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Field investigation and numerical simulation of the seismic triggering mechanism of the Tahman landslide in eastern Pamir, Northwest China

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Abstract

Landslides are one of the most common geological hazards in many parts of the world, which have brought catastrophic consequences to mankind. Seismic shaking can be an important trigger factor generally resulting in large-scale landslides. For some paleolandslides triggered by earthquakes, despite the lack of historical records, certain paleoseismic parameters can be back-analyzed. In this paper, the discrete element method (DEM) was applied to back-analyze the peak ground acceleration (PGA) triggering the Tahman landslide, a paleolandslide located in eastern Pamir, northwest China. Firstly, detailed field geological and geomorphological investigation was conducted to reveal the natural and seismic characteristics of the landslide. Subsequently, discrete element modeling was carried out. Simulation results suggested that the Tahman rock slope was stable under natural conditions. Owing to arid climate and water shortage of the study area, the influence of water was ignored. Additionally, from the perspective of the occurrence time of the landslide and geomorphologic feature of the deposits, the landslide was not caused by glacier activity and freeze–thaw events, and thus, must have been triggered by an earthquake. A peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 0.55 g was found to be a critical value for triggering landslides, and a PGA of 0.76 g could best simulate the kinematic process of a landslide when the simulation results were calibrated against the current geomorphological features of the landslide deposits. It can be concluded from the present study that: (1) PGA amplification in the rock slope was related to the topography during earthquake excitation; (2) the effective duration of the seismic wave had a considerable impact on the back-analyzed PGA, which decreased with increasing effective duration; and (3) the long runout of the Tahman landslide was due to its large volume and the interaction of the slide mass with moraines.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (project code 2018YFC1505001) and the National Natural Science Fund (grant number 41672359). The authors would like to thank the reviewers for their constructive comments, which improved the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Beijing University of Technology, Beijing, 100124, China

    Yuxuan Zhu & Fuchu Dai

  2. Key Laboratory of Urban Security and Disaster Engineering, Ministry of Education, Beijing, 100124, China

    Yuxuan Zhu & Fuchu Dai

  3. Institute of Geomechanics, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences, Beijing, 100081, China

    Xin Yao

  4. State Grid Economic and Technological Research Institute Co. Ltd., Beijing, 102209, China

    Xinbin Tu

  5. Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266590, China

    Xinshuai Shi

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  1. Yuxuan Zhu
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  2. Fuchu Dai
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Correspondence to Yuxuan Zhu.

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Zhu, Y., Dai, F., Yao, X. et al. Field investigation and numerical simulation of the seismic triggering mechanism of the Tahman landslide in eastern Pamir, Northwest China. Bull Eng Geol Environ 78, 5795–5809 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-019-01541-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-019-01541-y

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