The formation of the Wulipo landslide and the resulting debris flow in Dujiangyan City,China

The Wulipo landslide, triggered by heavy rainfall on July 10, 2013, transformed into debris flow,resulted in the destruction of 12 houses, 44 deaths, and 117 missing. Our systematic investigation has led to the following results and to a new understanding about the formation and evolution process of this hazard. The fundamental factors of the formation of the landslide are a high-steep free surface at the front of the slide mass and the sandstone-mudstone mixed stratum structure of the slope. The inducing factor of the landslide is hydrostatic and hydrodynamic pressure change caused by heavy continuous rainfall. The geological mechanical model of the landslide can be summarized as "instability-translational slide-tension fracture-collapse" and the formation mechanism as "translational landslide induced by heavy rainfall". The total volume of the landslide is 124.6×104 m3, and 16.3% of the sliding mass was dropped down from the cliff and transformed into debris flow during the sliding process, which enlarged 46.7% of the original sliding deposit area. The final accumulation area is found to be 9.2×104 m2. The hazard is a typical example of a disaster chain involving landslide and its induced debris flow. The concealment and disaster chain effect is the main reason for the heavy damage. In future risk assessment, it is suggested to enhance the research onpotential landslide identification for weakly intercalated slopes. By considering the influence of the behaviors of landslide-induced debris flow, the disaster area could be determined more reasonably.     

Effects of river flow velocity on the formation of landslide dams

Natural dams are formed when landslides are triggered by heavy rainfall during extreme weather events in the mountainous areas of Taiwan.During landslide debris movement, two processes occur simultaneously: the movement of landslide debris from a slope onto the riverbed and the erosion of the debris under the action of high-velocity river flow. When the rate of landslide deposition in a river channel is higher than the rate of landslide debris erosion by the river flow, the landslide forms a natural dam by blocking the river channel. In this study, the effects of the rates of river flow erosion and landslide deposition(termed the erosive capacity and depositional capacity, respectively) on the formation of natural dams are quantified using a physics-based approach and are tested using a scaled physical model.We define a dimensionless velocity index vde as the ratio between the depositional capacity of landslide debris(vd) and the erosive capacity of water flow(ve).The experimental test results show that a landslidedam forms when landslide debris moves at high velocity into a river channel where the river-flow velocity is low, that is, the dimensionless velocity index vde 54. Landslide debris will not have sufficient depositional capacity to block stream flow when the dimensionless velocity index vde 47. The depositional capacity of a landslide can be determined from the slope angle and the friction of the sliding surface, while the erosive capacity of a dam can be determined using river flow velocity and rainfall conditions. The methodology described in this paper was applied to seven landslide dams that formed in Taiwan on 8 August 2009 during Typhoon Morakot,the Tangjiashan landslide dam case, and the YingxiuWolong highway K24 landslide case. The dimensionless velocity index presented in this paper can be used before a rainstorm event occurs to determine if the formation of a landslide dam is possible.     

Debris flows introduced in landslide deposits under rainfall conditions: The case of Wenjiagou gully

Debris flows often occur in landslide deposits during heavy rainstorms. Debris flows are initiated by surface water runoff and unsaturated seepage under rainfall conditions. A physical model based on an infinitely long, uniform and void-rich sediment layer was applied to analyze the triggering of debris-flow introduced in landslide deposits. To determine the initiation condition for rainfall-induced debris flows, we conducted a surface water runoff and saturated-unsaturated seepage numerical program to model rainfall infiltration and runoff on a slope. This program was combined with physical modeling and stability analysis to make certain the initiation condition for rainfall-introduced debris flows. Taking the landslide deposits at Wenjiagou gully as an example, the initiation conditions for debris flow were computed. The results show that increase height of surface-water runoff and the decrease of saturated sediment shear strength of are the main reasons for triggering debris-flows under heavy rainfall conditions. The debris-flow triggering is affected by the depth of surface-water runoff, the slope saturation and shear strength of the sediment.     

Rainfall, landslide and debris flow intergrowth relationship in Jiangjia Ravine

Jiangjia Ravine is a world-famous debris flow valley in Dongchuan,Yunnan Province,China.Every year large numbers of landslides and collapses happened and caused enormous damages to people’s properties and lives.With longtime observation and testing in Jiangjia Ravine we had found out one kind of special landslide which had the characteristics of landslide and collapse.Landslide and collapse supplied sufficient materials for debris flow.When a debris flow broke out,some kind of intergrowth existed among rainfall,landslide and debris flow.In order to study the intergrowth and some key parameters,we carried out artificial rainfall landslide tests and model experiments to observe the phenomena such as collapse,surface slide and surface flow.By observing the experimental phenomena and monitoring water contents,the transformation process among landslide deposits and debris flow under the condition of rainfall had been analyzed.Research results revealed the relationship of this kind of intergrowth among rainfall,landslide and debris flow in Jiangjia Ravine.Meanwhile,it was found that this kind of intergrowth relationship existed only when the moisture content was in a certain range.That is,the critical state seemed to be existed in the transformation process.     

基于滑带完整性指标的三峡库区堆积层滑坡失稳破坏判据

滑坡稳定性评价是滑坡防治中关键问题之一, 滑坡失稳破坏判据研究可为滑坡稳定性评价提供支持。为了提高滑坡稳定性评价的精度, 以滑坡深部位移监测数据为基础的滑坡失稳破坏判据不失为一种有效方法。基于滑坡深部位移监测数据, 引入滑带完整性指标, 推导得到了滑带完整性指标与滑坡抗剪强度参数之间呈正比例关系; 运用滑坡稳定性计算方法和三峡库区堆积层滑坡简化模型, 获得了滑带完整性指标与滑坡的稳定性系数之间呈正比例关系。建立了考虑滑带完整性指标的三峡库区堆积层滑坡失稳破坏判据, 即: 当滑坡滑带土完整性指标大于滑坡滑带土完整性指标的临界值时, 滑坡处于稳定状态; 当滑坡滑带土完整性指标小于滑坡滑带土完整性指标的临界值时, 滑坡发生失稳破坏。以三峡库区典型堆积层滑坡——五尺坝滑坡为例, 通过实例分析发现该判据具备可靠性, 对堆积层滑坡适用性好。研究成果表明, 滑带完整性指标失稳破坏判据可以用于评价滑坡的稳定状态, 为滑坡失稳破坏判据研究提供了一种新思路。      

降雨模式对震后泥石流起动模式影响的试验研究: 以九寨天堂沟为例

降雨过程中降雨强度的变化会影响土体渗透率及饱和过程, 从而改变土体的力学性质, 影响泥石流起动模式及破坏规模。为探究不同降雨模式对震后泥石流起动机制的影响, 自制了小比例模型槽, 结合可控雨型的降雨模拟系统, 进行了人工降雨诱发泥石流的室内模型试验; 基于不同降雨模式下泥石流的起动过程分析, 对坡体内部含水率和孔隙水压力的变化规律进行了研究。研究结果表明: 递增型降雨模式下泥石流发生突然, 呈整体滑坡转化为泥石流起动模式, 坡体破坏规模最大; 递减型降雨模式下表现为后退式溃散失稳起动模式; 均匀型降雨模式下则表现为溯源侵蚀起动模式; 中峰型降雨模式下以局部滑坡转化为泥石流起动模式; Ⅴ型降雨模式下则由坡面侵蚀加剧转化为泥石流启动模式, 破坏规模最小。研究结果可以为九寨沟地区泥石流的预报预警提供参考。      

Influences of the Wenchuan Earthquake on sediment supply of debris flows

The 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake and the subsequent rainstorms induced a large number of landslides, which later were transformed into debris flows. To evaluate the effect of the earthquake on the sediment supply of debris flows, eight debris flow basins near Beichuan City, Sichuan Province, China were chosen as the study area. The area variations of the debris flow source after the Wenchuan Earthquake and the subsequent rainstorm are analyzed and discussed in this paper. Interpretations of aerial photographs (after the 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake) and SPOT5 images (after the rainstorm event of September 24, 2008) as well as field investigations were compared to identify the transformation of landslide surface in the study area, indicating that the landslide area in the eight debris flow basins significantly increased. The loose sediment area on the channel bed increased after the rainstorm event. In order to estimate the relationship of the landslide area with the rainfall intensity in different return periods, a model proposed by Uchihugi was adopted. Results show that new landslide area induced by heavy rainfall with 50-year and 100-year return period will be 0.87 km2 and 1.67 km2, respectively. The study results show the Wenchuan earthquake had particular influences on subsequent rainfall-induced debris flow occurrence.     

Triggering mechanism and dynamic process of water-rock flow in Nanfen waste dump in 2010

Water-rock flow is a kind of debris flow with more coarse particles and low viscosity, which occurs in many areas of the world. In this work, the water-rock flow that occurred on May 24, 2010, at Nanfen's open-pit mine of China was investigated by combining field investigation, meteorological and hydrological survey with numerical simulation to understand its triggering mechanism and dynamic process. The field data shows that the short-term high-intensity rainfall is the most direct inducement to trigger water-rock flow in the waste dump. The loose shallow gravel soil and the V-shaped valley with a certain slope provide the necessary conditions of the occurrence of water-rock flow in the waste dump. Moreover, the possibility criterion of water-rock flow is presented by analyzing the historical rainfall data. In addition, the smoothed particle hydrodynamics(SPH) method was employed to simulate the waterrock flow under the conditions of Newtonian fluid with uniform distribution of water and coarse-grained materials. The simulating results show that the flow distance, velocity, shape, and deposition profile of water-rock flow are in good agreement with the field observation. The present work is beneficial to the risk assessment and mitigation design of water-rock flow disaster in the waste dump.     

Debris flow hazard assessment by means of numerical simulations: implications for the Rotolon creek valley (Northern Italy)

On 4^th November 2010, a debris flow detached from a large debris cover accumulated above the lowermost portion of the Rotolon landslide (Vicentine Pre-Alps, NE Italy) and channelized in the valley below within the Rotolon Creek riverbed. Such event evolved into a highly mobile and sudden debris flow, damaging some hydraulic works and putting at high risk four villages located along the creek banks. A monitoring campaign was carried out by means of a ground based radar interferometer (GB-InSAR) to evaluate any residual displacement risk in the affected area and in the undisturbed neighbouring materials. Moreover, starting from the current slope condition, a landslide runout numerical modelling was performed by means of DAN-3D code to assess the impacted areas, flow velocity, and deposit distribution of the simulated events. The rheological parameters necessary for an accurate modelling were obtained through the back analysis of the 2010 debris flow event. Back analysis was calibrated with all of the available terrain data coming from field surveys and ancillary documents, such as topographic, geomorphological and geological maps, with pre- and post-event LiDAR derived DTMs, and with orthophotos. Finally, to identify new possible future debris flow source areas as input data for the new modelling, all the obtained terrain data were reanalysed and integrated with the GB-InSAR displacement maps; consequently, new simulations were made to forecast future events. The results show that the integration of the selected modelling technique with ancillary data and radar displacement maps can be a very useful tool for managing problems related to debris flow events in the examined area.     

滑坡图像自动识别浅议

识别滑坡须先了解什么是滑坡,广义滑坡包括崩塌、滑坡、碎屑流、泥石流等所有斜坡重力侵蚀现象;狭义滑坡指部分斜坡沿着斜坡内的一个或数个面在重力的作用下作剪切运动的现象。各类滑坡有自已特殊的地表形态特征,发育的基本地质环境条件和触发因素,据这些特征识别滑坡。利用数字滑坡技术进行滑坡识别大致分为2步:(1)通过RS和GIS技术将不同时间的调查区地物现场以不同分辨率展现在数字图像上,并与地理控制及地质环境信息配准、组合,建立解译基础;(2)在滑坡地学理论指导下,通过人机交互方式进行解译和时空分析,获取减灾防灾需要的信息。该方法尚未达到遥感自动识别滑坡的程度,但建立解译基础的过程已可由计算机通过多种程序软件完成,故认为滑坡模式识别的前2个步骤:数字化及预处理已由计算机实现。现需探索的是用计算机实现基于滑坡地学理论知识,以人机交互方式进行的滑坡识别及分析过程。就狭义滑坡而言,基于DEM的滑坡地形识别已可由计算机实现。如能确定地面滑坡壁及滑体与地下滑面、滑床的关系,了解它们的光谱特征并建立计算模型,便可构建遥感技术的滑坡模式识别。     

泰安市崩塌、滑坡、泥石流发育特征及防治对策浅析

泰安市地处鲁中山区,地形地质条件较复杂,是山东省崩塌、滑坡、泥石流地质灾害的多发区,在强降雨条件下,地质灾害频繁发生,制约了当地社会经济的发展.本文通过对研究区崩塌、滑坡、泥石流发育现状、地质灾害特征进行统计分析,从地貌特征、岩土体特征、地质构造、降水、植被、人类工程活动等方面,深入阐述了崩塌、滑坡、泥石流与地质环境条...     

Numerical simulation on a tremendous debris flow caused by Typhoon Morakot in the Jiaopu Stream,Taiwan

In August 2009,Typhoon Morakot brought a large amount of rainfall with both high intensity and long duration to a vast area of Taiwan.Unfortunately,this resulted in a catastrophic landslide in Hsiaolin Village,Taiwan.Meanwhile,large amounts of landslides were formed in the Jiaopu Stream watershed near the southeast part of the Hsiaolin Village.The Hsiaolin Village access road（Provincial Highway No.21 and Bridge No.8） was completely destroyed by the landslide and consequent debris flow.The major scope of this study is to apply a debris flow model to simulate the disaster caused by the debris flow that occurred in the Jiaopu Stream during Typhoon Morakot.According to the interviews with local residents,this study applied the destruction time of Bridge No.8 and Chen＇s house to verify the numerical debris flow model.By the spatial rainfall distributions information,the numerical simulations of the debris flow are conducted in two stages.In the first stage（before the landslide-dam failure）,the elevation of the debris flow and the corresponding potential damages toward residential properties were investigated.In the second stage（after the landslidedam failure）,comparisons of simulation results between the longitudinal and cross profiles of the Jiaopu Stream were performed using topographic maps and satellite imagery.In summary,applications of the adopted numerical debris flow model have shown positive impact on supporting better understanding of the occurrence and movement of debris flow processes.     

Characteristics, causes and mitigation of catastrophic debris flow hazard on 21 July 2011 at the Longda Watershed of Songpan County, China

Debris flow is a common natural hazard in the mountain areas of Western China due to favorable natural conditions,and also exacerbated by mountainous exploitation activities.This paper concentrated on the characteristics,causes and mitigation of a catastrophic mine debris flow hazard at Longda Watershed in Songpan County,Sichuan Province,on 21 July 2011.This debris flow deposited in the front of the No.1 dam,silted the drainage channel for flood and then rushed into tailing sediment reservoir in the main channel and made the No.2 dam breached.The outburst debris flow blocked Fu River,formed dammed lake and generated outburst flood,which delivered heavy metals into the lower reaches of Fu River,polluted the drink water source of the population of over 1 million.The debris flow was characterized with a density of 1.87~2.15 t/m 3 and a clay content of less than 1.63%.The peak velocity and flux at Longda Gully was over 10.0~10.9 m/s and 429.0~446.0 m 3 /s,respectively,and the flux was about 700 m 3 /s in main channel,equaling to the flux of the probability of 1%.About 330,000m 3 solid materials was transported by debris flow and deposited in the drainage tunnel(120,000~130,000 m 3),the front of No.1 dam(100,000 m 3) and the mouth of the watershed(100,000~110,000 m 3),respectively.When the peak flux and magnitude of debris flow was more than 462 m 3 /s and 7,423 m 3,respectively,it would block Fu River and produce a hazard chain which was composed of debris flow,dammed lake and outburst flood.Furthermore,the 21 July large-scale debris flow was triggered by rainstorm with an intensity of 21.2 mm/0.5 h and the solid materials of debris flow were provided by landslides,slope deposits,mining wastes and tailing sediments.The property losses were mainly originated from the silting of the drainage tunnel for flash flood but not for debris flow and the irrational location of tailing sediment reservoir.Therefore,the mitigation measures for mine debris flows were presented:(1) The disastrous debris flow watershed should be identified in planning period and prohibited from being taken as the site of mining factories;(2) The mining facilities are constructed at the safe areas or watersheds;(3) Scoria plots,concentrator factory and tailing sediment reservoir are constructed in safe areas where the protection measures be easily made against debris flows;(4) The appropriate system and plan of debris flow mitigation including monitoring,remote monitoring and early-warning and emergency plan is established;(5) The stability of waste dump and tailing sediment reservoir are monitored continuously to prevent mining debris flows.     

A catastrophic debris flow in the Wenchuan Earthquake area,July 2013: characteristics,formation, and risk reduction

In the Wenchuan Earthquake area,many co-seismic landslides formed blocking-dams in debris flow channels. This blocking and bursting of landslide dams amplifies the debris flow scale and results in severe catastrophes. The catastrophic debris flow that occurred in Qipan gully(Wenchuan,Southwest China) on July 11,2013 was caused by intense rainfall and upstream cascading bursting of landslide dams. To gain an understanding of the processes of dam bursting and subsequent debris flow scale amplification effect,we attempted to estimate the bursting debris flow peak discharges along the main gully and analyzed the scale amplification process. The results showed that the antecedent and triggering rainfalls for 11 July debris flow event were 88.0 mm and 21.6 mm,respectively. The event highlights the fact that lower rainfall intensity can trigger debris flows after the earthquake. Calculations of the debris flow peak discharge showed that the peak discharges after the dams-bursting were 1.17–1.69 times greater than the upstream peak discharge. The peak discharge at the gully outlet reached 2553 m~3/s which was amplified by 4.76 times in comparison with the initial peak discharge in the upstream. To mitigate debris flow disasters,a new drainage channel with a trapezoidal V-shaped cross section was proposed. The characteristic lengths(h1 and h2) under optimal hydraulic conditions were calculated as 4.50 m and 0.90 m,respectively.     

Comparison of the entrainment rate of debris flows in distinctive triggering conditions

Debris flows can be extremely destructive because they can increase in magnitude via progressive entrainment. In this paper, a total of 18 landslide-type debris flows and 268 channelized debris flows in Wenchuan earthquake and Taiwan region, as well as other regions were collected to analyze the entrainment rate of debris flows in each triggering condition. Results show that there is a power relationship between volume of initial triggered mass and final deposited debris for landslide type debris flow. The debris flows during 2008 and 2013 in Wenchuan earthquake-region have smaller entrainment rate than that from 2001 t0 2009 in Taiwan. The entrainment rate of debris flow events from 2001 to 2009 in Taiwan shows a decaying tendency as elapsed time. Comparison of the entrainment rate in the two earthquake-hit regions with other regions proves that entrainment rate has a close relation with major sediment availability and secondary rainstorm conditions.     

Hybrid simulation of the initiation and runout characteristics of a catastrophic debris flow

On 13 August 2010, a catastrophic debris flow with a volume of 1.17 million m³ occurred in Xiaojiagou Ravine near Yingxiu town of Wenchuan county in Sichuan Province, China. The main source material was the landslide deposits retained in the ravine during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. This paper describes a two-dimensional hybrid numerical method that simulates the entire process of the debris flow from initiation to transportation and finally to deposition. The study area is discretized into a grid of square zones. A two dimensional finite difference method is then applied to simulate the rainfall-runoff and debris flow runout processes. The analysis is divided into three steps; namely, rainfall-runoff simulation, mixing water and solid materials, and debris flow runout simulation. The rainfall-runoff simulation is firstly conducted to obtain the cumulative runoff near the location of main source material and at the outlet of the first branch. The water and solid materials are then mixed to create an inflow hydrograph for the debris flow runout simulation. The occurrence time and volume of the debris flow can be estimated in this step. Finally the runout process of the debris flow is simulated. When the yield stress is high, it controls the deposition zone. When the yield stress is medium or low, both yield stress and viscosity influence the deposition zone. The flow velocity is largely influenced by the viscosity. The estimated yield stress by the equation, τ _y = ρghsin θ, and the estimated viscosity by the equation established by Bisantino et al. (2010) provide good estimates of the area of the debris flow fan and the distribution of deposition depth.     

Mechanical analysis for progressive failure of debris landslide

It is of significance to research failure mechanism of debris landslides that are widespread in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area. Based on the statistical analysis of the developmental law and failure mode of debris landslides in the Three Gorges Reservoir, the mode of progressive failure is found. The mechanical model for progressive failure of debris landslides with two slip bands is also established by applying slice method. According to the results of the downslide force between adjacent slices, if the downslide force of lower slice is larger than zero, the slice fails along the major sliding surface, otherwise it is stable. In result, the failure range is obtained. The stress function can be determined through dimensional analysis of failure slice. According to static boundary conditions of the slice, stress state of any point in the slice can be obtained. Then stress state of any point in the secondary slip band can also be established. The failure of the secondary slip band is judged on the basis of Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion. Therefore, a mechanical method is proposed to analyze the progressive failure of debris landslide with two slip bands.     

Influence of inflow discharge and bed erodibility on outburst flood of landslide dam

Accurate prediction of the hydrographs of outburst floods induced by landslide dam overtopping failure is necessary for hazard prevention and mitigation. In this study, flume model tests on the breaching of landslide dams were conducted. Unconsolidated soil materials with wide grain size distributions were used to construct the dam. The effects of different upstream inflow discharges and downstream bed soil erosion on the outburst peak discharge were investigated. Experimental results reveal that the whole hydrodynamic process of landslide dam breaching can be divided into three stages as defined by clear inflection points and peak discharges. The larger the inflow discharge, the shorter the time it takes to reach the peak discharge, and the larger the outburst flood peak discharge. The scale of the outburst floods was found to be amplified by the presence of an erodible bed located downstream of the landslide dam. This amplification decreases with the increase of upstream inflow. In addition, the results show that the existence of an erodible bed increases the density of the outburst flow, increasing its probability of transforming from a sediment flow to a debris flow.     

济南市长清区地质灾害易发程度评价及防治分区划分

济南长清区地质灾害发育较强烈,包括崩塌、滑坡、泥石流和岩溶塌陷等4种类型。 该文在现状调查的基础上,采用“地质灾害综合危险性指数法”,以地质、地形地貌、气候植被、地质灾害隐患点、地质灾害规模、分布密度、活动频次和险情等因素为评价因子,将长清区地质灾害易发程度划分为中易发区、低易发区及不易发区3个区,并在此基础上进行了防治分区划分 ,为地质灾害的预防和治理提供了科学依据。     

巨型古滑坡的稳定性评价及发展趋势分析

利用尖点突变模型进行滑坡稳定性评价,再以集合经验模态分解、GM(1,1)模型和支持向量机等方法为基础,构建滑坡变形预测模型。以变电站滑坡为例进行分析,结果表明,各监测点的突变特征值均大于0,即处于稳定状态;所得变形预测结果的平均相对误差均较小,验证了本文预测模型的有效性;通过外推预测,发现滑坡变形仍会进一步增加,稳定性变差。