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.

Effect of rainfall on a colluvial landslide in a debris flow valley

A colluvial landslide in a debris flow valley is a typical phenomena and is easily influenced by rainfall. The direct destructiveness of this kind of landslide is small, however, if failure occurs the resulting blocking of the channel may lead to a series of magnified secondary hazards. For this reason it is important to investigate the potential response of this type of landslide to rainfall. In the present paper, the Goulingping landslide, one of the colluvial landslides in the Goulingping valley in the middle of the Bailong River catchment in Gansu Province, China, was chosen for the study. Electrical Resistivity Tomography(ERT), Terrestrial Laser Scanning(TLS), together with traditional monitoring methods, were used to monitor changes in water content and the deformation of the landslide caused by rainfall. ERT was used to detect changes in soil water content induced by rainfall. The most significant findings were as follows:(1) the water content in the centralupper part(0~41 m) of the landslide was greaterthan in the central-front part(41~84 m) and(2) there was a relatively high resistivity zone at depth within the sliding zone. The deformation characteristics at the surface of the landslide were monitored by TLS and the results revealed that rainstorms caused three types of deformation and failure:(1) gully erosion at the slope surface;(2) shallow sliding failure;(3) and slope foot erosion. Subsequent monitoring of continuous changes in pore-water pressure, soil pressure and displacement(using traditional methods) indicated that long duration light rainfall(average 2.22 mm/d) caused the entire landslide to enter a state of creeping deformation at the beginning of the rainy season. Shear-induced dilation occurred for the fast sliding(30.09 mm/d) during the critical failure sub-phase(EF). Pore-water pressure in the sliding zone was affected by rainfall. In addition, the sliding L1 parts of the landslide exerted a discontinuous pressure on the L2 part. Through the monitoring and analysis, we conclude that this kind of landslide may have large deformation at the beginning and the late of the rainy season.

Investigation and Assessment of Landslides and Debris Flows in Sichuan Province of China by Remote Sensing Technique

Taking TM images, ETM images, SPOT images, aerial photos and other remote sensing data as fundamental sources, this research makes a thorough investigation on landslides and debris flows in Sichuan Province, China, using the method of manual interpretation and taking topography maps as references after the processes of terrain correction, spectral matching, and image mosaic. And then, the spatial characteristics of landslides and debris flows in the year of 2005 are assessed and made into figures. The environmental factors which induce landslides and debris flows such as slope, vegetation coverage, lithology, rainfall and so on are obtained by GIS spatial analysis method. Finally, the rela- tionships of landslides or debris flows with some environmental factors are analyzed based on the grade of each envi- ronmental factor. The results indicate: 1) The landslides and debris flows are mainly in the eastern and southern area of Sichuan Province, however, there are few landslides and debris flows in the western particularly the northwestern Si- chuan. 2) The landslides and debris flows of Sichuan Province are mostly located in the regions with small slope degree. The occurring rate of debris flow reduces with the increase of the vegetation coverage degree, but the vegetation cov- erage degree has little to do with the occurrence of landslide. The more rainfall a place has, the easier the landslides and debris flows take place.

The influence of human activity and precipitation change on mid-long term evolution of landslide and debris flow disasters

After defining landslide and debris flow, human activity, and precipitation indices, using with landslide and debris flow disaster data in low-latitude plateau of China, reflecting human activity and precipitation data, the influence of human activity and precipitation on mid-long term evolution of landslide and debris flow was studied with the wavelet technique. Results indicate that mid-long evolution of landslide and debris flow disaster trends to increase 0.9 unit every year, and presents obvious stage feature. The abrupt point from rare to frequent periods took place in 1993. There is significant in-phase resonance oscillation between human activity and landslide and debris flow frequency on a scale of 11-16 years, in which the variation of human activity occurs about 0.2-2.8 years before landslide and debris flow variation. Thus, the increase of landslide and debris flow frequency in low latitude plateau of China may be mainly caused by geo-environmental degradation induced by human activity. After the impact of human activity is removed, there is sig- nificant in-phase resonance oscillation between landslide and debris flow frequency and summer rainfall in low-latitude plateau of China in quasi-three-year and quasi-six-year scales, in which the variation of summer precipitation occurs about 0.0-0.8 years before landslide and debris flow variation. Summer precipitation is one of important external causes which impacts landslide and debris flow frequency in low-latitude plateau of China. The mid-long term evolution predicting model of landslide and debris flow disasters frequency in low-latitude plateau region with better fitting and predicting ability was built by considering human activity and summer rainfall.

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.

Characteristics and triggering mechanism of Xinmo landslide on 24 June 2017 in Sichuan, China

At 5: 39 AM on 24 June 2017, a huge landslide-debris avalanche occurred on Fugui Mountain at Xinmo village, Diexi town, Maoxian county, Sichuan province, China. The debris blocked the Songpinggou River for about 2 km, resulting in a heavy loss of both human lives and properties(10 deaths, 3 injuries, 73 missing, and 103 houses completely destroyed). The objectives of this paper are to understand the overall process and triggering factors of this landslide and to explore the affecting factors for its long term evolution before failure. Post event surveys were carried out the day after the landslide occurrence. Information was gathered from literature and on-site investigation and measurement. Topography, landforms, lithology, geological setting, earthquake history, meteorological and hydrological data of the area were analysed. Aerial photographs and other remote sensing information were used for evaluation and discussion. Eye witnesses also provided a lot of helpful information for us to understand the process of initiation, development and deposition. The depositional characteristics of the moving material as well as the traces of the movement,the structural features of the main scarp and the seismic waves induced by the slide are presented and discussed in detail in this paper. The results show that the mechanism of the landslide is a sudden rupture of the main block caused by the instability of a secondary block at a higher position. After the initiation, the failed rock mass at higher position overloaded the main block at the lower elevation and collapsed in tandem. Fragmentation of the rock mass occurred later, thus forming a debris avalanche with high mobility. This landslide case indicates that such seismic events could influence geological hazards for over 80 years and this study provides reference to the long term susceptibility and risk assessment of secondary geological hazards from earthquake.

Debris flow and landslide hazard mapping and risk analysis in China

This paper assesses the hazardousness, vulnerability and risk of debris flow and landslide in China and compiles maps with a scale of 1：6000000, based on Geographical Information System （GIS） technology, hazard regionalization map, socioeconomic data from 2000. Integrated hazardousness of debris flow and landslide is equivalent to the sum of debris flow hazardousness and landslide hazardousness. Vulnerability is assessed by employing a simplified assessment model. Risk is calculated by the following formula： Risk = Hazardousness × Vulnerability. The analysis results of assessment of hazardousness, vulnerability and risk show that there are extremely high risk regions of 104 km2, high risk regions of 283008 km2, moderate risk regions of 3161815 km2, low risk regions of 3299604km2, and extremely low risk regions of 2681709 km2. Exploitation activities should be prohibited in extremely high risk and high risk regions and restricted in moderate risk regions. The present study on risk analysis of debris flow and landslide not only sheds new light on the future work in this direction but also provides a scientific basis for disaster prevention and mitigation policy making.