Mechanisms and activity of deep-seated landslides at Tienchih and Yakou (S Taiwan) revealed by structural geology and remote sensing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Agliardi ◽  
Rou-fei Chen ◽  
Chiara Crippa ◽  
De-Cheng Yi ◽  
Ching-Weei Lin
Keyword(s):  
Structural Geology ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Slope Instability ◽  
Image Correlation ◽  
Tectonic Activity ◽  
Subtropical Climate ◽  
Typhoon Morakot ◽  
Rock Outcrops ◽  
River Bank

<p>Deep-seated gravitational slope deformations (DSGSD) gained increasing attention in Taiwan due to their catastrophic impacts on lives and infrastructures during Typhoon Morakot in 2009, when over 2700 mm of rainfall in 5 days were recorded. As the main Taiwan island is located on a complex convergent plate boundary, available data suggest that the island’s strong tectonic activity has contributed, along with its subtropical climate and intense human activity, to the onset and destabilization of deep-seated landslides. These are widespread in high-relief mountain areas where Miocene to Eocene meta-sandstone and slate successions outcrop. Slopes at Tienchih (Lalong River of Kaohsiung) and Yakou (few km east in Taitung County) were affected by significant slope collapses and impending instabilities after the heavy precipitation of Typhoon Morakot. This led to severe damages and closure of the South Cross Island Highway No.20, a critical roadway connecting the western and eastern sides of S Taiwan, where continuing slope instability has been observed after 2009. At Tienchih, 240 mm of displacement over an area of 6.7 ha were recorded in 2016 by continuous GPS measurements after a heavy rainfall event. At Yakou, the middle slope sector including the road experienced a major collapse in 2018. At both sites, morpho-structural evidence identified in 1-m resolution LiDAR DEMs suggest that long-term slope deformations occurred well before catastrophic slope destabilization. This is supported by spectacular gravitational deformation structures (i.e. kink folds and shear zones), well exposed at Yakou, and by continuous slow movements detected at Tienchih by multi-temporal TCPInSAR analyses on ALOS/PALSAR images (2007-2011). On the other hand, dense vegetation and limited rock outcrops make an accurate assessment of the geometry, controls, mechanisms and style of activity of these landslides difficult. To overcome this difficulties, we carried out a systematic geomorphological mapping of the two areas through ortho-photos and HRDEMs derived from aerial LiDAR (2012 and 2019), and field surveys to characterize the local structural geology (ductile and brittle features), rock mass strength and gravitational morpho-structures. We performed a local-scale analysis of displacement patterns and rates by combining traditional radar interferometry (D-InSAR on ALOS and Sentinel-1 imagery), improved TCPInSAR analyses, GPS data, Digital Image Correlation between DEMs and change detection analysis of LiDAR point clouds. Our results suggest that long-term progressive failure of slopes was promoted by high tectonically-forced erosion rates and constrained by inherited ductile structures. These preconditioned the location, size and mechanisms of slope sectors more prone to catastrophic failure due to intense rainfall and river bank erosion. A systematic characterization of long-term slope deformation can thus provide key information to assess the hazard related to deep-seated landslides in Taiwan.</p>

Deformation characteristics, activity and kinematics of deep-seated landslide in the Tienchih and Yakou areas (S Taiwan)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rou-Fei Chen ◽  
Federico Agliardi ◽  
Chiara Crippa ◽  
De-Cheng Yi ◽  
Ching-Weei Lin
Keyword(s):  
Hanging Wall ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Image Correlation ◽  
Optical Methods ◽  
Tectonic Activity ◽  
Subtropical Climate ◽  
Typhoon Morakot ◽  
River Bank ◽  
Landslide Event ◽  
Continuous Gps

<p>Deep-seated gravitational slope deformations (DSGSD) gains new attention in Taiwan due to their catastrophic impacts on lives and infrastructures during Typhoon Morakot in 2009. As the main Taiwan island is located on a complex convergent plate boundary, conventional observations and analyses suggest that the island’s strong tectonic activity has, along with its subtropical climate and intense human activity in mountain areas, contributed to the formation of deep-seated landslides. It is especially so for high-altitude areas featuring Miocene to Eocene meta-sandstone and slate successions, where reactivations of landslide terrains are observed from field observation and some GPS sites after specific events. Among them, Tienchih, located in Lalong River of Kaohsiung, and Yakou, few km east in Taitung County were assessed as highly landslide-prone area after the heavy precipitation of Typhoon Morakot (over 2700 mm of rainfall within only 5 days). In this areas, several deep-seated landslides were identified according to geomorphological features seen in the 1-m resolution LiDAR DEM and InSAR preliminary results. In Tienchih area, a catastrophic 240-mm displacement sized 6.7 ha was recorded by a continuous GPS site, TENC, in 2016 after a heavy rainfall occurred on June 2. The correlation in the temporal variation of continuous GPS displacement time series and rainfall suggests that the movement is possibly related to gravitational load overlying water-saturated sediments. In addition, the average annual displacement rate of this downslope movement was measured at 20-40 mm/yr using the recently developed temporarily coherence points InSAR (TCPInSAR) technique based on ALOS/PALSAR imagery collected between 2007 and 2011. Apart therefrom, the high-angle thrust with highly fractured metamorphosed sandstone on the hanging wall; and the river incision and lateral river bank erosion are considered as the triggering factor of this catastrophic landslide. Similar triggering factors are responsible for Yakou landslide, where the 2018 landslide event exposed an outstanding cross section of the predisposing geological setting characterized by a tightly folded sequence of metamorphosed sandstone and slates. Spectacular gravitational deformation structures (i.e. kink folds and shear zones) are also found along this slope testifying a long-term displacement history and shedding light on possible kinematic mechanisms controlling its evolution. Through field data, remote sensing techniques and optical methods (i.e. digital image correlation, 3D LiDAR point cloud comparison), we compared the two landslide sites unravelling different deformation styles and identifying nested sectors possibly evolving to collapse. Our primary results demonstrate that valley erosion and deep-seated gravitational creep are significant to the deformation of slate, indicating a block movement with shear concentration at the basal sliding surface with a mainly rotational-translational movement in Tienchih and a translational failure mechanism in Yakou.</p>

scholarly journals Stress fields of ancient seismicity recorded in the dynamic geometry of pseudotachylyte in the Outer Hebrides Fault Zone, UK

2020 ◽  
Vol 178 (1) ◽  
pp. jgs2020-101
Author(s):  
L.R. Campbell ◽  
G.E. Lloyd ◽  
R.J. Phillips ◽  
R.C. Walcott ◽  
R.E. Holdsworth
Keyword(s):  
Fault Zone ◽  
Dynamic Geometry ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Stress Fields ◽  
Tectonic Activity ◽  
Sensitivity Testing ◽  
Fault Rocks ◽  
Outer Hebrides ◽  
Supplementary Material

Heterogeneous sequences of exhumed fault rocks preserve a record of the long-term evolution of fault strength and deformation behaviour during prolonged tectonic activity. Along the Outer Hebrides Fault Zone (OHFZ) in NW Scotland, numerous pseudotachylytes record palaeoseismic slip events within sequences of mylonites, cataclasites and phyllonites. To date, the kinematics and controls on seismicity within the long active history of the OHFZ have been poorly constrained. Additional uncertainties over the relative location of a meteorite impact and possible pre-OHFZ brittle faulting also complicate interpretation of the diffuse seismic record. We present kinematic analyses of seismicity in the OHFZ, combining observations of offset markers, en echelon injection veins and injection vein geometry to reconstruct slip directions and stress fields. This new dataset indicates that a range of fault orientations, slip directions and slip senses hosted seismicity in the OHFZ. Such complexity requires several stress field orientations, in contrast with the NW–SE Caledonian compression traditionally attributed to frictional melting along the OHFZ, indicating that seismicity had a long-term presence across the fault zone. Persistence of strong frictional failure alongside the simultaneous development of weak fault rocks and phyllonitic shear zones in parts of the OHFZ has significant implications for understanding seismic hazard along mature continental faults.Supplementary material: Tables listing analysed orientation measurements plus further information and sensitivity testing of palaeostress analysis parameters are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5134797

Geostatistical analysis of fractures in shear zones in the Chibougamau area: applications to structural geology

1997 ◽  
Vol 269 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 51-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. Tavchandjian ◽  
A. Rouleau ◽  
G. Archambault ◽  
R. Daigneault ◽  
D. Marcotte
Keyword(s):  
Structural Geology ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Geostatistical Analysis

scholarly journals Snow Avalanches and Acoustic Emissions

1983 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 271-276 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Sommerfeld ◽  
H. Gubler
Keyword(s):  
Acoustic Emissions ◽  
Limited Range ◽  
Slope Instability ◽  
Type I ◽  
Type Ii ◽  
Noise Levels ◽  
Active Layers ◽  
Differential Movement ◽  
Emission Activity

Analyses of several years of data show that acoustic emission activity is greater from unstable snowpacks than from stable snowpacks. Two types of signals have been identified: type I spikes and type II long-term elevation of the noise level. It is thought that the type I signals originate from macroscopic cracks. The type II signals may originate from differential movement on shearing surfaces, but this is less certain. Increased noise levels of both types correlate well with slope instability, when the slope stability is known. In some climates the limited range of signal detection might be a significant problem. A foam-mounted geophone set into the snow near active layers appears to be the best sensor available at present.

scholarly journals Landslide susceptibility assessment in the Peloritani Mts. (Sicily, Italy) and clues for tectonic control of relief processes

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 949-963 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. De Guidi ◽  
S. Scudero
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Data ◽  
Landslide Susceptibility ◽  
Landscape Evolution ◽  
Statistical Technique ◽  
Slope Instability ◽  
Tectonic Activity ◽  
Medium Term ◽  
Tectonic History ◽  
Susceptibility Model ◽  
Morphological Processes

Abstract. Many destructive shallow landslides hit villages in the Peloritani Mountains area (Sicily, Italy) on 1 October 2009 after heavy rainfall. The collection of several types of spatial data, together with a landslide inventory, allows the assessment of the landslide susceptibility by applying a statistical technique. The susceptibility model was validated by performing an analysis in a test area using independent landslide information, the results being able to correctly predict more than 70% of the landslides. Furthermore, the susceptibility analysis allowed the identification of which combinations of classes, within the different factors, have greater relevance in slope instability, and afterwards associating the most unstable combinations (with a short–medium term incidence) with the endogenic processes acting in the area (huge regional uplift, fault activity). Geological and tectonic history are believed to be key to interpreting morphological processes and landscape evolution. Recent tectonic activity was found to be a very important controlling factor in landscape evolution. A geomorphological model of cyclical relief evolution is proposed in which endogenic processes are directly linked to superficial processes. The results are relevant both to risk reduction and the understanding of active geological dynamics.

scholarly journals Autogenic versus allogenic controls on the evolution of a coupled fluvial megafan/mountainous catchment system: numerical modelling and comparison with the Lannemezan megafan system (Northern Pyrenees, France)

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Margaux Mouchené ◽  
Peter van der Beek ◽  
Sébastien Carretier ◽  
Frédéric Mouthereau
Keyword(s):  
Numerical Modelling ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Tectonic Activity ◽  
Mountain Range ◽  
Stream Network ◽  
Mountainous Catchment ◽  
Isostatic Rebound ◽  
Base Level ◽  
Alluvial Terraces

Abstract. Alluvial megafans are sensitive recorders of landscape evolution, controlled by autogenic processes and allogenic forcing and influenced by the coupled dynamics of the fan with its mountainous catchment. The Lannemezan megafan in the northern Pyrenean foreland was abandoned by its mountainous feeder stream during the Quaternary and subsequently incised, leaving a flight of alluvial terraces along the stream network. We explore the relative roles of autogenic processes and external forcing in the building, abandonment and incision of a foreland megafan using numerical modelling and compare the results with the inferred evolution of the Lannemezan megafan. Autogenic processes are sufficient to explain the building of a megafan and the long-term entrenchment of its feeding river at time and space scales that match the Lannemezan setting. Climate, through temporal variations in precipitation rate, may have played a role in the episodic pattern of incision at a shorter time-scale. In contrast, base-level changes, tectonic activity in the mountain range or tilting of the foreland through flexural isostatic rebound appear unimportant.

scholarly journals Outline of the Nagssugtoqidian mobile belt of East Greenland

1979 ◽  
Vol 89 ◽  
pp. 9-18
Author(s):  
D Bridgwater ◽  
J.S Myers
Keyword(s):  
Shear Zones ◽  
Granulite Facies ◽  
Tectonic Activity ◽  
Mobile Belt ◽  
East Greenland ◽  
The North ◽  
Marginal Areas ◽  
High Level ◽  
North And South ◽  
Wide Zone

The Nagssugtoqidian mobile belt is a 240 km wide zone of deformation and plutonic activity which cuts across the Archaean craton of East Greenland. The belt was established 2600 m.y. ago by the formation of vertical E-W shear zones and the syntectonic intrusion of basic dykes. Tectonic activity along the E-W shear zones was followed by the emplacement of tonalitic intrusions, the Blokken gneisses, 2350 m.y. ago in the central parts of the mobile belt. The emplacement of the Blokken gneisses was accompanied and followed by further emplacement of basic dykes. These are synplutonic in the centre of the mobile belt but are emplaced into more rigid crust in the marginal areas of the belt and in the Archaean craton to the north and south. During a second major tectonic and thermal episode circa 1900 m.y. ago, the region was deformed by thrusting from the north. In the southem part of the mobile belt the earlier steep shear zones are cut by shear zones dipping gently northwards in which rocks are downgraded to greenschist facies. The grade of metamorphism increases northwards and shear zones are replaced by open folds with axial surfaces which dip gently northwards. The increasing ductility in the centre of and northem part of the belt is associated with the intrusion of charnockitic plutons and their granulite facies aureoles. Regional uplift occurred before the intrusion of high level post-tectonic plutons of diorite and granite 1550 m.y. ago.

Petrological microscopy data workflow – an example from Cap de Creus, NE Spain

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Wessels ◽  
Thijmen Kok ◽  
Hans van Melick ◽  
Martyn Drury
Keyword(s):  
High Resolution ◽  
Shear Zones ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Image Correlation ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
Rock Composition ◽  
Meta Data ◽  
Sample Number ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
The Impact

<p>Publishing research data in a Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) manner is increasingly valued and nowadays often required by publishers and funders. Because experimental research data provide the backbone for scientific publications, it is important to publish this data as FAIRly as possible to enable reuse and citation of the data, thereby increasing the impact of research.</p><p>The structural geology group at Utrecht University is collaborating with the EarthCube-funded StraboSpot initiative to develop (meta)data schemas, templates and workflows, to support researchers in collecting and publishing petrological and microstructural data. This data will be made available in a FAIR manner through the EPOS (European Plate Observing System) data publication chain <span xml:lang="EN-GB"><span>(https://epos-msl.uu.nl/</span></span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"><span>)</span></span><span xml:lang="EN-GB"><span>.</span></span></p><p>The data workflow under development currently includes: a) collecting structural field (meta)data compliant with the StraboSpot protocols, b) creating thin sections oriented in three dimensions by applying a notch system (Tikoff et al., 2019), c) scanning and digitizing thin sections using a high-resolution scanner, d) automated mineralogy through EDS on a SEM, and e) high-resolution geochemistry using a microprobe. The purpose of this workflow is to be able to track geochemical and structural measurements and observations throughout the analytical process.</p><p>This workflow is applied to samples from the Cap de Creus region in northeast Spain. Located in the axial zone of the Pyrenees, the pre-Cambrian metasediments underwent HT-LP greenschist- to amphibolite-facies metamorphism, are intruded by pegmatitic bodies, and transected by greenschist-facies shear zones. Cap de Creus is a natural laboratory for studying the deformation history of the Pyrenees, and samples from the region are ideal to test and refine the data workflow. In particular, the geochemical data collected under this workflow is used as input for modelling the bulk rock composition using Perple_X.    </p><p>In the near future the workflow will be complimented by adding unique identifiers to the collected samples using IGSN (International Geo Sample Number), and by incorporating a StraboSpot-developed application for microscopy-based image correlation. This workflow will be refined and included in the broader correlative microscopy workflow that will be applied in the upcoming EXCITE project, an H2020-funded European collaboration of electron and x-ray microscopy facilities and researchers aimed at structural and chemical imaging of earth materials. </p>

Soil carbon sequestration through crops rotation in a Mediterranean Cambisols: measurement and modelling

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Balugani ◽  
Martina Maines ◽  
Denis Zannoni ◽  
Alessandro Buscaroli ◽  
Diego Marazza
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Soil Carbon ◽  
Crop Rotation ◽  
Soil Carbon Sequestration ◽  
Crop Rotations ◽  
Subtropical Climate ◽  
Sequestration Potential ◽  
Rothc Model ◽  
Periodic Fluctuations

<p>Soil carbon sequestration (SCS) has been identified by the IPCC as one of the most promising and cheap methodology to reduce atmospheric CO<sub>2</sub>. Moreover, an increase in soil organic carbon (SOC) levels improves soil quality by increasing soil structure (and, hence, resistance to erosion) and promoting soil ecosystems services like water retention, productivity, and biodiversity. Various agricultural techniques are available to increase SOC; among them, crop rotation can improve SOC through soil coverage, changes in water regimes, increase in both carbon inputs, and increase in soil aggregates formation.</p><p>SOC dynamic models, such as RothC, have been suggested by the IPCC as a way to evaluate the SCS potentials of different soils. Such models could also be used to evaluate the sequestration potential of different agricultural practices. Moreover RothC allows to estimate the time within which the SOC variation, due to a certain agronomic management, can be considered significant as measurable above a threshold value.</p><p>In this study, we evaluated the SOC changes for different crop rotations through direct measurements and RothC modelling, with the objective of: (a) estimating their SCS potential, and (b) propose a robust monitoring methodology for SCS practices. We performed the study in an agricultural field close to Ravenna (Italy) characterized by Cambisols and humid subtropical climate. Soil carbon content was assessed before the setup of the crop rotation, and after 3 years of rotation. A RothC model was calibrated with field data, and used to estimate SOC dynamics to 50 years, in order to assess long-term SCS. The model results were also used to assess the best methodology to estimate the SOC variation significance.</p><p>The measured SOC was similar to the equilibrium SOC predicted by the RothC model, on average, for the crop rotations. The measurements showed that the SOC, already low at the beginning of the experiment, further decreased due to the crop rotation practice. Of those tested, the best for SCS involves the following crops: corn, soybeans, wheat on tilled soil, and soybeans; while the worst is with corn, wheat on tilled soil, and wheat on untilled soil. However, the SOC variations predicted by RothC for the various rotations were too small to be observable in the field during experimentation. This could be due both to the uncertainty associated with SOC sampling and analysis, and to the short duration of the experiment. The moving average computations on the simulation values allowed us to assess the time required to measure the long-term trend of SOC variation as significant with respect to the environmental background, instrumental error, and SOC periodic fluctuations. That time was estimated to range from 8 to 50 years, changing depending on the rotation type. Periodic fluctuations in SOC should be carefully considered in a monitoring protocol to assess SCS.</p>

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