New insights into the progressive failure process and mechanisms of the 2017 Xinmo Slope in Mao County, China

IF 3.7 2区工程技术 Q3 ENGINEERING, ENVIRONMENTAL

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment Pub Date : 2025-03-17 DOI:10.1007/s10064-025-04205-2

Ling Zhu, Xiangjun Pei, Shenghua Cui, Luguang Luo, Hui Wang

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Abstract

The Xinmo landslide, one of the most catastrophic landslides in Sichuan Province following the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, resulted in 10 deaths and 73 missing persons. This event garnered significant attention both in China and worldwide. In this study, we focused on the contributions of historical earthquakes, rainfall, and gravity to the progressive failure of the slope. Through a series of field investigations, rock creep tests, and numerical simulations, we found that the damage in the phyllite layer is significantly greater than that in the surrounding metamorphic sandstone layers, attributed to the incompatible deformation caused by earthquakes. Rainwater infiltrates along the densely developed seismic fractures, leading to the softening of phyllite and a reduction in long-term strength, which is related to the clay mineral expansion, non-uniform deformation, and the dissolution of intergranular cement. We proposed that the Xinmo landslide underwent several processes prior to its initiation, including the triggering, propagation, and coalescence of seismic fractures, the softening of phyllite due to rainwater, and time-dependent deformation.

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来源期刊

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment 工程技术-地球科学综合

CiteScore

7.10

自引率

11.90%

发文量

445

审稿时长

4.1 months

期刊介绍： Engineering geology is defined in the statutes of the IAEG as the science devoted to the investigation, study and solution of engineering and environmental problems which may arise as the result of the interaction between geology and the works or activities of man, as well as of the prediction of and development of measures for the prevention or remediation of geological hazards. Engineering geology embraces: • the applications/implications of the geomorphology, structural geology, and hydrogeological conditions of geological formations; • the characterisation of the mineralogical, physico-geomechanical, chemical and hydraulic properties of all earth materials involved in construction, resource recovery and environmental change; • the assessment of the mechanical and hydrological behaviour of soil and rock masses; • the prediction of changes to the above properties with time; • the determination of the parameters to be considered in the stability analysis of engineering works and earth masses.