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Landslide monitoring in southwestern China via time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography

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Abstract

The dynamic monitoring of landslides in engineering geology has focused on the correlation among landslide stability, rainwater infiltration, and subsurface hydrogeology. However, the understanding of this complicated correlation is still poor and inadequate. Thus, in this study, we investigated a typical landslide in southwestern China via time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography (TLERT) in November 2013 and August 2014. We studied landslide mechanisms based on the spatiotemporal characteristics of surface water infiltration and flow within the landslide body. Combined with borehole data, inverted resistivity models accurately defined the interface between Quaternary sediments and bedrock. Preferential flow pathways attributed to fracture zones and fissures were also delineated. In addition, we found that surface water permeates through these pathways into the slipping mass and drains away as fissure water in the fractured bedrock, probably causing the weakly weathered layer to gradually soften and erode, eventually leading to a landslide. Clearly, TLERT dynamic monitoring can provide precursory information of critical sliding and can be used in landslide stability analysis and prediction.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Hubei Subsurface Multiscale Imaging Laboratory, Institute of Geophysics and Geomatics, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), Wuhan, 430074, China

    Dong Xu, Xiang-Yun Hu, Chun-Ling Shan & Rui-Heng Li

Authors
  1. Dong Xu
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  2. Xiang-Yun Hu
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  3. Chun-Ling Shan
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  4. Rui-Heng Li
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xiang-Yun Hu.

Additional information

This study was funded by the National Basic Research Program of China (973 Program) (No. 2013CB733203) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41474055).

Xu Dong is a Ph.D. student at the Institute of Geophysics and Geomatics, China University of Geosciences (Wuhan). He received his B.S. from East China University of Technology in 2013. His research interests are electrical resistivity tomography and hydrogeophysics.

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Xu, D., Hu, XY., Shan, CL. et al. Landslide monitoring in southwestern China via time-lapse electrical resistivity tomography. Appl. Geophys. 13, 1–12 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11770-016-0543-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11770-016-0543-3

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