Dynamic modelling of retrogressive landslides with emphasis on the role of clay sensitivity

This paper presents a detailed numerical study of the retrogressive failure of landslides in sensitive clays. The dynamic modelling of the landslides is carried out using a novel continuum approach, the particle finite element method, complemented with an elastoviscoplastic constitutive model. The multiwedge failure mode in the collapse is captured successfully, and the multiple retrogressive failures that have been widely observed in landslides in sensitive clays are reproduced with the failure mechanism, the kinematics, and the deposition being discussed in detail. Special attention has been paid to the role of the clay sensitivity on each retrogressive failure as well as on the final retrogression distance and the final run‐out distance via parametric studies. Moreover, the effects of the viscosity of sensitive clays on the failure are also investigated for different clay sensitivities.     

Development-Conservation Dilemma in the NilgiriMountains of South India

The Nilgiri Mountains of south India is considered unique by anthropologists, geologists, climatologists, botanists as well as tourists. It has remained a subject of constant study and research over the last two centuries. Man-nature balance had continued undisturbed in the Nilgiris for thousands of years until the early 19th century when it became a British colony attracting, in due course, various developmental activities. Subsequently, the Nilgiris and its popular hill stations emerged as favourite places for the British population in India for rest and recuperation, game and for raising commercial plantations. In the process, the traditional indigenous crops were replaced by “English“ vegetables and the natural forests gave way to commercial plantations of coffee, tea and other exotic species of trees.     

Giant submarine landslide grooves in the Neoproterozoic/Lower Cambrian Phe Formation, northwest Himalaya: Mechanisms of formation and palaeogeographic implications

Giant groove casts have been found in the upper Proterozoic to Lower Cambrian Phe Formation (Haimanta Group), a siliciclastic sandstone/shale succession in the Tethyan Zone of the Higher Himalaya tectonic unit. The grooves are among the largest linear erosion structures related to submarine mass-movements observed in the geologic record. They are up to 4 m wide, about 0.2 m deep and can be traced for more than 35 m without changing their character. The grooves are straight, subparallel to cross-cutting striations with shallow semi-circular cross-sections and well-defined superimposed minor ridges and grooves. Groove casts exist on the soles of several sandstone beds within a 73 m thick logged section, commonly associated with flute casts. Their characteristics were compared with several other types of ancient and modern submarine linear erosion structures. A sand-rich, non-channelized basin floor depositional environment is inferred from the lithofacies, the combination of sedimentary structures, the lack of coarse-grained pebbly facies, the lateral continuity of beds, and the lack of channel structures. The grooves probably formed by laminar debris flows/concentrated density flows dragging blocks of already lithified sediment across the basin floor. When the bedding is structurally rotated back to horizontal, the groove casts show consistent North–South oriented palaeocurrent trends, with South-directed palaeocurrent directions indicated by flute casts. These palaeocurrent orientations contrast with previous palaeogeographic reconstructions of this area, which propose sediment delivery from the South. We therefore suggest a new “double provenance” model for the spatial relationship of late Proterozoic to Early Cambrian strata of the Himalaya, in which Lesser and Tethyan Himalayan age-equivalent sediment was deposited in a connected basin, where the former received detritus from the South, and the latter from a hitherto unknown source in the North. One possible candidate for this northern source is the South China Block and an associated Neoproterozoic volcanic arc.     

黄土台缘滑坡地表水入渗问题分析

黄土塬区提灌工程保证了农业生产,却造成了地下水位大幅抬升,使得近年来黄土台缘滑坡不断发生。黄土滑坡一个普遍特征就是后缘发育地裂缝以及落水洞,使地表水（灌溉水以及降雨）直接灌入坡体,诱发了大量黄土滑坡。因此,地表水入渗对于黄土滑坡机理研究以及滑坡防治具有重要意义。文章基于对陕西泾阳南塬黄土滑坡的现场调查,对黄土台缘滑坡地表水入渗工程地质问题进行了初步分析,包括：①地表水入渗与落水洞形成机制;②地表水入渗途径及其与黄土滑坡发育过程的关系;③降雨因素对于黄土滑坡的影响程度。     

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.     

A Decision Support System for the Evaluation of Eco-engineering Strategies for Slope Protection

A decision support system (DSS) has been developed to assist expert and non-expert users in the evaluation and selection of eco-engineering strategies for slope protection. This DSS combines a qualitative hazard assessment of erosion and mass movements with a detailed catalogue of eco-engineering strategies for slope protection of which the suitability is evaluated in relation to the data entered. The slope decision support system (SDSS) is a knowledge based DSS in which knowledge is stored in frames containing rules that can evaluate the available information for a project, stored as project specific information (PSI) in a data file. The advantages of such a system are that it accepts incomplete information and that the qualitative nature of the information does not instil the user with a sense of unjustified exactitude. By its multidisciplinary and progressive nature, the DSS will be of value during the initial stages of an eco-engineering project when data collection and the potential of different eco-engineering strategies are considered. The accent of the output of the DSS is on the application of eco-engineering strategies for slope protection as an environmentally-friendly solution aiding sustainable development. For its acceptance within the engineering community, the DSS needs to prove its predictive capacity. Therefore, its performance has been benchmarked against successful and unsuccessful cases of slope stabilisation using eco-engineering. The target audience and the areas of application of this DSS are reviewed and the strategies for further development in this area suggested.     

小岩头滑坡稳定性分析

小岩头滑坡位于贵州省威宁县二(连浩特)河(口)高速公路K255 010~K255 240里程右侧,属一个大型古滑坡,发育于二叠系上统峨嵋山组玄武岩(P2β)地层中。在高速公路施工中对路堑进行深挖削坡,可能导致古滑坡中部、线路右侧斜坡失稳破坏,发生滑坡。因此,滑坡稳定性评价是重大工程地质问题之一。根据大量勘察试验资料,系统地揭示了滑坡的特征,分析了滑坡形成的控制因素、成因和形成机制,建立了滑坡体稳定性计算模型,利用反演计算法进行稳定性分析与评价,认为两滑体均处于滑动失稳状态。建议对滑坡体进行处理,采用排水、支挡、减压等措施进行整治。     

基于目标灰度的土地利用变化信息边界提取

为了提高大区域土地利用变化信息提取效率,本文在变化信息自动发现的基础上,基于目标灰度信息,研究遥感影像中土地利用变化信息的边界提取方法.由于研究对象是大区域中的小目标,无法直接利用灰度直方图寻找分割目标的灰度分布范围.本文提出了一种典型区域法,方法是利用区域中分割目标密集的多个典型小区域的灰度直方图计算所有目标的分割阈值.由于影像中地物众多,为了减少噪声的影响,提高计算速度,先利用双阈值分割法对目标进行粗分割,再对其进行小波变换,利用其模值,以及结合目标灰度信息,可以将目标边界快速地提取出来.     

典型干旱地区陆面特征的模拟及分析

运用NCAR -LSM (Landsurfacemodel)模式对典型干旱区—沙漠站进行了独立试验 (Off line) ,检验了LSM模式在典型干旱地区的性能 ,并分析了典型干旱地区的陆面特征。结果表明 :LSM模式对干旱地区有较好的模拟性能。在不同的季节 ,典型干旱地区的感热和潜热有着不同的特征 ,4月份的感热通量较大 ,约为 4 0 0W·m-2 ;1月和 8月相对较小 ,约为 2 30W·m-2 。 1月和 4月的潜热通量很小 ,约为 4～ 6W·m-2 ,可以忽略 ;但 8月份的潜热通量大 ,平均最大约为 12 0W·m-2 ,当有降水发生时 ,潜热通量可达 5 70W·m-2 ,与感热通量相当。     

岷江上游干扰岸坡主要表生地质灾害分布特征及成因浅析

岷江上游地处我国著名的南北向地震带的中段，因其特定的地质环境导致区内表生地质灾害极为严重。通过对岷江上游（汶川以上）河段的崩塌、滑坡、泥石流等表生地质灾害的调查研究，其分布沿岷江两岸具有明显的分段特征与河谷地貌分段基本一致，它们形成发展与特定地形地貌、易崩滑或软弱地层、特殊的构造部位、降雨等密切相关。