Rock characteristics and dynamic fragmentation process of the 2018 Daanshan rockslide in Beijing,China

This study investigated the failure mechanism associated with the rock mass structure and the dynamic fragmentation process of blocky rocks of the 2018 Daanshan rockslide that occurred on 11 August,2018.It was found that the initially collapsed rock of this rockslide was partitioned along the unconformity and strata interfaces.We analyzed how the unique rock mass structure,coupled with the road cut and the antecedent rainfall,jointly resulted in its failure.Based on the rock types and geological structures,the initial stratified configuration of a discrete element model was setup to reveal the influences of the local structure.The numerical model was divided into three parts.Part 1 is the basalt of the Nandaling Formation,the normal and shear stiffnesses of the basalt particles are set as 80 MPa and 40 MPa.Parts 2 and 3 are the sandstones interbedded with mudstone and sandstone of the Shihezi Formation,and the normal and shear stiffnesses of these parts were set as 6 MPa and 10 MPa,respectively.The dynamic process of the rockslide,particularly the rock fragmentation process,was numerically analyzed using a 3D discrete element method.The numerical results were compared with real-time videos and field investigations.The results show that the rock fragmentation and the final deposition range match well with the real disaster phenomenon,and the calculation accuracy of the rockslide reaches 82.41%.Moreover,a parameter sensitivity analysis was conducted,and classical uniform models under different bonding forces were established;the stratified model can better restore the true state of the fragmentation,movement,and deposition processes of rockslides.Therefore,for complicated rocks with significant differences in lithology,clarifying the rock mass stratigraphy is essential for an accurate reconstruction of the dynamic process of rockslides.

Scientific challenges of research on natural hazards and disaster risk

As a discipline,the science of natural hazards and disaster risk aims to explain the spatial-temporal pattern,process and mechanism,emergency response and risk mitigation of natural hazards,which requires a multidisci-plinary and interdisciplinary approach.With the support of Natural Science Finance of China(NSFC)and Chinese Academy of Sciences(CAS),in-depth research and systematic analysis on natural hazards and disaster risk were conducted.In this paper,the state of the art in research on natural hazards is summarized from seven aspects:formation process,mechanism and dynamic of natural hazards,disaster risk assessment,forecast,monitoring and early warning,disaster mitigation,emergency treatment and rescue,risk management and post-disaster re-construction.The trends within the natural hazards and disaster risk as a discipline were identified,along with existing shortcomings and significant gaps that need to be addressed.This paper highlighted:1)the scientific challenges including the frontier scientific issues and technological gaps on natural hazards and disaster risk dis-cipline from 2025 to 2035 in China,and 2)the proposal to develop a systemic and holistic natural hazards and disaster risk discipline.

Scattered Rural Settlements and Development of Mountainous Regions in Western Sichuan,China

Making rural settlements of Mountainous Regions in Western Sichuan as the study objects and using symbolic statistical methods, then combining the case study of Daofu County, the paper analyzes the negative impact of the scattered rural settlements on infrastructure construction, farmers＇ income increase and mountain ecological reconstruction in mountainous regions of western Sichuan. The results indicate that economic density is positively related to both rural settlements density （R^2=0.73） and rural population density （R^2=0.77）, and it is the same for relationship between towns density and rural settlements density （R^2=0.88） and between towns density and economic density （R^2=0.71）, and the scattered distribution pattern of the rural settlements and shortage of economic centers is a major factor to the lagged socioeconomic development. On the eco-economic zoning to Daofu County, the paper indicates the spatial distribution model and the industrial development model of the rural settlements need to be changed, and rural population should be concentrated in larger rural settlements with development of off-farm industries while infrastructure construction is to reinforced.

Close Relationship between the Frangibility of Mountain Eco-Environment and Mountain Disasters:A Case Study of Dongchuan,Kunming in Yunnan Province

Anatomical details are given in this article, which is performed by investigating the relationship between through the frangibility of mountain eco-environment and the status of irrational land-use in typical region of debris flow in Dongchuan district, Kunming city, yunnan Province. This analysis is extended to the relationship between vicissitude of mountain disasters and the frangibility of mountain environment. The relatively coupling action of a vicious circle is a evolving characteristic by debris flow sand-gravel there. The eco-security is being faced with serious challenge. The tactics of eco-security has been constructed since 1980s. Thus, the eco-environrnent can gradually be repaired and optimized to achieve a fine circle.

Dynamic process simulation with a Savage-Hutter type model for the intrusion of landslide into river

Natural damming of rivers by mass movements is a very common and potentially dangerous phenomena which has been documented all over the world. In this paper, a two-layer model of Savage-Hutter type is presented to simulate the dynamic procedure for the intrusion of landslide into rivers. The two-layer shallow water system is derived by depth averaging the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations with the hydrostatic assumption. A high order accuracy scheme based on the finite volume method is proposed to solve the presented model equations. Several numerical tests are performed to verify the realiability and feasibility of the proposed model. The numerical results indicate that the proposed method can be competent for simulating the dynamic process of landslide intrusion into the river. The interaction effect between both layers has a significant impact on the landslide movement, water fluctuation and wave propagation.

Unsupervised Color Segmentation with Reconstructed Spatial Weighted Gaussian Mixture Model and Random Color Histogram

Image classification and unsupervised image segmentation can be achieved using the Gaussian mixture model.Although the Gaussian mixture model enhances the flexibility of image segmentation,it does not reflect spatial information and is sensitive to the segmentation parameter.In this study,we first present an efficient algorithm that incorporates spatial information into the Gaussian mixture model(GMM)without parameter estimation.The proposed model highlights the residual region with considerable information and constructs color saliency.Second,we incorporate the content-based color saliency as spatial information in the Gaussian mixture model.The segmentation is performed by clustering each pixel into an appropriate component according to the expectation maximization and maximum criteria.Finally,the random color histogram assigns a unique color to each cluster and creates an attractive color by default for segmentation.A random color histogram serves as an effective tool for data visualization and is instrumental in the creation of generative art,facilitating both analytical and aesthetic objectives.For experiments,we have used the Berkeley segmentation dataset BSDS-500 and Microsoft Research in Cambridge dataset.In the study,the proposed model showcases notable advancements in unsupervised image segmentation,with probabilistic rand index(PRI)values reaching 0.80,BDE scores as low as 12.25 and 12.02,compactness variations at 0.59 and 0.7,and variation of information(VI)reduced to 2.0 and 1.49 for the BSDS-500 and MSRC datasets,respectively,outperforming current leading-edge methods and yielding more precise segmentations.

Seismically Induced Slope Instabilities and the Corresponding Treatments:the Case of a Road in the Wenchuan Earthquake Hit Region

On May 12, 2008, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake hit Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province resulted in great loss of life and properties.Besides, abundant landslides and slope failures were triggered in the most seriously hit areas and caused disastrous damages to infrastructures and public facilities.Moreover, abundant unstable slopes caused by the quake have the potential to cause damages for a considerable long period of time.The variety of these slopes and the corresponding treatments are connected with the topographical and geological conditions of the sites.It is decided to document and identify some of these major slope instabilities caused by the earthquake and their treatments.The paper shows the condition of a road in Dujiangyan through in situ explorations.The case history showed significant implications to the reconstruction of the quake-hit regions and future disaster prevention and management works.

Combined Impacts of Antecedent Earthquakes and Droughts on Disastrous Debris Flows

This paper describes a study on the combined impacts of antecedent earthquakes and droughts on disastrous debris flows.This is a novel attempt in quantifying such impacts using the effective peak acceleration(EPA)(to represent earthquakes) and standardized precipitation index(SPI)(to represent droughts).The study is based on the analysis of 116 disastrous debris flow events occurred in China's Mainland in the last 100 years covering a wide spectrum of climate types and landforms.It has been found that the combined impacts from earthquakes and droughts on disastrous debris flows do exist and vary from low to very high according to different climate conditions and terrains.The impacts from earthquakes increase with the increased terrain relief,and the impacts from droughts are strongest in semi-humid climate condition(with reduced impacts in humid and semi-arid /arid climate conditions).Hypothetical explanations on the study discoveries have been proposed.This study reveals the possible reasons for the disastrous debris flow distributions around the world and has significant implications in paleo-climate-seismicanalysis and disastrous debris flow risk management.

Effects of Material Composition and Water Content on the Mechanical Properties of Landslide Deposits Triggered by the Wenchuan Earthquake

Abundant landslide deposits were triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake, providing a rich source of material for subsequent debris flows or slope failures under rainfall conditions. A good understanding of the physical and mechanical properties of the landslide deposits is very important to the research on slope failure mechanisms and the initiation of debris flow. Laboratory biaxial compression tests are used to study the material compositions and water content impacts on the mechanical properties of landslide deposits, and a discrete element method （a bond-contact model） is used to study the particle stiffness, bond force, friction coefficient and confining stress impact on the mechanical behaviors and the relationships between the numerical and experimental parameters. The experimental results show that the failure stress of landslide deposits is decreased with increasing content of fine particles and also with increased water content, especially at the initial increasing stage. Cohesion of the saturated landslide deposits is increased, but the friction angle is decreased with the increase in the fine particle content. Shear strength parameters （the cohesion and friction angle） are decreased with the increasing water content at the initial increasing stage, and then, they slowly decrease. There is a critical value of the water content at 5%-7% （in weight） for the failure stress and shear strength parameters of the landslide deposits. Quadratic equations are presented to describe the relation between the bond force and cohesion, and the numerical friction coefficient and the experimental friction angle.

Hazards Assessment of Regional Debris Flows Based on Geographic Information Science

Supported by the spatial analysis feature of geographic information science and assessment model of regional debris flows, hazards degrees of the debris flows in the Upper Yangtze River Watershed （UYRW） are divided into five grades based on grid cell. The area of no danger, light danger, medium danger, severe danger and extreme severe danger regions respectively are 278 000, 288 000, 217 000, 127 000, 15 000 km^2. Furthermore, the counties in the UYRW are classified into four classes based on the hazards degrees in each county. The number of severe danger, medium danger, light danger and no danger counties respectively are 49, 82, 77 and 105. The assessment results will be provided for the hazards forecasting and mitigation in the UYRW and ongoing regionalization of Main Function Regions in China as data and technique framework.

Selection of Judging Indicators for Surface Morphology of Soil Crack under Different Development Degrees in Yuanmou Arid-Hot Valley Region

Quantification of complicated surface morphology of soil crack is a prerequisite and key to soil crack study. This paper takes soil crack quads in Yuanmou arid-hot valley region as examples, selecting several morphological indicators, and analyzes the soil crack＇s morphological features under various development degrees. By statistic analysis, three quantitative indicators for surface morphology are selected, namely soil crack area density, area weighted mean fractal dimension and connectivity index R, which can not only express the development intensity of soil cracks, but also effectively describe its morphological complexity and connectivity. The research results set a good base for the establishment of soil crack assessment system in Yuanmou arid-hot valley region.

Characteristics of mountain glacier surge hazard: learning from a surge event in NE Pamir, China

Abnormal glacier movement is likely to result in canyon-type hazards chain,such as the barrier lake of Yarlung Zangbo Grand Canyon formed by glacier debris flow in October 2018 in China.Glacier hazard usually evolves from the glacier surge and may occur in a regular cycle.Understanding the characteristics and process of glacier surge is important for early hazard recognition and hazard assessment.Based on field investigations,remote sensing interpretations and SAR offset-tracking surveys,this study confirms a typical glacier surge in the northeast Pamir,and presents its characteristics and processes."Black ice"mixed moraines choking uplift and overflowing lateral marine are the most important scenic characteristics,which were formed under the conditions of stagnant glacier downstream and abundant super-glacial moraine.Glacier movement event can be divided into a five-period cycle including quiescent,inoculation,initiation,fracture and decline.This surge event lasted for about 300 days,initiated in February 2015 developed extensive fracturing zone in spring and early summer at maximum velocity of 10±0.95 m/day,declined after August 2015 and recovered to quiescent status in October 2015 for the next inoculation.The average height of glacier"receiving"area increased by 20-40 m with 2.7-3.6×10^8 m^3 ice transferred from glacier"reservoir",and this volume accumulation again require 50-100 years for glacier mass balance which gives approximately 100 years frequency of the glacier surge.Nevertheless,long-period increase of precipitation and temperature were favorable for the occurrence,hydrological instability is the direct triggering mechanism,and while the Glacier Lake Outburst Flood(GLOF)hazards are unlikely to occur with this surge.

Surface Morphology of Soil Cracks in Yuanmou Dry-hot Valley Region,Southwest China

Surface morphology of soil cracks is one of the important factors influencing the water evaporation rate in cracked soil in Yuanmou Dry-hot Valley Region,Southwest China. Quantitative study of the complicated surface morphology of soil cracks is a prerequisite for further studies of soil-cracking mechanisms. The present paper establishes a quantitative indicator system by application of concepts and methods originating from Fractal Geometry and Network Analysis. These indicators can effectively express the complicated features of soil-crack network structure. Furthermore,a series of values related to soil-crack morphology was obtained by image processing on field photos of soil-crack quads,and gradation criteria for the degree of development of soil cracks were determined. Finally,the changes in values of the morphological indicators under different degrees of development were analyzed in detail. Our results indicate that (1) the degree of development of soil cracks can be divided into five grades,i.e.,feeble development,slight development,medium development,intensive development and extremely intensive development; (2) the values of the indicators change predictably with increasing degree of development of soil cracks. The area density (Dc) increases,and both the area-weighted mean ratio of crack area to perimeter (AWMARP),which reflects the intensity of cracking,and the index r,which is related to the connectivity of a soil crack,grow uniformly (albeit with different forms). AWMRAP increases at a geometric rate while r shows logarithm-mic growth,indicating a gradual increase in theconnectivity of a soil crack. Nevertheless,the area-weighted mean of soil-crack fractal dimension (AWMFRAC) shows a decreasing trend,indicating a gradual decline in the complexity of cracks as area density increases.

Coupled Model of Two-phase Debris Flow,Sediment Transport and Morphological Evolution

The volume fraction of the solid and liquid phase of debris flows, which evolves simultaneously across terrains, largely determines the dynamic property of debris flows. The entrainment process significantly influences the amplitude of the volume fraction. In this paper, we present a depth-averaged two-phase debris-flow model describing the simultaneous evolution of the phase velocity and depth, the solid and fluid volume fractions and the bed morphological evolution. The model employs the Mohr–Coulomb plasticity for the solid stress, and the fluid stress is modeled as a Newtonian viscous stress. The interfacial momentum transfer includes viscous drag and buoyancy. A new extended entrainment rate formula that satisfies the boundary momentum jump condition （Iverson and Ouyang, 2015） is presented. In this formula, the basal traction stress is a function of the solid volume fraction and can take advantage of both the Coulomb and velocity-dependent friction models. A finite volume method using Roe’s Riemann approximation is suggested to solve the equations. Three computational cases are conducted and compared with experiments or previous results. The results show that the current computational model and framework are robust and suitable for capturing the characteristics of debris flows.

Effects of loose deposits on debris flow processes in the Aizi Valley, southwest China

Loose deposits, rainfall and topography are three key factors that triggering debris flows.However, few studies have investigated the effects of loose deposits on the whole debris flow process.On June 28, 2012, a catastrophic debris flow occurred in the Aizi Valley, resulting in 40 deaths.The Aizi Valley is located in the Lower Jinsha River,southwestern Sichuan Province, China. The Aizi Valley debris flow has been selected as a case for addressing loose deposits effects on the whole debris flow process through remote sensing, field investigation and field experiments. Remote sensing interpretation and laboratory experiments were used to obtain the distribution and characteristics of the loose deposits, respectively. A field experiment was conducted to explore the mechanics of slope debris flows, and another field investigation was conducted to obtain the processes of debris flow formation, movement and amplification. The results showed that loose deposits preparation, slope debris flow initiation,gully debris flow confluence and valley debris flow amplification were dominated by the loose deposits.Antecedent droughts and earthquake activities may have increased the potential for loose soil sources in the Aizi Valley, which laid the foundation for debris flow formation. Slope debris flow initiated under rainfall, and the increase in the water content as well as the pore water pressure of the loose deposits were the key factors affecting slope failure. The nine gully debris flows converged in the valley, and the peak discharge was amplified 3.3 times due to a blockage and outburst caused by a large boulder. The results may help in predicting and assessing regional debris flows in dry-hot and seismic-prone areas based on loose deposits, especially considering large boulders.

Characteristics of landslide in Koshi River Basin,Central Himalaya

Koshi River basin, which lies in the Central Himalayas with an area of 71,500 km2, is an important trans-boundary river basin shared by China, Nepal and India. Yet, landslide-prone areas are all located in China and Nepal, imposing alarming risks of widespread damages to property and loss of human life in both countries. Against this backdrop, this research, by utilizing remote sensing images and topographic maps, has identified a total number of 6877 landslides for the past 23 years and further examined their distribution, characteristics and causes. Analysis shows that the two-step topography in the Himalayan region has a considerable effect on the distribution of landslides in this area. Dense distribution of landslides falls into two regions: the Lesser Himalaya(mostly small and medium size landslides in east-west direction) and the TransitionBelt(mostly large and medium size landslides along the river in north-south direction). Landslides decrease against the elevation while the southern slopes of the Himalayas have more landslides than its northern side. Change analysis was carried out by comparing landslide distribution data of 1992, 2010 and 2015 in the Koshi River basin. The rainfallinduced landslides, usually small and shallow and occurring more frequently in regions with an elevation lower than 1000 m, are common in the south and south-east slopes due to heavy precipitation in the region, and are more prone to the slope gradient of 20°~30°. Most of them are distributed in Proterozoic stratum(Pt3ε, Pt3 and Pt2-3) and Quaternary stratum. While for earthquake-induced landslides, they are more prone to higher elevations(2000~3000 m) and steeper slopes(40°~50°).

Simulation of landslide run-out by considering frictional heating and thermal pressurization

Some of the remarkable characteristics of natural landslides, such as surprisingly long travel distances and high velocities, have been attributed to the mechanisms of frictional heating and thermal pressurization. In this work, this mechanism is combined with a depth-averaged model to simulate the long runout of landslides in the condition of deformation. Some important factors that influence frictional heating and thermal pressurization within the shear zone are further considered, including velocity profile and pressurization coefficient. In order to solve the coupled equations, a combined computational method based on the finite volume method and quadratic upwind interpolation for convective kinematics scheme is proposed. Several numerical tests are performed to demonstrate the feasibility of the computational scheme, the influence of thermal pressurization on landslide run-out, and the potential of the model to simulate an actual landslide.

Grain Composition and Erosive Equilibrium of Debris Flows

Debris flows consist of grains of various sizes ranging from 10^(-6) m ～1 m. Field observations in the Jiangjia Gully (JJG) and other sites throughout China indicate that the grain size distribution of sediment in debris flows can be characterized by an exponential function fit to the cumulative distribution. The exponent value for the function varies by location and may be useful in distinguishing between debris flows from different valleys. For example, minimum values and ranges of the exponent are associated with the high frequency of debris flows in the JJG. Furthermore, the distribution presents piecewise fractality (i.e. scaling laws hold in various ranges of the grain size) and we propose that the fractal structure determines the matrix and that the fractal dimension plays a crucial role in material exchange between a debris flow and the substrate it flows over. Finally, the empirical data support an exponential relation between grain composition and non-dimensional shear stress for the critical state of the channel. Overall we propose a material-determinism approach to studying debris flows which contrasts with the enviro-determinism that has dominated much recent work in this field.

Mechanism of action of cracks water on rock landslide in rainfall

In worldwide, the most common triggering factor of rock landslides is extended and intense rainfall. However, different from the soil slope failure caused by softening action of infiltration rainwater, the mechanism of rock landslide in rainfall is not clear. From the view of fracture mechanics, the propagation of cracks on rock slope and the development of sliding surface were researched. Then based on hydraulics formulas and using Sweden arc method, the influence of crack water on stability of rock slope was quantitatively studied. Finally, an example was given to check the theoretical approach. The result shows that the development of sliding surface of rock slope is mainly caused by crack propagation under hydrostatic pressure when the stress intensity factor KI at crack tip is bigger than the toughness index of rock fractures Klc, and the failure of slope is the result of hydraulic action of crack water and the softening of materials on sliding surface when the depth of crack water is bigger than a minimum value hmin.

Two-dimensional finite element modeling of seepage-erosion coupled process within unsaturated soil slopes

Fines migration along with rainfall infiltration is a possible cause of failures of slopes composed of loose deposits.To investigate the intrinsic mechanisms,a rigid mathematical model which can fully capture the multi-phasic and multiphysical process is necessary.In this research,the macro and micro physical phenomena of fines migration process within deposited soil slopes under rainfall infiltration were summarized.Based on the mixture theory,a seepage-erosion model for unsaturated erodible soils capable to capture these phenomena mathematically was built based on a rigid theoretical framework.The model was used to simulate a set of rainfall flume tests involving fines migration phenomena with the finite element method.Two distinct slope failure modes observed experimentally,which were induced by the soil erosion-deposition properties,can be well reproduced by our numerical model.The seepage-erosion coupled process during the rainfall infiltration,as well as the intrinsic mechanism responsible for the slope failures,was illustrated in detail based on the numerical results.It was shown that the fines migration process can affect the hydro-mechanical response within unsaturated slopes significantly,and therefore special attention should be paid to those soil slopes susceptible to internal erosion.