Spatial distribution of shallow landslides caused by Typhoon Lekima in 2019 in Zhejiang Province, China

In recent years, the coastal region of Southeast China has witnessed a significant increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events associated with landfalling typhoons. The hilly and mountainous terrain of this area, combined with rapid rainfall accumulation, has led to a surge in flash floods and severe geological hazards. On August 10, 2019, Typhoon Lekima made landfall in Zhejiang Province, China, and its torrential rainfall triggered extensive landslides, resulting in substantial damage and economic losses. Utilizing high-resolution satellite images, we compiled a landslide inventory of the affected area, which comprises a total of 2,774 rainfallinduced landslides over an area of 2965 km2. The majority of these landslides were small to mediumsized and exhibited elongated, clustered patterns. Some landslides displayed characteristics of high-level initiation, obstructing or partially blocking rivers, leading to the formation of debris dams. We used the inventory to analyze the distribution pattern of the landslides and their relationship with topographical, geological, and hydrological factors. The results showed that landslide abundance was closely related to elevation, slope angle, faults, and road density. The landslides were predominantly located in hilly and low mountainous areas, with elevations ranging from 150 to 300 m, slopes of 20 to 30 degrees, and a NE-SE aspect. Notably, we observed the highest Landslide Number Density(LND) and Landslide Area Percentage(LAP) in the rhyolite region. Landslides were concentrated within approximately 4 km on either side of fault zones, with their size and frequency negatively correlated with distances to faults, roads, and river systems. Furthermore, under the influence of typhoons, regions with denser vegetation cover exhibited higher landslide density, reaching maximum values in shrubland areas. In areas experiencing significantly increased concentrated rainfall, landslide density also showed a corresponding rise. In terms of spatial distribution, the rainfall-triggered landslides primarily occurred in the northeastern part of the study area, particularly in regions characterized by complex topography such as Shanzao Village in Yantan Town, Xixia Township, and Shangzhang Township. The research findings offer crucial data on the rainfallinduced landslides triggered by Typhoon Lekima, shedding light on their spatial distribution patterns. These findings provide valuable references for mitigating risks and planning reconstruction in typhoon-affected area.

Identification and distribution of 13003 landslides in the northwest margin of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau based on human-computer interaction remote sensing interpretation

The periphery of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is renowned for its susceptibility to landslides.However,the northwestern margin of this region,characterised by limited human activities and challenging transportation,remains insufficiently explored concerning landslide occurrence and dispersion.With the planning and construction of the Xinjiang-Tibet Railway,a comprehensive investigation into disastrous landslides in this area is essential for effective disaster preparedness and mitigation strategies.By using the human-computer interaction interpretation approach,the authors established a landslide database encompassing 13003 landslides,collectively spanning an area of 3351.24 km^(2)(36°N-40°N,73°E-78°E).The database incorporates diverse topographical and environmental parameters,including regional elevation,slope angle,slope aspect,distance to faults,distance to roads,distance to rivers,annual precipitation,and stratum.The statistical characteristics of number and area of landslides,landslide number density(LND),and landslide area percentage(LAP)are analyzed.The authors found that a predominant concentration of landslide origins within high slope angle regions,with the highest incidence observed in intervals characterised by average slopes of 20°to 30°,maximum slope angle above 80°,along with orientations towards the north(N),northeast(NE),and southwest(SW).Additionally,elevations above 4.5 km,distance to rivers below 1 km,rainfall between 20-30 mm and 30-40 mm emerge as particularly susceptible to landslide development.The study area’s geological composition primarily comprises Mesozoic and Upper Paleozoic outcrops.Both fault and human engineering activities have different degrees of influence on landslide development.Furthermore,the significance of the landslide database,the relationship between landslide distribution and environmental factors,and the geometric and morphological characteristics of landslides are discussed.The landslide H/L ratios in the study area are mainly concentrated between 0.4 and 0.64.It means the landslides mobility in the region is relatively low,and the authors speculate that landslides in this region more possibly triggered by earthquakes or located in meizoseismal area.

Particle size spatial distribution in landslide dams

The particle composition and spatial distribution of landslide-induced dam bodies are critical geotechnical parameters for studying the hazards of dam-break floods.However,current research often neglects the influence of the initial particle composition and spatial distribution of the landslide on the particle composition and spatial distribution of the landslide dam.This study investigated the impact of initial particle size distribution,volume,and sliding length on the energy and velocity changes of characteristic particles during the sliding process and the spatial distribution of particle sizes in the landslide dam body.Numerical simulations and physical models were employed to examine the effects of sequential gradient arrangements(where particle sizes decrease from top to bottom)and four other different initial particle arrangements on the energy and velocity changes of particles and the spatial distribution of particle sizes in the dam body.The study reveals the characteristics of translational and rotational energy of different particles and the laws of mechanical energy conversion,obtaining the spatial distribution patterns of particle sizes in landslide-induced dams.The results show that under the sequential gradient arrangement,the energy dissipation of the landslide movement is lower,with larger particles mainly distributed at the distal end and smaller particles at the proximal end of the landslide dam.In contrast,under the reverse gradient arrangement,the energy dissipation of the landslide movement is higher,and the distribution pattern of the dam particles is opposite to that of the sequential gradient arrangement.For the other arrangement modes,the spatial distribution of dam particles falls between the aforementioned two.There is a positive correlation between particle size and translational kinetic energy within the particle flow during the landslide process,and rotational motion increases energy dissipation.Under constant slope conditions,sliding length does not affect the movement pattern of the particle flow or the spatial distribution of particles in the dam body.The findings of this study provide a scientific basis for the accurate simulation and prediction of dam-break flood processes.

Spatial distribution characteristics and influence factor analysis of landslides——case study of the Hanwang area in Qinba Mountains

The geological hazards of landslides in Hanwang Town, Ziyang County, Ankang City, Shaanxi Province, have emerged. Yet, the current understanding of the spatial distribution characteristics and influencing factors of landslides in this area remains unclear. Combining the results of remote sensing interpretation and field investigation, seven influencing factors, namely, elevation, slope direction, slope gradient, distance from rivers, distance from faults, engineering geologic lithology, and distance from roads, are selected for the study. The distribution characteristics of landslides in each influencing factor and the influence of the resolution of the Digital Elevation Model(DEM) on the results are statistically and analytically analyzed. Furthermore, two highrisk landslides within the study area were subjected to comprehensive analysis, integrating the findings from drilling and other field investigations in order to examine their deformation mechanisms. Based on this analysis,the following conclusions were derived:(1) 34 landslides in the study area, mainly small earth landslides, with a distribution density of 0.42/km~2, threatening 414 people and property of about 55.87 million Yuan.(2)The landslides in the study area easily occur in the <400 m elevation range;the landslides are developed in all slope directions, the gradient is mainly concentrated in the range of 10°–40°, the distribution density of the landslides is higher in the closer distance from the river and the faults(0–200 m), the landslide-prone strata are mainly the softer and weaker metamorphic rocks, and the landslides are mainly around roads.(3) The resolution of the DEM should be selected based on the specific conditions of the study area, the requirements of the investigation, and the scale of the landslide. Opting for an appropriate DEM resolution is advantageous for understanding the patterns of landslides and conducting risk assessments in the region.(4) The Zhengjiabian landslide is a traction Landslide. The landslide body is a binary structure of gravel soil and slate weathering layer, and the damage process can be divided into three stages:(1)damage to the leading edge and stress release,(2)continuous creep and cracking,(3)rainfall infiltration and damage. The predominant slope material in the Brickyard landslide comprises clay, and the landslide is triggered by a combination of the traction effect resulting from the excavation at the slope's base and the nudging effect caused by the stacking load of the brick factory. Additionally, the Brickyard landslide exhibits persistent creep deformation. The study results provide a scientific basis for disaster prevention and mitigation in the Hanwang Township area.

Influence of material characteristics on the failure mode and process of landslide dam

Landslide dams,as frequent natural hazards,pose significant risks to human lives,property,and ecological environments.The grading characteristics and density of dam materials play a crucial role in determining the stability of landslide dams and the potential for dam breaches.To explore the failure mechanisms and evolutionary processes of landslide dams with varying soil properties,this study conducted a series of flume experiments,considering different grain compositions and material densities.The results demonstrated that grading characteristics significantly influence landslide dam stability,affecting failure patterns,breach processes,and final breach morphologies.Fine-graded materials exhibited a sequence of surface erosion,head-cut erosion,and subsequent surface erosion during the breach process,while well-graded materials typically experienced head-cut erosion followed by surface erosion.In coarse-graded dams,the high permeability of coarse particles allowed the dam to remain stable,as inflows matched outflows.The dam breach model experiments also showed that increasing material density effectively delayed the breach and reduced peak breach flow discharge.Furthermore,higher fine particle content led to a reduction in the residual dam height and the base slope of the final breach profile,although the relationship between peak breach discharge and the content of fine and coarse particles was nonlinear.To better understand breach morphology evolution under different soil characteristics and hydraulic conditions,three key points were identified—erosion point,control point,and scouring point.This study,by examining the evolution of failure patterns,breach processes,and breach flow discharges under various grading and density conditions,offers valuable insights into the mechanisms behind landslide dam failures.

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.

Spatial distribution analysis of landslides triggered by the 2013-04-20 Lushan earthquake,China

The 2013-04-20 Lushan earthquake（seismic magnitude Ms 7.0 according to the State Seismological Bureau）induced a large number of landslides.In this study,spatial characteristics of landslides are developed by interpreting digital aerial photography data.Seven towns near the epicenter,with an area of about 11.11 km2,were severely affected by the earthquake,and 703 landslides were identified from April 24,2013 aerial photography data over an area of 1.185 km2.About 55.56% of the landslide area was less than 1000 m2,whereas about 3.23 % was more than 10,000 m2.Rock falls and shallow landslides were the most commonly observed types in the study area,and were primarily located in the center of Lushan County.Most landslide areas were widely distributed near river channels and along roads.Five main factors were chosen to study the distribution characteristics of landslides：elevation,slope gradients,fault,geologic unit and river system.The spatial distribution of coseismal landslides is studied statistically using both landslide point density（LPD）,defined as the number of landslides（LS Number）per square kilometer,and landslide area density（LAD）,interpreted as the percentage of landslides area affected by earthquake.The results show that both LPD and LAD have strong positive correlations with five main factors.Most landslides occurred in the gradient range of 40°-50° and an elevation range of 1.0-1.5 km above sea level.Statistical results also indicate that landslides were mainly formed in soft rocks such as mudstone and sandstone,and concentrated in IX intensity areas.

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.

Co-seismic slip distribution of the 2011 Tohoku(MW 9.0)earthquake inverted from GPS and space-borne gravimetric data

Data obtained by GRACE(Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment) have been used to invert for the seismic source parameters of megathrust earthquakes under the assumption of either uniform slip over an entire fault or a point-like seismic source.Herein, we further extend the inversion of GRACE long-wavelength gravity changes to heterogeneous slip distributions during the 2011 Tohoku earthquake using three fault models:(Ⅰ) a constant-strike and constant-dip fault,(Ⅱ) a variable dip fault, and(Ⅲ) a realistically varying strike fault. By removing the post-seismic signal from the time series, and taking the effect of ocean water redistribution into account, we invert for slip models I, II, and III using co-seismic gravity changes measured by GRACE, de-striped by DDK3 decorrelation filter. The total seismic moments of our slip models, with respective values of 4.9×10^(22) Nm, 5.1×10^(22) Nm, and 5.0×10^(22) Nm, are smaller than those obtained by other studies relying on GRACE data. The resulting centroids are also located at greater depths(20 km, 19.8 km,and 17.4 km, respectively). By combining onshore GPS, GPS-Acoustic, and GRACE data, we obtain a jointly inverted slip model with a seismic moment of 4.8×10^(22) Nm, which is larger than the seismic moment obtained using only the GPS displacements. We show that the slip inverted from low degree space-borne gravimetric data, which contains information at the ocean region, is affected by the strike of the arcuate trench. The space-borne gravimetric data help us constrain the source parameters of a megathrust earthquake within the frame of heterogeneous slip models.

Characteristics of grain size distribution and the shear strength analysis of Chenjiaba long runout coseismic landslide

Study on the grain size distribution characteristics and the frictional strength behavior of the slide deposits are helpful to disclose the landslide runout process and understand the mechanism of a long runout landslide. We performed grain size distribution analysis on samples collected from Chenjiaba landslide induced by Wenchuan earthquake. The grain size distribution of samples from the landslide sections quantitatively depicts a gradual coarsening upward grading from shear zone to the top section. Then a multistage-multiphase ring shearing approach was used to determine a comparative shear strength behavior of samples from each landslide section. In this method, a sample was sheared continuously for large displacement and fast rate on different normal stress conditions. The multiphase shear mode with a maximum of 105 mm/min rate has allowed observing the qualitative change and patterns of the frictional resistance behaviors of soils under different normal stresses. The results of coefficient of friction values under multiphase shear mode have shown substantial post peak shear weakening behaviors after large shear displacement that can be narrated with long runout processes. The shear strength test results indicate that the shear zone samples have developed higher friction angle values compared to overlying section samples, on the last phase of shear process, which may be very important to understand the braking mechanism of a long runout landslide.

Spatial distribution and failure mechanism of water-induced landslides in the reservoir areas of Southwest China

Water-induced landslides in hydropower reservoirs pose a great threat to both project operation and human life.This paper examines three large reservoirs in Sichuan Province,China.Field surveys,site monitoring data analyses and numerical simulations are used to analyze the spatial distribution and failure mechanisms of water-induced landslides in reservoir areas.First,the general rules of landslide development in the reservoir area are summarized.The first rule is that most of the landslides have rear edge elevations of 100e500 m above the normal water level of the reservoir,with volumes in the range of 106 e107 m 3.When the volume exceeds a certain amount,the number of sites at which the landscape can withstand landslides is greatly reduced.Landslide hazards mainly occur in the middle section of the reservoir and less in the annex of the dam site and the latter half of the reservoir area.The second rule is that sedimentary rocks such as sandstone are more prone to landslide hazards than other lithologies.Then,the failure mechanism of changes in the water level that reduces the stability of the slope composed of different geomaterials is analyzed by a proposed slope stability framework that considers displacement and is discussed with the monitoring results.Permeability is an essential parameter for understanding the diametrically opposed deformation behavior of landslides experiencing filling-drawdown cycles during operation.This study seeks to provide inspiration to subsequent researchers,as well as guidance to technicians,on landslide prevention and control in reservoir areas.

Formation,distribution and risk control of landslides in China

China is a country with a large population as well as frequent landslides. The formation and distribution of landslides in China are determined by its special topography, complex geological environment, active earthquake environment and unusual climate features. This paper analyzes the main features and distribution of 200 catastrophic landslides that occurred in China since 1900. The relationships among the distribution of landslides and topographic conditions, geological structure, climate features and strong earthquake environment are analyzed. The features of landslide-triggering factors and critical conditions in different areas have also been considered. Based on the above-mentioned work, the authors have undertaken the studies of landslide susceptibility assessment. The study is performed according to the topographic and geological features, which are the main triggering factors that affect the landslides. The China’s mainland can be divided into 12 zones, including 4 high susceptibility zones, 7 medium susceptibility zones and 1 low susceptibility zone, according to landslide proneness. Considering the number of life loss and extent of property loss caused by landslides in those 12 zones, the risk evaluation results are listed as follows: 2 extremely high-risk zones, 5 high-risk zones, 2 medium-risk zones and 3 low-risk zones. Taking the number of life loss caused by landslides as the standard of risk level, the paper also analyzes the change in landslide risk level and main risk control measures in China since 1990s. Based on the risk level of landslides in other countries or regions, the acceptable landslide risk level in China has been proposed.

Landslide distribution and sliding mode control along the Anninghe fault zone at the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau

Tibetan Plateau is known as the roof of the world.Due to the continuous uplift of the Tibetan Plateau,many active fault zones are present.These active fault zones such as the Anninghe fault zone have a significant influence on the formation of special geomorphology and the distribution of geological hazards at the eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau.The Anninghe fault zone is a key part of the Y-shaped fault pattern in the Sichuan-Yunnan block of China.In this paper,high-resolution topographic data,multitemporal remote sensing images,numerical calculations,seismic records,and comprehensive field investigations were employed to study the landslide distribution along the active part of the Anninghe.The influence of active faults on the lithology,rock mass structures and slope stress fields were also studied.The results show that the faults within the Anninghe fault zone have damaged the structure and integrity of the slope rock mass,reduced the mechanical strength of the rock mass and controlled the slope failure modes.The faults have also controlled the stress field,the distribution of the plastic strain zone and the maximum shear strain zone of the slope,thus have promoted the formation and evolution of landslides.We find that the studied landslides are linearly distributed along the Anninghe fault zone,and more than 80%of these landslides are within 2–3 km of the fault rupture zone.Moreover,the Anninghe fault zone provides abundant substance for landslides or debris flows.This paper presents four types of sliding mode control of the Anninghe fault zone,e.g.,constituting the whole landslide body,controlling the lateral boundary of the landslide,controlling the crown of the landslide,and constituting the toe of the landslide.The results presented merit close attention as a valuable reference source for local infrastructure planning and engineering projects.

Spatial Distribution of Seismic Landslides in the Areas of 1927 Gulang M8.0 Earthquake

The 1927 Gulang M8.0 earthquake has triggered a huge number of landslides,resulting in massive loss of people’s life and property.However,integrated investigations and results regarding the landslides triggered by this earthquake are rare;such situation hinders the deep understanding of these landslides such as scale,extent,and distribution.With the support of Google Earth software,this study intends to finish the seismic landslides interpretation work in the areas of Gulang earthquake(VIII-XI degree)using the artificial visual interpretation method,and further analyze the spatial distribution and impact factors of these landslides.The results show that the earthquake has triggered at least 936 landslides in the VIII-XI degree zone,with a total landslide area of 58.6 km^2.The dense area of seismic landslides is located in the middle and southern parts of the X intensity circle.Statistical analysis shows that seismic landslides is mainly controlled by factors such as elevation,slope gradient,slope direction,strata,seismic intensity,faults and rivers.The elevation of 2000-2800 m is the high-incidence interval of the landslide.The landslide density is larger with a higher slope gradient.East and west directions are the dominant sliding directions.The areas with Cretaceous and Quaternary strata are the main areas of the Gulang seismic landslides.The X intensity zone triggered the most landslides.In addition,landslides often occur in regions near rivers and faults.This paper provides a scientific reference for exploring the development regularities of landslides triggered by the 1927 Gulang earthquake and effectively mitigating the landslide disasters of the earthquake.

Hazard Assessment of Co-seismic Landslides Based on Information Value Method:A Case in 2018 MW6.6 Hokkaido Earthquake,Japan

An MW6.6 earthquake occurred in eastern Hokkaido,Japan on September 6th,2018.Based on the pre-earthquake image from Google Earth and the post-earthquake image from high resolution(3 m)planet satellite,we manually interpret 9293 coseismic landslides and select 7 influencing factors of seismic landslide,such as elevation,slope,slope direction,road distance,flow distance,peak ground acceleration(PGA)and lithology.Then,9293 landslide points are randomly divided into training samples and validation samples with a proportion of 7:3.In detail,the training sample has 6505 landslide points and the validation sample has 2788 landslide points.The hazard risk assessment of seismic landslide is conducted by using the information value method and the study area is further divided into five risk grades,including very low risk area,low risk area,moderate risk area high risk area and very high risk area.The results show that there are 7576 landslides in high risk area and very high risk area,accounting for81.52%of the total landslide number,and the landslide area is 22.93 km^2,accounting for 74.35%of the total area.The hazard zoning is in high accordance with the actual situation.The evaluation results are tested by using the curve of cumulative percentage of hazardous area and cumulative percentage of landslides number.The results show that the success rate of the information value method is 78.50%and the prediction rate is 78.43%.The evaluation results are satisfactory,indicating that the hazard risk assessment results based on information value method may provide scientific reference for landslide hazard risk assessment as well as the disaster prevention and mitigation in the study area.

Distribution patterns of landslides triggered by the 2022 Ms 6.8 Luding earthquake,Sichuan,China

At 12:52 pm on September 5,2022,an Ms 6.8 earthquake occurred in Luding County,Sichuan Province,China.Based on high-resolution aerial photographs and satellite imageries obtained after the earthquake,as well as field investigation,a total of 8685 earthquake-triggered landslides(EQTLs)were interpreted.The landslides covered an area of 30.7km^(2),with a source area of 9.4 km^(2).These EQTLs were mainly distributed in areas with a seismic intensity of VIII and IX.Most of the landslides were small and medium in size,and their types included landslide,rockfall,and rock slump.Characteristic landslide distributions were found,EQTLs were distributed along the Xianshuihe fault,landslide area decreased gradually with an increased distance to the fault;EQTLs were distributed along the Daduhe River and roads;besides,landslide distribution was associated with ground deformation caused by the earthquake.EQTLs’characteristics indicated that,a large number of EQTLs were located near the foot of the slope;the full area of EQTLs and their source area followed a power function.This study concluded that Luding EQTLs were greater in number and area but relatively smaller in terms of affected area.Investigations on geo-hazards post-earthquake and risk assessment were proposed in the earthquake-stricken area to support the rehabilitation and reconstruction.

Effect on Stratum Gradient Frequency Distribution of Landslides in the Three Gorges Area of Northeast Chongqing

The landslide data were calculated in the Three Gorges Area of northeast Chongqing. The results showed that landslide frequency distributions of gradients accorded with the Weibull probability density distribution function. The landslide hazard ratios of gradients were acquired by Weibull accumulation probability distribution function in the different geological units. There was discord between landslide hazard ratio of different geological units and variance of landslide gradient. But they were approximate homology in the strata of Jurassic. The results indicate that the Weibull distribution can quantitatively evaluate the landslide hazard ratios of gradients of the different strata in the Three Gorges Area.

Landslide and Rockfall Distribution by Reservior of Stepped Hydropower Station in the Jinsha River

The landslides and rockfalls were studied in this paper from Xiangjiaba to Baihetan in the lower reach of Jinsha river. Their volume, distribution density and landslide index were studied which indicated that there existed close relationships between landslides and rockfalls and geological structure, stratum. The fold and faultage influenced on the stability of slope and offered the geological condition to landslides and rockfalls. The physiognomy controlled their distribution. Slope angles of landslides were 10 °-50°and slope angles of rockfalls were mainly 35°-50° in the valley in the studied area. The results indicated the geology and physiognomy of distribution area of the landslides and rockfalls in the studied area. They offered the theoretical foundation to prevent and cure geological disaster and protect the water power engineering.

Size and spatial distribution of landslides induced by the2015 Gorkha earthquake in the Bhote Koshi river watershed

The Mw 7.8 Gorkha earthquake in Nepal on April 25, 2015, produced thousands of landslides in the Himalayan mountain range. After the earthquake, two field investigations along Araniko Highway were conducted. Then, using remote sensing technology and geographic information system(GIS)technology, 1481 landslides were identified along the Bhote Koshi river. Correlations between the spatial distribution of landslides with slope gradient and lithology were analyzed. The power-law relationship of the size distribution of earthquake-induced landslides was examined in both the Higher Himalaya and Lesser Himalaya. Possible reasons for the variability of the power exponent were explored by examining differences in the geological situations of these areas. Multi-threshold cellular automata were introduced to model the complexity of system components. Most of the landslides occurred at slope gradients of 30°–40°, and the landslide density was positively correlated with slope gradient. Landslides in hard rock areas were more common than in soft rock areas. The cumulative number-area distribution of landslides induced by the Gorkha earthquake exhibited a negative power-law relationship, but the power exponents were different: 1.13 in the Higher Himalaya, 1.36 and Lesser Himalaya. Furthermore,the geological conditions were more complex and varied in the Lesser Himalaya than in the Higher Himalaya, and the cellular automata simulation results indicated that, as the complexity of system components increased, the power exponent increased.Therefore, the variability of the power exponent of landslide size distribution should ascribe to the complexity of geological situations in the Bhote Koshi river watershed.

Spatiotemporal distribution of regional landslides and erosion rates in Southeastern Tibet

The difficulty in estimating ages of regional landslides hampers to assess frequency of landslides and hence to quantitatively assess regional landslide hazard.In this study,we used radiocarbon dating of organic sediment on boulder rock varnish to estimate landslide ages in Langxian(LX)arid region in southeastern Tibet.Samples of rock varnish with organic sediment were collected on site for radiocarbon dating,leading to landslide ages from 1880±30 to 18,430±30 yr B.P.To measure surface roughness characteristics of 109 remotely-mapped large bedrock landslide deposits,we estimated average standard deviation of slope(SDS)over an area of~640 km^(2) by calculating the slope gradient of each raster cell and using a rectangular moving window method in Arc Map from a 5 m-resolution Digital Elevation Model generated from helicopterobtained photographs.Combing estimated landslide ages(t)with average surface roughness of mapped landslide deposits(R)quantified by SDS,we fit an exponential landslide deposits surface roughness-age function(t=1.47×10^(6)×e^(-1).46R,r2=0.63)that was used to estimate regional landslide ages in LX.We conclude that three periods with clusters of regional landslides in LX were revealed by different surface roughness of landslide deposits combing roughness-age function,with the values of 5563-7455 yr B.P.,1724-4151 yr B.P.,and 960-1287 yr B.P..Furthermore,we used our estimates of landslide ages to quantify landslide erosion rates of three corresponding hillslopes in LX ranging from 0.50 to 2.42 mm yr-1.Although rock varnish radiocarbon dating provides us a feasible option for timing regional landslides of arid regions,the epistemic uncertainty in the dating method should arouse our attention,which could be reduced by increasing the number of samples.