Thaw-induced slope failures and susceptibility mapping in permafrost regions of the Qinghai–Tibet Engineering Corridor, China

With recent climatic warming and enhanced human activities, slope failures related to permafrost degradation are widespread along the Qinghai–Tibet Engineering Corridor. Assessment and mapping of the slope failures are necessary to mitigate hazards and plan engineering activities. According to our f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Natural hazards (Dordrecht) 2014-12, Vol.74 (3), p.1667-1682
Main Authors: Niu, Fujun, Luo, Jing, Lin, Zhanju, Liu, Minhao, Yin, Guoan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Assessments
Civil Engineering
Climate change
Corridors
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Engineering
Engineering and environment geology. Geothermics
Environmental Management
Exact sciences and technology
Failure
Field tests
Geophysics/Geodesy
Geotechnical Engineering & Applied Earth Sciences
Global warming
Hazards
Hydrogeology
Mapping
Mountains
Natural Hazards
Natural hazards: prediction, damages, etc
Original Paper
Permafrost
Slope stability
Slopes
Soil degradation
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Summary:With recent climatic warming and enhanced human activities, slope failures related to permafrost degradation are widespread along the Qinghai–Tibet Engineering Corridor. Assessment and mapping of the slope failures are necessary to mitigate hazards and plan engineering activities. According to our field investigations, the occurrence of slope failures is mainly controlled by the slope gradient, ground-ice content, permafrost temperatures, surficial deposits, and slope aspect. Modeling conducted in ArcGIS™ was used to produce a slope failure susceptibility map for a representative region along the Qinghai–Tibet Railway from Wudaoliang to Fenghuo Mountain Pass. The study region was divided into four classes based on slope failure susceptibility: (1) unlikely, (2) low, (3) moderate, and (4) high. Areas classified as unlikely accounted for 10.76 % of the study region, while low susceptibility areas comprised 44.51 %. The moderate and high susceptibility zones comprised 21.79 and 22.94 %, respectively. The actual distribution of slope failures in the region was consistent with the modeled results, which demonstrates the utility of the assessment method for future hazard management and engineering planning.
ISSN:0921-030X
1573-0840
DOI:10.1007/s11069-014-1267-4