Abstract
The Jiaju landslide is a large soil‒rock palaeolandslide in the Danba section of the Upper Dadu River in southwestern Sichuan Province, China. In this work, geological investigations, long-term comprehensive monitoring, experiments, and numerical simulations were used to determine the formation mechanism and evolution of this landslide. A complex armchair-shaped terrain with a substantial height difference between the rear and the foot of the slope, multiple structural defects within the landslide-accumulation region, and a coupling effect among multiple factors controlling river erosion and human activity were identified. The dynamic landslide deformation process was recorded by the integration of global positioning system (GPS) and inclinometer data, and the kinematic behaviour of the landslide was simulated using a Fast Lagrangian Analysis of Continua in 3 Dimensions (Flac3D) model in three stages. (1) During the last rapid uplift of the Tibetan Plateau and strong river erosion, the Jiaju bank slope was deformed and failed, forming a massive, thick palaeolandslide with a volume of approximately 2.76 × 107 m3. (2) The structure of the landslide materials deteriorated, and the weak structural plane was softened by groundwater and surface loading. The landslide was reactivated, with deformation and failure occurring through sliding and fracturing. (3) The landslide exhibited creep deformation with multistage and multilayer sliding surfaces via front-slope toe excavation and river-level fluctuations.
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The authors declare that the data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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Acknowledgements
We thank the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No.41702374, U20A20110), investigation and evaluation of geological disasters in mountain towns in western Sichuan (No. DD20230435, DD20221746). Great thanks are given to Renji Ba, Guoshi Deng, Dianming Wang, and Wanmo Zheng for their enthusiastic help in materials collecting and fieldwork.
Funding
This research is financially supported by the National Science Foundation of China (Grant No.41702374, U20A20110) and China Geological Survey projects (Grant Nos. DD20230435, DD20221746).
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Yongjian Bai contributed to the conception of the study and wrote the manuscript; Yongbo Tie contributed significantly to analysis monitoring data analysis; Jiazhu Wang performed the data analyses and numerical modelling; Xiaohui Xiong contributed to draw regional geological maps; Hua Ge helped perform the analysis with constructive discussions.
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This paper synthesizes GPS and interferometric InSAR data from landslide disasters. The Monitoring Technology Demonstration Project Team has been monitoring the study area since 2006. With the help of members of the project team, we obtained the research results.
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Bai, Y., Tie, Y., Wang, J. et al. Formation mechanism and evolution of the Jiaju landslide in the Dadu River, China. Bull Eng Geol Environ 83, 151 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-024-03611-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-024-03611-2