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Seismic responses of the densely distributed caves of the Mogao Grottoes in China

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Abstract

Some of the largest and best-preserved Buddhist art treasure houses in the world, namely the Mogao Grottoes, are located at the northwest edge of the region of the Qinghai-Tibet plateau and are adjacent to the Altun and Qilian mountains, where the geotectonic activity is intense and large earthquakes have occurred. Future earthquakes are one of the major threats to the caves of the Mogao Grottoes; therefore, it is important that their dynamic performance is studied when an earthquake occurs. To understand the dynamic performance of the densely distributed caves under the effect of earthquakes, as well as the long-term stability of the Mogao Grottoes, the stress distribution, deformation characteristics, and peak-acceleration amplification factor were analysed under rare-earthquake conditions using a finite-difference element. The numerical study revealed that the most dangerous state of the caves is the initial time when an earthquake occurs. The obvious tensile stress concentration appeared at the top and the bottom of the caves of the middle floor; the main damage was caused by the shear failure towards the direction of the free face and not by the tensile failure. A large permanent horizontal displacement of the caves occurred after an earthquake, mostly at the densely distributed caves of the middle floor. The acceleration amplification effect of the middle-floor caves was significant; the Fourier amplitudes of the acceleration (which were monitored in all caves) were significantly magnified at the frequencies of 3 ~ 4 Hz and 7 ~ 9 Hz, whereas the Fourier amplitudes of the acceleration which were monitored in the middle-floor caves were almost amplified within the entire frequency range. Although the maximum stress was within the allowed limit and no tensile failure occurred, great permanent inhomogeneous horizontal displacements and large accelerations could have a negative effect on the stability of caves and the preservation of wall paintings. Moreover, it was assumed that the calculation results could serve as a type of guidance and as advice on the preventive protection of the Mogao Grottoes.

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Acknowledgements

The authors want to thank all the members who give us lots of help and cooperation. The authors would like to acknowledge the anonymous reviewers for their critical comments and suggestions that improved the original manuscript.

Funding

This work is supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2020jbkyzy006) and the Major Science and Technology Program of Gansu Province (Grant No. 18ZD2FA001). The results of this work are based on the data collected in Dunhuang Academy and the field investigation is also supported by them.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Archaeology and Museology, School of History and Culture, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, People’s Republic of China

    Zhiqian Guo

  2. Key Laboratory of Mechanics on Disaster and Environment in Western China, The Ministry of Education of China, and School of Civil Engineering and Mechanics, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, 730000, Gansu, People’s Republic of China

    Wenwu Chen, Jingke Zhang & Faguo He

  3. National Research Center for Conservation of Ancient Wall Paintings and Earthen Sites, Dunhuang Academy, Dunhuang, 736200, Gansu, People’s Republic of China

    Jingke Zhang & Qinglin Guo

  4. The Palace Museum, Beijing, 100009, People’s Republic of China

    Xudong Wang

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  1. Zhiqian Guo
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  2. Wenwu Chen
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  3. Jingke Zhang
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  4. Faguo He
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  5. Qinglin Guo
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Correspondence to Wenwu Chen.

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Guo, Z., Chen, W., Zhang, J. et al. Seismic responses of the densely distributed caves of the Mogao Grottoes in China. Bull Eng Geol Environ 80, 1335–1349 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-020-02025-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-020-02025-0

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