Landslide characteristics in the Loess Plateau, northern China

Xu, Yueren; Allen, Mark B.; Zhang, Weiheng; Li, Wenqiao; He, Hongping

doi:10.1016/j.geomorph.2020.107150

Cited by 47 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…The interpretation of historical landslides is based on the following. 1) Current earthquake case studies show that only large earthquakes can trigger dense landslides; larger landslides can be preserved for extended periods (Xu et al, 2020a). The scale of landslides caused by moderate earthquakes is limited which has a negligible impact on the interpretation of landslides caused by large earthquakes (Du et al, 2020a).…”

Section: Interpretation Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The scale of landslides caused by moderate earthquakes is limited which has a negligible impact on the interpretation of landslides caused by large earthquakes (Du et al, 2020a). 2) Seismic landslides and rainfall-triggered landslides have distinct characteristics with respect to their duration, area scale, and distribution (Xu et al, 2020a). 3) Large-scale artificially-induced landslides appear as single points or distributed across residential areas; these are also significantly different from dense large-scale landslides.…”

Section: Interpretation Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Rainfall landslides that occurred in 2010 could not be identified in remote sensing images taken after 2016. Some rainfall landslides develop on the back or sidewalls of large earthquake landslides, or on the ridges of loess terraces that have been transformed by humans (Xu et al, 2020a). Xu et al (2020b) used historical document analysis, remote sensing interpretation, field verification, and other methods to interpret 5,019 landslides triggered by the AD 1718 Tongwei earthquake on both sides of the Tongwei Fault, with a total area of 635 km 2 .…”

Section: "Incomplete" Historical Landslide Databasementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Large-scale dense landslides triggered by historical strong earthquakes can be preserved for decades, hundreds, or even thousands of years. There is a significant difference in the scale between loess landslides due to rainfall and seismic landslides (Xu et al, 2020a). Based on the principle of "connecting the present to the past," the spatial distribution of preserved large-scale landslides can be used to determine the source parameters of historical strong earthquakes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…FIGURE 9 | Comparison of the dominant area of the rainfall landslide and the 1718 Tongwei earthquake landslide(Xu et al, 2020a;Xu et al, 2020b) and the historical landslide area in Long County, Qishan…”

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confidence: 99%

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Using Google Earth Images to Extract Dense Landslides Induced by Historical Earthquakes at the Southwest of Ordos, China

Qinjian

et al. 2021

Front. Earth Sci.

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As historical earthquake records are simple, determining the source parameters of historical strong earthquakes over an extended period is difficult. There are numerous uncertainties in the study of historical earthquakes based on limited literature records. Co-seismic landslide interpretation combined with historical documents can yield the possibility of reducing these uncertainties. The dense co-seismic landslides can be preserved for hundreds to thousands of years in Loess Plateau, North China; furthermore, there are notable attribute differences between earthquake landslides and rainfall-triggered landslides. Along the southwestern margin of the Ordos Block, only one severe earthquake has been recorded in the past 3,000 years. The records of “Sanchuan exhaustion and Qishan collapse” provide clues for an investigation of the 780 BC Qishan earthquake. In this study, combined with historical documents, current high-resolution Google Earth images were used to extract historical landslides along the southwestern of the Ordos Block. There were 6,876 landslides with a total area of 643 km2. The landslide-intensive areas were mainly distributed along the Longxian–Qishan–Mazhao Fault in the loess valley area on the northeastern side of the fault. Loess tableland and river terraces occur on the southwest side of the fault; dense landslides have not been examined due to the topographical conditions in this area. By analyzing the spatial distribution of historical earthquake damage in this region, comparing the characteristics of rainfall-triggered landslides, and combining existing dating results for bedrock collapse and loess landslides, the interpretation of dense historical landslides can be linked to the Qishan Earthquake. The interpretation results are associated with historical records. Analyses of current earthquake cases show that the distribution of dense landslides triggered by strong earthquakes can indicate the episeismic area of an earthquake. In addition, the non-integrated landslide catalog without small- and medium-scale coseismic landslides can be used to effectively determine the source parameters of historical strong earthquakes and perform quantitative evaluations. This study evaluates the focal parameters of the 780 BC Qishan earthquake based on interpretations of the spatial distribution range of historical landslides as representations of the range of the extreme earthquake zone.

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Section: Interpretation Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Interpretation Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: "Incomplete" Historical Landslide Databasementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Using Google Earth Images to Extract Dense Landslides Induced by Historical Earthquakes at the Southwest of Ordos, China

Qinjian

et al. 2021

Front. Earth Sci.

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A catastrophic flowslide that overrides a liquefied substrate: the 1983 Saleshan landslide in China

Zhang

Peng

Gao

et al. 2021

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Flowslides that override a liquefied substrate can vastly enhance a disaster after failure initiation. These effects may result from the rapid velocity and long runout distance from slides mobilized into flows. It is thus crucial to provide an improved understanding of the transformation mechanisms of catastrophic flowslides for hazard evaluation. This study examines the Saleshan landslide in Gansu, China, which occurred in 1983 and killed more than 200 people. The Saleshan landslide travelled for approximately 1 km due to pore water pressure generation resulting from overrunning and liquefication of the alluvial sands in the river valley below. We used geomorphologic and topographic maps to determine its dynamic features and mobilization behaviors on the landslide body, and placemarks and seismic signals to identify its approximate velocity at different sites. Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) surveys also revealed the hydrogeological conditions post-landslide, showing a clear groundwater table along with the liquefied alluvial sand and gravel layers. Particle size distributions and triaxial shear behaviors confirmed more ready liquefaction of superficial loess and underlying alluvial sand in comparison with the red soil above and below them. Novel loading impact triaxial testing was also performed on the alluvial sand to elucidate its liquefaction potential in undrained and drained conditions.The alluvial sand was found to be markedly prone to liquefaction in undrained conditions due to impact-induced increased pore water pressure. The results further demonstrated that the Saleshan landslide underwent a transformation from a slowing slide on a steep slope, where it originated, to flow on a nearly flat terrace with abundant groundwater that it overrode. The transformation mechanism involved the liquefied alluvium sand substrate, which greatly enhanced the landslide mobility. Along with recent, similar findings from landslides globally, substrate liquefaction may result in a widespread, significant increase in landslide mobility and thus hazard, and the present study identifies the requisite conditions for this phenomenon to occur.

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Understanding historical earthquakes by mapping coseismic landslides in the Loess Plateau, northwest China

Liu‐Zeng

Allen

et al. 2022

Earth Surf Processes Landf

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Locating the epicenters and quantifying the magnitudes of historical earthquakes are important, yet difficult, tasks. These tasks often entail estimating seismic intensities based on written documentation, which suffers from biases and uncertainties that are difficult to evaluate. However, past strong earthquakes may trigger numerous landslides that remain in the landscape to the present day, whose number and distribution are correlated with the magnitude and location of the earthquakes. Thus, mapping historical coseismic landslides may provide a useful tool for re-evaluating the magnitudes of historical earthquakes. We use remote sensing images to map landslides in the southern Loess Plateau, China. We suggested that c. 5000 preserved landslides are related to the 734 CE Tianshui earthquake. These landslides are densely distributed along a c. 70-km-long section of the West Qinling Fault. Based on the assumption that the length of the zone in which substantial landslides occurred is equal to the fault rupture length, we estimated a M w of 7.2 for the 734 CE Tianshui event, which is similar to previous estimates (M w = 6.8-7.5). We confirmed that the 1920 CE Haiyuan, 1718 CE Tongwei, and 1654 CE Lixian earthquakes did not contribute to the historical landslides observed in the study area by combination of the mapping and Chinese related literature. We estimated an M w of 7.0 for the 1654 CE Lixian earthquake, which is lower than previous estimates (M w = 8.0). We suggest that coseismic landslide of medium and large sizes with areas > 10 4 m 2 can be used as a criterion to locating and quantifying historical earthquakes, thereby reducing uncertainties in the estimated magnitudes of historical earthquakes that lack instrument records.

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Landslide characteristics in the Loess Plateau, northern China

Cited by 47 publications

References 25 publications

Using Google Earth Images to Extract Dense Landslides Induced by Historical Earthquakes at the Southwest of Ordos, China

Using Google Earth Images to Extract Dense Landslides Induced by Historical Earthquakes at the Southwest of Ordos, China

A catastrophic flowslide that overrides a liquefied substrate: the 1983 Saleshan landslide in China

Understanding historical earthquakes by mapping coseismic landslides in the Loess Plateau, northwest China

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