Formation and reactivation mechanisms of large-scale ancient landslides in the Longwu River basin in the northeast Tibetan Plateau, China

The northeastern Tibetan Plateau exhibits steep topography and strong internal or external dynamic geological effect and is frequently subjected to strong earthquakes and heavy rainfall. The geological evolution has resulted in a wide distribution of ancient landslides, which has become a hotspot for studying ancient landslide formation and reactivation. In recent decades, several ancient landslides on both banks of the Longwu River, Qinghai Province, China were reactivated, causing serious economic losses and casualties. This study conducted remote sensing interpretation and ground surveys on these ancient landslides. Totally 59 ancient landslides were identified, and the formation mechanism, evolution process, and resurrection mechanism of the Longwu Xishan No.2 ancient landslide were analyzed by means of a detailed field geological survey, drilling, and series of experimental tests such as the particle size distribution test, the Xray diffraction test and the mechanical properties test. The results show that the formation of these ancient landslides is closely associated with the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau and the erosion of the Longwu River. Firstly, the intermittent uplift of the Tibetan Plateau lead to the diversion and downcutting of the Longwu River basin, which forms the alternate slope topography with steep and slow slopes, thereby providing favourable topography and slope structure conditions for the formation of landslides. Secondly, 34.5% clay-mineral content in the Neoproterozoic mudstone with 32.7% particle size less than 0.005 mm, and the corrosion and softening effects of the Neogene mudstone with high clay mineral content under the erosion of water provides favourable material conditions for the formation of landslides. Thirdly, rainfall and human activities are the primary triggering factors for the revival of this ancient landslide group. It is revealed that the evolution process of the ancient landslides on both banks of the Longwu River can be divided into five stages namely tectonic rapid uplift slope formation, river erosion creep-sliding deformation, slope instability critical status, landslide failure-movement-accumulation, and slope reactivation under rainfall erosion and engineering excavation.

Mechanism and Kinetic Model of In-situ TiB_2/7055Al Nanocomposites Synthesized under High Intensity Ultrasonic Field

In-situ TiB2/7055Al nanocomposites are fabricated by in situ melt chemical reaction from 7055Al-K2TiF6-KBF4 system under high intensity ultrasonic field,and the mechanism and kinetic model of in-situ melt chemical reaction are investigated.X-ray diffraction （XRD） and scanning electron microscope （SEM） analyses indicate that the sizes of in-situ TiB2 nanoparticles are in the range of 80-120 nm.The results of ice-water quenched samples show that the whole process contains four stages,and the overall in-situ reaction time is 10 minutes.The in situ synthesis process is controlled mainly by chemical reaction in earlier stage （former 3 minutes）,and by the particulate diffusing in later stage.The mechanism of key reaction between Al3Ti and AlB2 under high intensity ultrasonic in the 7055Al-K2TiF6-KBF4 system is the reaction-diffusion-crack-rediffusion.Furthermore,the reactive kinetic models in 7055Al-K2TiF6-KBF4 system are established.

Reservoir-induced landslides and risk control in Three Gorges Project on Yangtze River,China

The Three Gorges region in China was basically a geohazard-prone area prior to construction of the Three Gorges Reservoir （TGR）. After construction of the TGR, the water level was raised from 70 m to 175 m above sea level （ASL）, and annual reservoir regulation has caused a 30-m water level difference after impoundment of the TGR since September 2008. This paper first presents the spatiotemporal distribution of landslides in six periods of 175 m ASL trial impoundments from 2008 to 2014. The results show that the number of landslides sharply decreased from 273 at the initial stage to less than ten at the second stage of impoundment. Based on this, the reservoir-induced landslides in the TGR region can be roughly classified into five failure patterns, i.e. accumulation landslide, dip-slope landslide, reversed bedding landslide, rockfall, and karst breccia landslide. The accumulation landslides and dip-slope landslides account for more than 90%. Taking the Shuping accumulation landslide （a sliding mass volume of 20.7 × 106 m^3） in Zigui County and the Outang dip-slope landslide （a sliding mass volume of about 90 × 106 m^3） in Fengjie County as two typical cases, the mechanisms of reactivation of the two landslides are analyzed. The monitoring data and factor of safety （FOS） calculation show that the accumulation landslide is dominated by water level variation in the reservoir as most part of the mass body is under 175 m ASL, and the dip-slope landslide is controlled by the coupling effect of reservoir water level variation and precipitation as an extensive recharge area of rainfall from the rear and the front mass is below 175 m ASL. The characteristics of landslide-induced impulsive wave hazards after and before reservoir impoundment are studied, and the probability of occurrence of a landslide-induced impulsive wave hazard has increased in the reservoir region. Simulation results of the Ganjingzi landslide in Wushan County indicate the strong relationship between landslide-induced surge and water variation with high potential risk to shipping and residential areas. Regarding reservoir regulation in TGR when using a single index, i.e. 1-d water level variation, water resources are not well utilized, and there is also potential risk of disasters since 2008. In addition, various indices such as 1-d, 5-d, and 10-d water level variations are proposed for reservoir regulation. Finally, taking reservoir-induced landslides in June 2015 for example, the feasibility of the optimizing indices of water level variations is verified.

Time-resolved impact electrochemistry for quantitative measurement of single-nanoparticle reaction kinetics

Single-nanoparticle electrochemistry has been established as a tool to characterize various nanomaterials based on the charge passed during their random impact at an electrode.Here it is demonstrated that the duration and shape of the resulting current peak can be used to quantify the reaction kinetics on a single-particle basis.Both the chemical rate constant and reaction mechanism for oxidation of single nanoparticles in different electrolytes can be determined directly from the duration of the current signal recorded in high-speed,high-sensitivity current measurements.Using 29-nm-sized Ag particles in four different electrolytes as a proof of concept for this general approach,hitherto inaccessible insights into single-particle reactivity are provided.While comparable rate constants were measured for the four electrolytes at low overpotentials,transport-limited impacts at high overpotentials were found to depend strongly on the type and quantity of anions present in solution.