A new method to calculate the seismic moment, based on electromagnetic radiation emitted during fracturing, is presented. Results of this method for small fractures arising during the nucleation stages of an earthquake are shown to agree with former laboratory seismic measuring technique. This method is quite easy to implement and can be used for measuring engineering failure intensity. It can also

The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake caused widespread liquefaction of gravelly soils (i.e., gravelly sands and sandy gravels), which phenomena show many differences compared to those of typical sands. To study the liquefaction mechanism and triggering evaluation of gravelly soils during this event, comprehensive case studies with measurement of shear wave velocity on both liquefied and non-liquefied sites

Assessing the influence of the impact pressure exerted on surrounding rock mass by potential debris flows is one of the challenges in a mountain tunnel construction project. This paper proposes an effective mathematical model for the assessment of impact pressure exerted by debris flows on obstacles. The characteristics of the new model are analyzed, and the parameters determination method for the

This study investigates the effect of near-surface soil properties on the topographic amplification of ground motions, based on the seismic response analysis of a 2D slope model with horizontally stratified soil medium. Finite difference simulations are performed to calculate the nonlinear elastoplastic response of the slope model, using strong motion records as excitation. Then a series of parametric

The deformation of rock slopes is associated with the formation and accumulation of internal and external features (such as tension cracks, rock mass bulging and dilation, rockfall, etc.) that can be comprehensively referred to as “slope damage”. In this paper, we use a 3D distinct element numerical modelling approach to investigate the role of shear zone morphology and groundwater pressure on the

The Badas peat dome located in the Belait district is one of the biggest peat domes in Brunei. Over the years, this area has seen a noticeable loss of peatland due to fires and infrastructure development. In this paper, the anthropogenic effects on the Badas peat dome were studied for three survey areas using seismic refraction surveys, core analysis and single well tests. Satellite images were used

Landslides on low-angle slopes can be caused under the coupled effect of rainfall and earthquake. In order to investigate the influence of duration of time between rainfall and earthquake on the scale and failure mode of landslides, a low-angle loess slope at Lanzhou New Area was adopted as a prototype, and a large-scale shaking table test was performed. By using self-designed artificial rainfall equipment

The stiffness coefficient is a key parameter of rock fractures that controls the properties and behavior of a rock mass. According to the displacement discontinuity theory, the dynamic stiffness of rock fractures can be back analyzed using stress wave propagation. This study aims to measure the dynamic stiffness of rock fractures then develop an empirical ratio to describe the relationship between

The seismic performance of slopes is commonly evaluated by simplified sliding block analyses. In this paper, an extended sliding block model is developed to compute the earthquake-induced deformations at both shallow and deep failure planes of slopes. The coupled analytical model captures simultaneously the stick-stick, stick-slip and slip-slip behaviors of the lumped mass system of soil profile. The

Rockbursts in deep tunnels subjected to high crustal stress were investigated using a general particle dynamics (GPD) code with the Holmquist–Johnson–Cook damage model (HJC). Under dynamic excavation disturbance, several numerical tests were carried out to investigate the dynamic failure patterns of surrounding rock masses with different preexisting cracks around deep tunnels. The numerical results

In this study, a database is compiled for 11 clay parameters covering 50 sites in Shanghai with 4051 data points (labeled as SH-CLAY/11/4051). These sites are distributed in the eight districts of Shanghai covering an area of 145 km2. This is the first sizeable multivariate soil database compiled at the municipal level. General information, including the geology of Shanghai, the borehole locations

Cone penetration test (CPT) is one of the most commonly used in-situ methods for characterizing spatial variability of soil properties in geotechnical site characterization. It provides almost continuous soil responses when a cone is pushed into the ground at a constant rate. With the almost continuous CPT data, many geotechnical and geological engineering problems, such as evaluation of liquefaction

Identifying fractures in the subsurface is crucial for many geomechanical and hydrogeological applications. Here, we assess the ability of the Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) method to image open fractures with sub-mm apertures in the context of future deep disposal of radioactive waste. GPR experiments were conducted in a tunnel located 410 m below sea level within the Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory (Sweden)

Although numerical methods based on strength reduction are becoming popular in slope stability analysis, they fail to provide a crisp critical slip surface but only a shear band. The widely used visualization techniques for defining the critical slip surface are susceptible to subjective judgment and are inefficient in batch analysis and three-dimensional analysis. When a slope reaches failure, the

Observation, theory, and intuition all suggest that larger earthquakes should trigger larger landslides. Many factors could contribute to this, including depth-dependent shear strength or non-linearity of ground motion in soils and rock, but we hypothesize that the key characteristics of large earthquakes causing this phenomenon are (in addition to magnitude) the frequency and duration of the strong

The finite element limit equilibrium method (FELEM) is increasingly used in slope stability analyses. The greatest advantage of the FELEM is its time-saving analysis process, which does not require the iterative strength reduction process used in the strength reduction finite element method. The conventional FELEM calculates stresses using the finite element method with the elastic-perfectly plastic

This study examines the influence of soil aging on Standard Penetration Test (SPT) N-Vs correlations, and seismic site classification. Energy-corrected SPT-Vs correlations are developed for two regions where subsurface layering consists of soil deposits with very young geotechnical ages according to the last critical soil disturbance that occurred in the study areas. It is observed that the uncorrected

We have analysed the stress sensitivity of porosity and permeability of macroscopically intact limestone samples, from the Middle Ordovician Cobourg formation, Ontario, Canada. This limestone is a potential host formation for geological storage of low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste. Porosity and permeability were measured with gas (helium) on dry cylindrical plugs under defined isostatic stress

A large number of landslides in the Three Gorges Reservoir area in China have been reactivated by reservoir impoundment since 2003. Many of them were activated as slow-moving landslides, which caused severe damages to buildings and also pose a significant risk for residents. In this study, a quantitative procedure has been proposed to analyze and assess the landslide risks to buildings and lives by

Debris flows are flowing mixture of water and sediments (from clay to boulder-sized particles). The sediments control both occurrence and characteristics of debris flows, however, the relevant literature has concentrated mainly on fine debris. Considering their large fractions in debris flows, the significance of coarse clasts (≥0.005 mm) is investigated by comparing the crude debris (CD, the fractions

The allowable safety factors of slope stability for rockfill dams in Chinese design codes are defined irrespective of dam heights and are mainly based on the engineering experiences with respect to the rockfill dams which are lower than 200 m. It is well known that safety margins for different structures are not comparable when safety factors are taken as the measure of safety margin. Thus whether

Rock mass excavation is accompanied by rock deformation during unloading, which degrades the quality of rock mass and significantly affects the safety and stability of rock mass engineering. Taking the excavated rock mass from the dam foundation of Xiaowan Hydropower Station as the study object, long-time single hole acoustic tests (SHAT) were conducted in the dam abutment rock mass, with the changes

Underground structures and infrastructures within urban areas cause disturbance to the groundwater flow. Groundwater abstraction in Milan decreased of more than 30% since the 1970s generating a groundwater rebound which caused submergence and flooding of multiple underground structures and infrastructures. In order to evaluate the impact of underground structures on the groundwater flow in the Milan

The location of soil-rock interfaces (SRIs) may significantly affect the underground construction works, including the design of underground geotechnical structures. The prediction of the location of SRI using limited borehole data is a challenging task. To address this challenge, this paper presents a comparison study of four methods for spatially predicting the SRI elevation, namely the polynomial

Multichannel analysis of surface wave (MASW) surveys are commonly used onshore to produce shear wave velocity (Vs) profiles. This paper describes its use in offshore geotechnical investigations (underwater MASW - UMASW) where the focus was on the upper 15 m of the sediment profile to aid the design of structures such as marine pipelines, cable routes and shallow anchor systems. UMASW was shown to provide

In the past 20 years, more than ten highways are built in the Lianyungang region, Jiangsu province, China. Among them, two highways (Coastal Highway A, close to the coastline, and Lianyan Highway B, approximately 25 km from the coastline) are crucial to the local highway network. However, the settlements of these two highways are significantly different, despite the same building method and location

This study discusses the effect of buildings vibrations in the urban field in the context of local seismic response studies in order to evaluate the possible occurrence of double resonance effects during strong-motions. The aim is to recognise the interaction effect between near surface geology and all overlying buildings in the urban area of the city of Matera (southern Italy). Single station seismic

This work deals with the experimental and numerical evaluation of the local seismic response of Arquata del Tronto area (Marche Region, central Italy), severely struck by the Mw 6.0 August 24th, 2016 earthquake. Arquata main village rises on elongated WNW-ESE-trending ridge of the central Apennines thrust-belt (central Italy), at elevations about 170 m higher than the underlying alluvial valleys where

Mining-induced subsidence is a worldwide environmental problem that leads to damage to infrastructure and property; thus, knowledge of its past–recent development is critically needed during land-use planning. Moreover, the temporal occurrence of subsidence is greatly variable, with tendencies for gradual to abrupt movements. Subsidence rates can currently be achieved via radar interferometry, but

The great influence of site effects on damage patterns produced by seismic events of the past, stresses out the need to find proper relationships between the site local conditions and the potential damage that existing buildings may experience under earthquakes of different intensity. This issue proved to be relevant, especially for those masonry buildings in small historic centers, such as the ones

This study is intended to investigate ambient noise recordings in form of array and single-station measurements at Sarpol-e-zahab city after the destructive Mw = 7.3 earthquake of 12 November 2017 in Kermanshah province, Iran. The ESPAC, f-k, HVTFA, and HVSR methods are applied to analyze the ambient noise and obtain useful information on three key factors of site seismic properties, i.e. the geometry

Temperature has critical influences on rock strength. It is almost universally acknowledged from laboratory studies that rocks are weakened at elevated temperatures, as a result of the various “thermal damage” mechanisms. Most underground projects, such as geothermal energy extraction, nuclear waste repository and underground excavation for deep mining and caverns, are implemented at the depths ranging

Tianshui City is located in an earthquake-prone area of China that has experienced many earthquake-induced loess landslides. The formation of such landslides is closely related to the dynamic properties and residual deformation characteristics of the loess when seismically loaded. However, the loess dynamics under earthquakes in the Tianshui area have been little studied. Therefore, to understand the

Loess is a typical silt-sized Aeolian soil that is widely deposited and possesses a fragile soil structure susceptible to collapse upon wetting. The instability of shallow loess slopes is well documented, but deeper failures triggered by rainfall and irrigation can also occur. In the case of long-term seepage, clay particles and salts have been observed to leach out of the loess slopes. This paper

Reducing soil permeability by natural biopolymers, which absorb water to form viscous hydrated colloids, may sustainably improve earthen structures such as landfill covers. Previous studies mainly investigated biopolymer effects on water permeability of saturated soils. However, performance of biopolymers in unsaturated soil is unclear, especially for gas permeability. This study examined effects of

It is known that the soil-water characteristic curve (SWCC) of unsaturated soils is hysteretic. The engineering properties of unsaturated soils during the drying process are different from those during the wetting process, and the difference can be related to the hysteresis of the SWCC. Therefore, understanding the hysteresis of the SWCC is crucial in engineering practices. In this paper, both the

When land reclamation is conducted in a shallow offshore bubble-bearing sediment, methane bubbles can cause various risks, such as changes in the mechanical properties of soils and explosion during construction. The premise of assessing or addressing these risks is to understand the evolution of the bubble-bearing area during land reclamation. In this study, we selected an island-based land reclamation

Early warning systems (EWS) are increasingly used for landslide risk management. The most crucial tasks of EWS are prediction of the slope failure time and establishing alert procedures, however implementation of these two tasks is challenging due to the impact of various factors. This study aims to investigate both of these tasks using dimensionless processing methods in order to try to establish

The failure of a landslide dam is a sudden geo-hazard, which can significantly threatens the lives and property of local residents. In this study, 11 experiments were designed to reproduce the failure process of landslide dams with different grain size distributions and hydrodynamic conditions. In order to fully consider the influence of seepage on the stability of landslide dams with different textural

A new paradigm is needed for Reliable Seismic Hazard Assessment RSHA, not only from consideration of (a) the huge human losses experienced in the many recently destructive earthquakes worldwide; but also from (b) theoretical considerations of seismic wave generation and propagation phenomena through often non-homogeneous media within the earth's crust, particularly when large and more complex fault

Liquefaction hazard maps are important for both pre- and post-event planning and mitigation. The global geospatial liquefaction model (GGLM) proposed by Zhu et al. (2017) and recommended for global application results in a liquefaction probability that can be interpreted as liquefaction spatial extent (LSE). The GGLM uses ShakeMap's PGV, topography-based Vs30, distance to water body, water table depth

Two critical aspects for assessing the hazard and managing the risk associated with active sinkholes in developed areas are the precise mapping of the areas affected by ground instability and the quantitative characterization of the ground displacement (kinematic style, spatial-temporal patterns, rates). However, sinkhole site investigations typically provide a static picture of the instability phenomena

Thermal conductivity is an important physical property of geological formations. For example, a comprehensive assessment of the thermal conductivity variations in the shallow ground surrounding a heat exchanger borehole can be used to determine the installation parameters of a ground-source heat pump. However, in some locations, it is not possible to measure thermal conductivity directly. One of the

Rockfall frequency size distributions are used in Austria for the definition of a design block for the planning of technical rockfall protection. Rockfall size datasets are often incomplete. Here, we study fifteen catalogues of rockfall size in Austria, Italy, and the USA to analyse the impact of the data collection and mapping methods on the representativeness of the catalogues and on the estimates

The hydraulic conductivity of naturally sedimented and reconstituted clays is often interpreted using the settlement–time curves measured from consolidation tests. Understanding the accuracy of the interpreted hydraulic conductivity is essential in geological and geotechnical engineering. To the best knowledge of the authors, such a work has been little reported up to now. This study aims at investigating

High-frequency seismic signals are generated during landslides and can be analyzed to obtain detailed information regarding landslide dynamics. However, a better understanding of the physical process that produces such high-frequency signals is required. The two massive landslides that occurred on April 11, 2013 in the Bingham Canyon Mine pit (Utah, USA) generated low- and high-frequency seismic signals

The hydro-mechanical properties of the buffer material play an important role in the design of deep geological repositories. This paper presents the effect of various electrolyte concentrations on swelling pressure, consolidation characteristics and hydraulic conductivity of two different Indian bentonites. Constant volume swelling pressure tests on compacted bentonite specimens as well as consolidation

The Fucino lacustrine basin in central Italy is a large flat area mostly devoted to agriculture, with urbanization along the perimeter of the ancient lake. In 1915 a strong earthquake struck the area (Mw 7.0), producing large damages and geological effects, including surface faulting, ground failures and liquefaction. A channel excavated in the lacustrine sediments exposed ground failure, with dykes

The increased attention paid to the effects of liquefaction on the built environment has led over time to the introduction of vulnerability integral parameters that somehow quantify for a given site and a given seismic shaking the severity of the potential liquefaction damage induced at ground level. If the vulnerability parameter is properly calibrated and effective, it should somehow correlate to

Owing to the complexity of the coupling relationship between multiple external triggering factors and the internal sensitivity state of landslides, it is difficult to accurately predict the displacement response of landslides to triggering factors, using existing methods. To overcome this setback, two new concepts, namely the trend sequence and sensitivity states, were introduced to quantificationally

The contribution of indigenous bacteria and of some possible precipitation due to chemical reactions occurring during the treatment of sandy soils through microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) is investigated in this paper considering two different grading size distributions. This is a novelty, because the presence of the feeding solution alone in the soil (usually used as control test,

Understanding and controlling rock breaking is critical in many geological projects, such as mining, tunneling and other underground engineering projects. Tunnel boring machine (TBM) is widely used in such geological projects owing to its security and better working environment. However, it is difficult in tunneling hard rock which would reduce the life of cutters. In this paper, an auxiliary method

Mine slopes in high-altitude and cold regions are susceptible to damage and degradation under long-term freeze-thaw (FT) conditions, which threatens the stability of geotechnical engineering operations. The evolution of pore and fracture structures in rock masses under FT conditions crucially influences the physical and mechanical properties of rocks. However, critical information is often ignored

It is known that uncertainties in geotechnical engineering are unavoidable. Slope reliability analysis is vital because the failure of a slope may cause great loss. In the reliability analysis of slopes, the stochastic response surface method (SRSM) provides an effective way to address the non-convergence of calculation results and has the advantage of high accuracy for highly nonlinear problems. However

Understanding fluid flow in rock fractures is relevant to many engineering applications, including underground nuclear waste disposition, oil and gas exploitation, dam and slope design, as well as contaminant transport. Rough rock fracture is usually idealized as two parallel plates separated by the hydraulic aperture, the determination of which is key to solving seepage problems in fractured rock

Rockfall is a dangerous hazard on steep and susceptible slope. However, it is not easy to identify potential rockfalls on cliff mountains. Traditionally, rockfall risk analysis ignores the temporal evolution of risk due to the changes of the elements at risk, or changes in the annual probability. This may lead to an underestimation of risk in time. In this paper, we present an innovative approach for

Coral rock is characterized by a high porosity of 48.51 ± 5.43% and a low compressive strength of 9.91 MPa due to its biological origin. To experimentally investigate the uniaxial compressive behaviors of both air-dried and fully saturated coral rocks, the quasi-static and dynamic compression tests were performed employing an electro-hydraulic servo-controlled device and a split Hopkinson pressure

This study focused on slope stability behaviors under different conditions, including gravity, rainfall, and earthquake. The slope models were prepared by mixing sand (80%) and clay (kaolinite, 20%) and compacting at optimum water content. Under the gravitational condition, the model tests were performed with three different directions of a gravel layer embedded into the slope. During the test, the

The Himalayan range is one of the most tectonically active mountain ranges on Earth. The Jilong Valley is a deeply-dissected canyon in the Chinese Himalayas in Tibet, and in this valley, landslide hazard and risk have increased significantly in response to active crustal movements, intense rainfall and ever-increasing human interference. Landslide susceptibility assessment in the valley is fundamental