Abstract
The devastating 2008 Wenchuan earthquake with a magnitude of Mw 7.9 was the largest seismic event in China in more than 50 years. It triggered numerous landslides over a broad area, some of which dammed rivers, posing severe threats to downstream settlements. The coseismic landslides are classified into rock/debris avalanches, debris flows, rock/debris slides and rock falls. A number of representative examples of each type and the corresponding landslide dam features were studied. According to dam composition material and sedimentological features, landslide dams were categorized into three types: dams mainly composed of large boulders and blocks; dams composed of unconsolidated fine debris; and dams with partly intact rock strata at the base topped by large boulders and blocks or soil with rock fragments, showing two-layered or three-layered depositional structure. This classification is linked to the typology of damming landslides and considered to be a preliminary indicator of dam stability. In addition, dam stability also largely depends on valley morphometry as well as landslide runout distance and mechanism.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Costa JE, Schuster RL (1988) The formation and failure of natural dams: Geol. Soc Am Bull 100:1054–1068
Cruden DM, Varnes DJ (1996) Landslide types and processes. In: Turner AK, Schuster RL (eds) Landslides, investigation and mitigation: special report, transportation research board, vol 247. National Research Council, Washington DC, pp 36–75
Davies T, McSaveney M (2002) Dynamic simulation of the motion of fragmenting rock avalanches. Can Geotech J 39(4):789–798
Fan X, van Westen CJ, Xu Q, Görüm T, Dai F (2012a) Analysis of landslide dams induced by the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. J Asian Earth Sci 57:25–37
Fan X, Tang CX, van Westen CJ, Alkema D (2012b) Simulating dam-breach scenarios of the Tangjiashan landslide dam induced by the Wenchuan earthquake. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 12:3031–3044
Huang R, Pei X, Fan X, Zhang W, Li S, Li B (2012) The characteristics and failure mechanism of the largest landslide triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake, May 12, 2008, China. Landslides 9(1):131–142
Wang G, Huang R, Chigira M, Wu X, Lourenco SDN (2013) Landslide amplification by liquefaction of runout-path material after the 2008 Wenchuan (M 8.0) earthquake China. Earth Surf Proc Land 38:265–274
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2015 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this paper
Cite this paper
Fan, X., van Westen, C.J., Tang, C., Xu, Q., Huang, R., Wang, G. (2015). The Classification of Damming Landslides and Landslide Dams Induced by the Wenchuan Earthquake. In: Lollino, G., et al. Engineering Geology for Society and Territory - Volume 2. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09057-3_201
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-09057-3_201
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-09056-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-09057-3
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)