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Mobilized strength of gravelly sliding zone soil in reactivated landslide: a case study of a giant landslide in the north-eastern margin of Tibet Plateau

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Abstract

A great number of gravels exist in the sliding zone soil of ancient landslides in the eastern margin of Tibet Plateau, which play an important role in the strength of the sliding zone soil. Determination of the mobilized strength of the gravelly sliding zone soil is the key to stability evaluation and disaster prevention for reactivated ancient landslides. Taking the Jiangdingya (JDY) ancient landslide reactivated in 2018 as a typical case, the mobilized strength of gravelly sliding zone soil is studied through laboratory tests and back analysis in this paper. The results indicate that: (1) After long-distance shearing, the cementation between soil particles is gradually lost, and the residual strength is mainly controlled by the sliding friction resistance between soil particles. The higher the gravel content, the greater the residual strength. A positive linear correlation can be established between the friction coefficient and the shear surface roughness. Due to the existence of gravels, the shear surface friction resistance increases, leading to the increase of residual strength. (2) The statistical analysis shows that the residual internal friction angle φr of gravelly sliding zone soil is controlled by both the clay and gravel content, which is significantly different from the clayey sliding zone soil dominated by the clay content. It is suggested that the ratio of gravel to clay content can be used as an index to evaluate the residual internal friction angel of gravelly sliding zone soil. (3) The mobilized strength of ancient landslides is generally greater than the residual strength, but slightly less than the recovery strength. The sliding zone soil strength has gradually attenuated from the recovery strength to the residual strength before reactivation. The ancient landslide is in a creeping state as a whole. Under the action of external forces, the strength of sliding zone soil is likely to decrease rapidly, which triggers accelerated sliding of ancient landslides.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41731287, No. 41941017). We are grateful to Dr. Guo Changbao, Dr. Cui Shenghua, Dr. Zhang Tao and Prof. Yang Aiwu for their help in the field investigation and laboratory test. The authors are grateful for the helpful suggestions from the anonymous reviewers and the Editor, which have improved the clarity of the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Shijiazhuang, 050061, People’s Republic of China

    Sanshao Ren & Yongshuang Zhang

  2. China University of Geosciences, Beijing, 100083, People’s Republic of China

    Sanshao Ren & Nengxiong Xu

  3. Key Laboratory of Quaternary Chronology and Hydrological Environmental Evolution, China Geological Survey, Shijiazhuang, 050061, People’s Republic of China

    Sanshao Ren & Yongshuang Zhang

  4. Institute of Geomechanics, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, 100081, People’s Republic of China

    Ruian Wu & Xiaoyi Liu

  5. Hebei GEO University, Shijiazhuang, 050031, People’s Republic of China

    Guoliang Du

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  1. Sanshao Ren
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Correspondence to Yongshuang Zhang.

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Ren, S., Zhang, Y., Xu, N. et al. Mobilized strength of gravelly sliding zone soil in reactivated landslide: a case study of a giant landslide in the north-eastern margin of Tibet Plateau. Environ Earth Sci 80, 434 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-021-09638-y

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