Abstract
The damming of rivers by landslides resulting in the formation of a lake was one of the typical secondary geological hazards triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake which occurred on May 12, 2008. Some landslide-dammed lakes were at a high risk of causing further damage since the rainstorm season was expected soon after the earthquake. Understanding the dynamic processes in the formation of landslide-dammed lakes is helpful in planning the mitigation measures. The Yangjiagou landslide-dammed lake was selected as a case study to investigate the typical processes of dam formation. The dynamic simulation of the formation of the Yangjiagou landslide-dammed lake was divided into two steps: the landslide step and the overflow/overtopping step. Two-dimensional discrete element method (DEM) was adopted to investigate the mechanics of the Yangjiagou landslide. The landslide process was found to be controlled by the bond strength and residual friction coefficient of the DEM models. Computational results show that the formation of the landslide dam took approximately 35 s. The maximum velocity of a typical particle was approximately 26.8 m/s. The shallow-water equation and finite difference method were used to analyze the hydrodynamic mechanisms of the overflow process of the landslide-dammed lake. Computational results show that overflow would have occurred 15.1 h after the river was blocked, and overtopping failure occurs for the landslide dam in the rainstorm season when the water flow is large enough, causing a major disaster.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Cepeda J, Chávez JA, Martínez CC (2010) Procedure for the selection of runout model parameters from landslide back-analyses: application to the Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, El Salvador. Landslides 7:105–116
Chen XQ, Cui P, Li Y, Zhao WY (2011) Emergency response to the Tangjiashan landslide dammed lake resulting from the 2008 Wenchuan Earthquake, China. Landslide 8:91–98
Cho N, Martin CD, Sego DC (2007) A clumped particle model for rock. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 44:997–1010
Cui P, Zhu YY, Han YS, Chen XQ, Zhuang JQ (2009) The 12 May 2008 Wenchuan earthquake-induced landslide lakes: distribution and preliminary risk evaluation. Landslides 6:209–223
Cui P, Dang C, Zhuang JQ, You Y, Chen XQ, Scott KM (2010) Landslide dammed lake at Tangjiashan, Sichuan province, China (triggered by the Wenchuan Earthquake, May 12, 2008): risk assessment, mitigation strategy, and lessons learned. Environ Earth Sci 65:1055–1065
Cundall PA (1971) A computer model for simulating progressive large scale movement in blocky rock systems. In: Proceedings of the symposium of the International Society of Rock Mechanics, vol. 1. Nancy, France, pp. II–8
Cundall PA, Strack PDL (1979) A discrete numerical model for granular assemblies. Geotechnique 29:47–65
Dai FC, Lee CF, Deng JH, Tham LG (2005) The 1786 earthquake-triggered landslide dam and subsequent dam-break flood on the Dadu River, southwestern China. Geomorphology 65:205–221
Davies TR, McSaveney MJ (2009) The role of rock fragmentation in the motion of large landslides. Eng Geol 109:67–79
Dean RG, Dalrymple RA (1991) Water wave mechanics for engineers and scientists. World Scientific, Singapore, pp 157–158
Dong JJ, Tung YH, Chen CC, Liao JJ, Pan YW (2009) Discriminant analysis of the geomorphic characteristics and stability of landslide dams. Geomorphology 109:162–171
Dunman TY (2009) The largest landslide dam in Turkey: Tortum landslide. Eng Geol 104:66–79
Dunning SA, Rosser NJ, Petley DN, Massey CR (2006) Formation and failure of the Tsatichhu landslide dam, Bhutan. Landslide 3:107–113
Fakhimi A, Villegas T (2007) Application of dimensional analysis in calibration of a discrete element model for rock deformation and fracture. Rock Mech Rock Eng 40:193–211
Huang RQ, Li WL (2008) Research on development and distribution rules of geohazards induced by Wenchuan earthquake on 12th May, 2008 (in Chinese). Chin J Rock Mech Eng 27:2585–2592
Itasca Consulting Group Inc. (2002) PFC2D particle flow code in 2 dimensions (V3.1). User's guide. Itasca Consulting Group Inc, Minneapolis
Kuipers J, Vreugdenhil CB (1973) Calculations of two-dimensional horizontal flow. Report S163, Part 1. Delft Hydraulics Laboratory, Delft
Korup O (2005) Geomorphic hazard assessment of landslide dams in South Westland, New Zealand: fundamental problems and approaches. Geomorphology 66:167–188
Liao C, Chang T, Young D, Chang C (1997) Stress–strain relationship for granular materials based on the hypothesis of best fit. Int J Solids Struct 34:4087–4100
Liu F, Fu XD, Wang GQ, Duan J (2011) Physically based simulation of dam breach development for Tangjiashan Quake Dam, China. Environ Earth Sci 65:1081–1094
Meng YD, Xu WY, Tian B, Dai HC, Wang LW, Li MW (2011) Hydrodynamic analysis of river landslide disasters in deep-cut gorge (in Chinese). Rock Soil Mech 32:927–934
Poisel R, Angerer H, Pöllinger M, Kalcher T, Kittl H (2009) Mechanics and velocity of the Lärchberg–Galgenwald landslide (Austria). Eng Geol 109:57–66
Potyondy DO, Cundall PA (2004) A bonded-particle model for rock. Int J Rock Mech Min Sci 41:1239–1364
Pratt-Sitaula B, Garde M, Burbank DW, Oskin M, Heimsath A, Gabet E (2007) Bedload-to-suspended load ratio and rapid bedrock incision from Himalayan landslide-dam lake record. Quat Res 68:111–120
Sassa K, Fukuoka H, Wang FW, Wang GH (2005) Dynamic properties of earthquake-induced large-scale rapid landslides within past landslide masses. Landslides 2:125–134
Sassa K, Nagai O, Solidum R, Yamazaki Y, Ohta H (2010) An integrated model simulating the initiation and motion of earthquake and rain induced rapid landslides and its application to the 2006 Leyte landslide. Landslides 7:219–236
Schuster RL (1993) Landslide dams—a worldwide phenomenon. In: Proceedings of the annual symposium of the Japanese Landslide Society, Kansai Branch, 27 April, Osaka: 1–23
Schuster RL (2006) Impacts of landslide dams on mountain valley morphology. In: Landslides from massive rock slope failure, NATO Science Series IV: Earth and Environmental Sciences, 49: 591–616
Schuster RL, Evans SG (2011) Engineering measures for the hazard reduction of landslide dams. In: Natural and artificial rockslide dams, Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences 133: 77–100
Stelling GS, Duinmeijer SPA (2003) A staggered conservative scheme for every Froude number in rapidly varied shallow water flows. Int J Numer Methods Fluids 43:1329–1354
Struiksman N (1985) Prediction of 2-D bed topography in rivers. ASCE J Hydraul Eng 111:1169–1182
Tang CL, Hu JC, Lin ML, Angelier J, Lu CY, Chan YC, Chu HT (2009) The Tsaoling landslide triggered by the Chi-Chi earthquake, Taiwan: insights from a discrete element simulation. Eng Geol 106:1–19
Thompson N, Bennett MR, Petford N (2009) Analyses on granular mass movement mechanics and deformation with distinct element numerical modeling: implications for large-scale rock and debris avalanches. Acta Geotech 4:233–247
Zhang YS, Zhao XT, Lan HX, Xiong TY (2011) A Pleistocene landslide dammed lake, Jinsha River, Yunnan, China. Quat Int 233:72–80
Zhou JW, Xu WY, Yang XG, Shi C, Yang ZH (2010) The 28 October 1996 landslide and analysis of the stability of the current Huashiban slope at the Liangjiaren Hydropower Station, Southwest China. Eng Geol 114:45–56
Acknowledgments
The support of the Key Project of Chinese National Programs for Fundamental Research and Development (no. 2011CB409902), Chinese National Natural Science Foundation (no. 41030742, 41102194), and China Postdoctoral Science Foundation Funded Project (no. 20110491741) are gratefully acknowledged. Critical comments by two anonymous reviewers greatly improved the initial manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Zhou, Jw., Cui, P. & Fang, H. Dynamic process analysis for the formation of Yangjiagou landslide-dammed lake triggered by the Wenchuan earthquake, China. Landslides 10, 331–342 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-013-0387-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-013-0387-3