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Mechanism of the 2019 Yahuokou landslide reactivation in Gansu, China and its causes

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Abstract

In this study, we investigated a recent landslide that occurred in Zhouqu County, China. At 18:00 pm Beijing time on July 19, 2019, the Yahuokou landslide was reactivated. About 3.92 × 106 m3 of debris slumped from the slope, blocking the Minjiang River channel, causing the water level to rise, and disrupting road. Fortunately, there were no injuries. A field survey, remote sensing imaging, borehole core analysis, landslide monitoring, and rainfall data analysis were conducted to examine the geomorphologic and stratigraphic characteristics of the landslide, the reactivation causes, and the dynamic mechanism of the landslide. A model for the reactivation and evolution of the landslide is presented. The field survey of the sliding zone indicates that the landslide has a flow-slide deformation pattern. The landslide mechanism is summarized as follows. Initially, slow plastic flow sliding occurred in the upper sliding body. Then the platform in the middle gentle slope was preloaded by deposits from the upper part failure, resulting in a “cutting and filling” effect. The failure occurred in the form of creep–tension cracks–debris flow–slide. Finally, the block on the lower part slumped. Thus, the upper, middle, and lower parts of the landslide all transferred stress in the same manner, being activated step by step, and slowly slumped into the river.

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Acknowledgments

Thanks for some data provided by the Geological and Environmental Monitoring Institute of Gansu Province, China. We thank Dalia Lahav-Jones, from Liwen Bianji, Edanz Group China (www.liwenbianji.cn/ac), for editing the English text of a draft of this manuscript.

Funding

This study was sponsored by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 41902269 and 41702343) and Project of China Geological Survey (DD20190717).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Water Resources and Civil Engineering, China Agricultural University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Zelin Zhang

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  1. Zelin Zhang
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Correspondence to Zelin Zhang.

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Zhang, Z. Mechanism of the 2019 Yahuokou landslide reactivation in Gansu, China and its causes. Landslides 17, 1429–1440 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-020-01384-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-020-01384-9

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