Abstract
Large quantities of loose glacial sediments (tills) in alpine mountain areas, exposed because of glacier retreat under global warming, are becoming the main source material of glacier-related hazards, especially debris flows. This study collected glacial till samples from the source area of a debris flow gully in the Parlung Tsangpo Basin. Geotechnical properties of the tills were analyzed using field investigations, in situ tests, and multiple laboratory tests to explore their influence on debris flows. The values of two indexes (μ: representing the fine particle content and Dc: representing grain size range) adopted to reflect the grain composition of the glacial tills varied within the range of 0.015–0.20 and 5.01–23.59, respectively, and different lithological areas were characterized by obviously different μ intervals. Natural density decreased with μ in the form of a power law. The shear strength of the glacial tills first increased and then decreased with increasing μ, reaching a minimum value when μ was 0.12–0.13; the increase of Dc exhibited the opposite trend. Strain softening, which can be quantified using the static liquefaction potential index (SLPI), was observed in the undrained triaxial tests on the samples. With increasing μ, the SLPI value first increased and then decreased, and values of μ of 0.11–0.12 corresponded to the critical particle size that produced the maximum SLPI value. This study demonstrated the applicability of the SLPI for evaluating soil destruction potential, which could support further exploration of the formation mechanism of glacier-related geological hazards in alpine areas.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Prof Yong Li and Prof Yao Jiang, from Institute of Mountain Hazard and Environment, CAS for useful discussion. Special acknowledgement should be expressed to China-Pakistan Joint Research Center on Earth Sciences and the support from the CAS Pioneer Hundred Talents Program. The valuable comments by the referees and editor of this paper are greatly appreciated.
Funding
This study was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no. U20A20112, 41941017, 42101088, and 42077238), Sichuan Science and Technology Program (grant no. 2021YFH0009), Research Fund for Young Scientists (B) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (E0R2210210), and IMHE Youth S&T Foundation (no. SDS-QN-2104).
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Wang, J., Cui, P., Wang, H. et al. Insight into geotechnical properties of glacial tills in a periglacial area, Southeast Tibet. Bull Eng Geol Environ 81, 303 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-022-02803-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-022-02803-y