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Development of Taprang landslide, West Nepal

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Abstract

This paper is about a large landslide located at Taprang, on the right bank of the Madi River in the west Nepal Himalaya. It attempts to reconstruct the evolution of the landslide from its initial state to the present conditions. Many large landslides involve multiple failure incidents in different times to attain their present size and shape. The Taprang landslide has also been active for more than 75 years and experienced many failure episodes. The slide lies in a very complex geological setting characterized by the presence of Main Central Thrust and some other folds as well as several joint sets and shear zones. It is developed on weathered graphitic schists, highly fractured and jointed quartzites, marbles, gneisses, and a few amphibolites. Landslide mapping revealed that the rocks are deformed and fractured. They have also undergone intense weathering. Laboratory analysis of rock and soil samples collected from the landslide and surrounding area shows that the weathered rocks, joint infillings, and shear zones are rich in clay minerals, especially smectite and montmorillonite having swelling properties. Besides, hydrologic, climatic, and anthropogenic factors operating simultaneously since a long time have also contributed significantly to the enlargement of the slide. The study indicates that the landslide has a high potential of future enlargement towards upper slopes.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST), the Chinese Academy of Sciences Presidents International Fellowship Initiative (Grant No. 2015PEO23) and "Hundred talents" program (Su Lijun), Chinese Academy of Sciences. We are grateful to the Department of Geology, Shinshu University, for providing the laboratory facilities for the analysis of collected rock and soil samples. We would like to express our gratitude to all the people of Taprang Village for their immense help and support during the fieldwork. We are grateful to all anonymous reviewers for giving constructive comments that helped in improving the quality of the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Mountain Hazards and Surface Process, Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chengdu, 610044, Sichuan, China

    Amar Deep Regmi & Peng Cui

  2. Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, Lalitpur, Nepal

    Amar Deep Regmi

  3. Department of Geology, Faculty of Science, Shinshu University, Asahi 3-1-1, Matsumoto, 3908621, Japan

    Kohki Yoshida & Nozomi Hatano

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  1. Amar Deep Regmi
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Correspondence to Amar Deep Regmi.

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Regmi, A.D., Yoshida, K., Cui, P. et al. Development of Taprang landslide, West Nepal. Landslides 14, 929–946 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-016-0752-0

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