on southeast-and southwest-facing slopes.These landslides were classified into five types: loess landslides, loess–mudstone interface landslides, loess flow-slides, loess–mudstone plane landslides and loess–mudstone cutting landslides. We discussed the evolution and failure process of each landslide type and analyzed the formation mechanism and motion characteristics of large-scale landslides. The analysis results show that the landslides in the study area are characterized by a gentle slope, long runout and high risk. The relationship between the runout L and the vertical drop H of the large-scale landslides in the study area is L 4 H. There are good correlations between the equivalent friction coefficient of largescale landslides and their maximum height, runout,area and volume. The sliding zone of large-scale landslides often develops in the bedrock contact zone or in a weak interlayer within mudstone. From microstructure analysis, undisturbed mudstone consists mainly of small aggregates with dispersed inter-aggregate pores, whereas sheared clay has a more homogeneous structure. Linear striations are well developed on shear surfaces, and the clay pores in those surfaces have a more uniform distribution than those in undisturbed clay.     

Optimizing the frequency ratio method for landslide susceptibility assessment: A case study of the Caiyuan Basin in the southeast mountainous area of China

Bivariate statistical analysis of data-driven approaches is widely used for landslide susceptibility assessment, and the frequency ratio(FR) method is one of the most popular. However, the results of such assessments are dominated by the number of classes and bounds of landslide-related causative factors, and the optimal assessment is unknown. This paper optimizes the frequency ratio method as an example of bivariate statistical analysis for landslide susceptibility mapping based on a case study of the Caiyuan Basin, a region with frequent landslides, which is located in the southeast coastal mountainous area of China. A landslide inventory map containing a total of 1425 landslides(polygons) was produced, in which 70% of the landslides were selected for training purposes, and the remaining were used for validationpurposes. All datasets were resampled to the same 5 m × 5 m/pixel resolution. The receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curves of the susceptibility maps were obtained based on different combinations of dominating parameters, and the maximum value of the areas under the ROC curves(AUCs) as well as the corresponding optimal parameter was identified with an automatic searching algorithm. The results showed that the landslide susceptibility maps obtained using optimal parameters displayed a significant increase in the prediction AUC compared with those values obtained using stochastic parameters. The results also showed that one parameter named bin width has a dominant influence on the optimum. In practice, this paper is expected to benefit the assessment of landslide susceptibility by providing an easy-to-use tool. The proposed automatic approach provides a way to optimize the frequency ratio method or other bivariate statistical methods, which can furtherfacilitate comparisons and choices between different methods for landslide susceptibility assessment.     

Characteristics and failure mechanism of an ancient earthquake-induced landslide with an extremely wide distribution area

The Lamuajue landslide is located in Lamuajue village on the right bank of the Meigu River,Sichuan Province, China. This landslide is an ancient landslide with an extremely wide distribution area,covering an area of 19 km~2 with a maximum width of5.5 km and an estimated residual volume of 3×10~8 m~3.The objectives of this study were to identify the characteristics and failure mechanism of this landslide. In this study,based on field investigations,aerial photography, and profile surveys, the boundary,lithology, structure of the strata, and characteristics of the landslide deposits were determined. A gently angled weak interlayer consisting of shale was the main factor contributing to the occurrence of the Lamuajue landslide. The deposition area can be divided into three zones: zone A is an avalanche deposition area mainly composed of blocks,fragments, and debris with diameters ranging from0.1 m to 3 m; zone B is a residual integrated rock mass deposition area with large blocks,boulders and "fake bedrock"; and zone C is a deposition zone of limestone blocks and fragments. Three types of failure mechanism were analyzed and combined to explain the Lamuajue landslide based on the features of the accumulation area. First, a shattering-sliding mechanism caused by earthquakes in zone A. Second,a sliding mechanism along the weak intercalation caused by gravity and water in zone B. Third,a shattering-ejection mechanism generated by earthquakes in zone C. The results provide a distinctive case for the study of gigantic landslides induced by earthquakes, which is very important for understanding and assessing ancient earthquakeinduced landslides.     

Landslide displacement prediction based on optimized empirical mode decomposition and deep bidirectional long short-term memory network

There are two technical challenges in predicting slope deformation. The first one is the random displacement, which could not be decomposed and predicted by numerically resolving the observed accumulated displacement and time series of a landslide. The second one is the dynamic evolution of a landslide, which could not be feasibly simulated simply by traditional prediction models. In this paper, a dynamic model of displacement prediction is introduced for composite landslides based on a combinat...     

Probability Prediction Model for Landslide Occurrences in Xi’an,Shaanxi Province,China

Landslides are increasing since the 1980s in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China. This is due to the increase of the frequency and intensity of precipitation caused by complex geological structures, the presence of steep landforms, seasonal heavy rainfall, and the intensifcation of human activities. In this study, we propose a landslide prediction model based on the analysis of intraday rainfall （IR） and antecedent effective rainfall （AER）. Primarily, the number of days and degressive index of the antecedent effective rainfall which affected landslide occurrences in the areas around Qin Mountains, Li Mountains and Loess Tableland was established. Secondly, the antecedent effective rainfall and intraday rainfall were calculated from weather data which were used to construct critical thresholds for the 10%, 50% and 90% probabilities for future landslide occurrences in Qin Mountain, Li Mountain and Loess Tableland. Finally, the regions corresponding to different warning levels were identified based on the relationship between precipitation and the threshold, that is; “A” region is safe, “B” region is on watch alert, “C” region is on warning alert and “D” region is on severe warning alert. Using this model, a warning program is proposed which can predict rainfall-induced landslides by means of real-time rain gauge data and real-time geo-hazard alert and disaster response programs. Sixteen rain gauges were installed in the Xi’an region by keeping in accordance with the regional geology and landslide risks. Based on the data from gauges, this model accurately achieves the objectives of conducting real-time monitoring as well as providing early warnings of landslides in the Xi’an region.     

Empirical-statistical models based on remote sensing for estimating the volume of landslides induced by the Wenchuan earthquake

The Wenchuan Ms 8.0 earthquake on May 12, 2008 induced a huge number of landslides. The distribution and volume of the landslides are very important for assessing risks and understanding the landslide - debris flow - barrier lake - bursts flood disaster chain. The number and the area of landslides in a wide region can be easily obtained by remote sensing technique, while the volume is relatively difficult to obtain because it requires some detailed geometric information of slope failure surface and sub-surface. Different empirical models for estimating landslide volume were discussed based on the data of 107 landslides in the earthquake-stricken area. The volume data of these landslides were collected by field survey. Their areas were obtained by interpreting remote sensing images while their apparent friction coefficients and height were extracted from the images unifying DEM (digital elevation model). By analyzing the relationships between the volume and the area, apparent friction coefficients, and the height, two models were established, one for the adaptation of a magnitude scale landslide events in a wide range of region, another for the adaptation in a small scope. The correlation coefficients (R2) are 0.7977 and 0.8913, respectively. The results estimated by the two models agree well with the measurement data.     

Simulation of landslide run-out by considering frictional heating and thermal pressurization

Some of the remarkable characteristics of natural landslides, such as surprisingly long travel distances and high velocities, have been attributed to the mechanisms of frictional heating and thermal pressurization. In this work, this mechanism is combined with a depth-averaged model to simulate the long runout of landslides in the condition of deformation. Some important factors that influence frictional heating and thermal pressurization within the shear zone are further considered, including velocity profile and pressurization coefficient. In order to solve the coupled equations, a combined computational method based on the finite volume method and quadratic upwind interpolation for convective kinematics scheme is proposed. Several numerical tests are performed to demonstrate the feasibility of the computational scheme, the influence of thermal pressurization on landslide run-out, and the potential of the model to simulate an actual landslide.     

Large-scale rock landslide slip surface location analysis and strength parameters evaluation

Large-scale rock landslides have huge impacts on various large-scale rock engineering and project operations. They are also important aspects evaluating geological disasters. In the initial evaluations on the stability of large-scale rock landslides, in most cases, it is difficult to conduct evaluation or to have accurate evaluations because most of large-scale rock landslides are huge in size, high in slopes, and located in the canyon of mountains, which makes the exploration very difficult and thus hard to get credible data on slip surface form, location, depth and strength. This paper describes the Badi landslide happened along the Lancang River, and systematically introduces methods to analyze and verify large-scale slip surface form using terrain conditions surrounding the large-scale landslide, shape of the slide walls, and development patterns of streams and gully. This paper also introduces ways to obtain strength parameters of slip surface with the soil in the slide zone by using the principles of stress state, principles of gravity compaction, structure regeneration and strength regeneration. It is confirmed that analyzed results to the slip surface are basically consistent with the exploration results. The methods introduced here have been successfully applied to evaluate the stability of Badi large-scale rock landslide and have been applied in engineering practices.     

Numerical simulation of a high-speed landslide in Chenjiaba,Beichuan, China

High-speed landslide is a catastrophic geological disaster in the mountainous area of southwest China. To predict the movement process of landslide reactivation in Chenjiaba town, Beichuan county, Sichuan province, China, we simulated the movement process of two landslide failures in Chenjiaba via rapid mass movement simulation and unmanned aerial vehicle images(UAV), and obtained the movement characteristic parameters of the landslides. According to a back analysis, the most remarkable fitting rheological parameters were friction coefficient(μ=0.18) and turbulence(). The parameter of landslide pressure was applied as the zoning index of landslide hazard to obtain the influence zone and hazard zoning map of the Chenjiaba landslide. Results show that the Duba River was blocked quickly with a landslide accumulation at the maximum height of 44.14 mwhen the Chenjiaba deposits lost stability. The hazard zoning map indicated that the landslide hazard degree is positively correlated with the slope.This landslide assessment is a quantitative hazard assessment method based on a landslide movement process and is suitable for high-speed landslide. Such method can provide a scientific basis for urban construction and planning in the landslide hazard area to avoid hazards effectively.     

Characteristics of earthquake-triggered landslides and post-earthquake debris flows in Beichuan County

Field investigations and aerial photography after the earthquake of May 12,2008 show a large number of geo-hazards in the zone of extreme earthquake effects.In particular,landslides and debris flows,the geo-hazards that most threaten post-disaster reconstruction,are widely distributed.We describe the characteristics of these geo-hazards in Beichuan County using high-resolution remote sensing of landslide distribution,and the relationships between the area and volume of landslides and the peak-discharges of debris flows both pre-and post-earthquake.The results show:1) The concentration(defined as the number of landslide sources per unit area:Lc) of earthquaketriggered landslides is inversely correlated with distance from the earthquake(DF) fault.The relationship is described by the following equation:Lc = 3.2264exp(-0.0831DF)(R2 = 0.9246);2) 87 % of the earthquake-triggered landslides were less than 15×104 m2 in area,and these accounted only for 50% of the total area;84% of the landslide volumes were less than 60×104 m3,and these accounted only for 50% of the total volume.The probability densities of the area and volume distributions are correlated:landslide abundance increases with landslide area and volume up to maximum values of 5 × 104 m2 and 30 × 104 m3,respectively,and then decreases exponentially.3) The area(AL) and volume(VL) of earthquake-triggered landslides are correlated as described with the following equation:VL=6.5138AL1.0227(R2 = 0.9131);4) Characteristics of the debris flows changed after the earthquake because of the large amount of landslide material deposited in the gullies.Consequently,debris flow peak-discharge increased following the earthquake as described with the following equation:Vpost = 0.8421Vpre1.0972(R2 = 0.9821)(Vpre is the peak discharge of pre-earthquake flows and the Vpost is the peak discharge of post-earthquake flows).We obtained the distribution of the landslides based on the above analyses,as well as the magnitude of both the landslides and the post-earthquake debris flows.The results can be useful for guiding post-disaster reconstruction and recovery efforts,and for the future mitigation of these geo-hazards.However,the equations presented are not recommended for use in site-specific designs.Rather,we recommend their use for mapping regional seismic landslide hazards or for the preliminary,rapid screening of sites.