Insights into some large-scale landslides in southeastern margin of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau

The southeastern margin of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau(SMQTP)is of a typical large landslide-prone area due to intense tectonic activity,deeply incised valleys,high geostress and frequent earthquakes.To gain insights into large landslides in southeastern margin of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau,an area covering 3.34×105 km2 that extends 80e150 km on both sides of the Sichuan-Tibet traffic corridors(G318)was used to examine the spatial distribution and corresponding characteristics of landslides.The results showed that the study area contains at least 629 large landslides that are mainly concentrated on 7 zones(zones IeVII).Zones IeVII are in the southern section of the Longmenshan fault zone(with no large river)and sections with Dadu River,Jinsha River,Lancang River,Nujiang River and Yarlung Zangbo River.There are more landslides in the Jinsha River section(totaling 186 landslides)than the other sections.According to the updated Varnes classification,408 large landslides(64.9%)were recognized and divided into 4 major types,i.e.flows(275 cases),slides(58 cases),topples(44 cases)and slope deformations(31 cases).Flows,which consist of rock avalanches and iceerock avalanches,are the most common landslide type.Large landslide triggers(178 events,28.3%)are also recognized,and earthquakes may be the most common trigger.Due to the limited data,these landslide type classifications and landslide triggers are perhaps immature,and further systematic analysis is needed.

Runout of submarine landslide simulated with material point method

Most of the present knowledge on submarine landslides relies upon back-analysis of post-failure deposits identified using geophysical techniques.In this paper,the runout of slides on rigid bases is explored using the material point method（MPM）with focus on the geotechnical aspects of the morphologies.In MPM,the sliding material and bases are discretised into a number of Lagrangian particles,and a background Eulerian mesh is employed to update the state of the particles.The morphologies of the slide can be reproduced by tracking the Lagrangian particles in the dynamic processes.A real case history of a submarine slide is back-analyzed with the MPM and also a depth-averaged method.Runout of the slides from steep slopes to moderate bases are reproduced.Then different combinations of soil and basal parameters are assumed to trigger runout mechanisms of elongation,block sliding and spreading.The runout distances predicted by the MPM match well with those from large deformation finite element analysis for the elongation and block sliding patterns.Horst and grabens are shaped in a spreading pattern.However,the current MPM simulations for materials with high sensitivities are relatively mesh sensitive.