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A large landslide on the upper reach of the Jinsha River, SE Tibetan Plateau: characteristics, influencing factors, and mechanism

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Abstract

On October 11 and November 3, 2018, two large landslides occurred at the same location in Baige Village, eastern Tibet, China. These landslides pose a serious threat to both upstream and downstream areas, raising great concerns in China and worldwide. Currently, the influencing factors and fundamental mechanism of the Baige landslide are questioned, and further research is needed. Multiple methods, including comprehensive field investigation, satellite remote sensing, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) 3D imaging, and geographical information systems, are used to analyze the main characteristics, influencing factors, and fundamental mechanism of the Baige landslide. The results reveal that the occurrence of the Baige landslide is closely related to deep-seated gravitational slope deformations (DSGSDs); tectonic activity, river incision, earthquakes, and rainfall are also responsible for the formation of the event. From a long-term perspective, DSGSDs, active tectonic deformation, repetitive seismic activities, rapid river incision, and sustained rainfall infiltration all interact with each other and finally trigger catastrophic landslides. The damage deformation process of the Baige landslide can be divided into three stages: epigenetic deformation, time-dependent deformation, and failure. Some unstable rock masses still exist in the source area, and thus, successive deformation monitoring and timely mitigation measures should be implemented to reduce the residual risks. The research in this paper is meaningful for further research on such large-scale landslides along the Jinsha River.

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(adapted from Tsou et al. 2014)

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Data availability

The datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52208359 and 52109125), the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2020M680583), and the National Postdoctoral Program for Innovative Talent of China (BX20200191).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Civil Engineering, Sichuan Agricultural University, Dujiangyan, 611830, Sichuan, China

    Zhuo Chen

  2. Sichuan Higher Education Engineering Research Center for Disaster Prevention and Mitigation of Village Construction, Sichuan Agricultural University, Dujiangyan, 611830, China

    Zhuo Chen

  3. School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, Guangdong, China

    Danqing Song

  4. State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Building Science, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, 510640, Guangdong, China

    Danqing Song

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  1. Zhuo Chen
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All authors contributed to the study conception and design. ZC wrote the paper and performed the analysis; DS wrote the paper and contributed to the analysis. All the authors have read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Zhuo Chen.

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Chen, Z., Song, D. A large landslide on the upper reach of the Jinsha River, SE Tibetan Plateau: characteristics, influencing factors, and mechanism. Nat Hazards 120, 153–179 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-023-06222-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-023-06222-4

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