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Causes of landslide recurrence in a loess platform with respect to hydrological processes

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Abstract

Irrigation-induced landslide is a recurring problem in the Heifangtai loess platform of northwest China. The landslide sites are characterized by a concave topography. Numerical modeling indicates that the groundwater table at the past-landslide site rises more quickly than the other natural platform borders under irrigation conditions. This is consistent with the field observations that seepage of the groundwater appeared in the hollow is higher than that of lateral slopes. In order to investigate the response of soil behavior due to rise in groundwater table, stress-path tests were performed on undisturbed specimens. It has been observed that the increase in pore water pressure in loess can trigger soil liquefaction and eventually results in landslide. Hence, the concave past-landslide site is much more prone to landsliding, which contributed to the landslide recurrence.

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Acknowledgments

The financial support by National Nature Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (No: 51109199) is acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, China

    Ling Xu, Caixia Wu, Javed Iqbal & Fuchu Dai

  2. Laboratory of Computational Geodynamics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xiaojuan Qiao

  3. College of Earth Sciences, Graduate University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Xiaojuan Qiao

  4. Department of Earth Sciences, COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Abbottabad, Pakistan

    Javed Iqbal

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  1. Ling Xu
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  2. Xiaojuan Qiao
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  3. Caixia Wu
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  4. Javed Iqbal
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  5. Fuchu Dai
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Correspondence to Ling Xu.

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Xu, L., Qiao, X., Wu, C. et al. Causes of landslide recurrence in a loess platform with respect to hydrological processes. Nat Hazards 64, 1657–1670 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-012-0326-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-012-0326-y

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