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Comprehensive analysis of a paleo-landslide damming event on the upper reach of the Jinsha River, SE Tibetan Plateau

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Abstract

The geological conditions in the upper reaches of the Jinsha River on the southeastern margin of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau are extremely complex. Many paleo-landslides and lacustrine sediments were formed in this area under the synergistic effect of tectonic activity and climate. The study of old deposits is helpful for understanding paleoenvironment, paleoclimate, and river geomorphology evolution. This study addressed the Wangdalong landslide damming event as the object and implemented a detailed on-site investigation. The geological characteristics of the landslide body, sliding surface, source area, and lacustrine deposits are determined. The 3D topographic restoration and the SFLOW software were used to simulate landslide dynamics, and the geomorphological evolution sequence of the Wangdalong landslide is proposed. Based on the landslide dating, the mineral analysis of lacustrine sediments, and the numerical simulation, the landslide was determined to be the product of the synergistic effect of climate and structure, and an earthquake or a heavy rainfall was the most probable triggering factor of the landslide. This study established a systematic analysis of the landslide damming event, which has reference significance for similar research.

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Funding

This work was supported by the National Key Research and Development Plan (Grant No. 2018YFC1505301) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 41941017, U1702241). The authors would like to thank the editor and anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions which helped a lot in making this paper better.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Construction Engineering, Jilin University, Changchun, 130026, China

    Yuchao Li, Jianping Chen, Zhihai Li, Shijie Zhai, Yongchao Li, Yiwei Zhang & Feifan Gu

  2. Center for Hydrogeology and Environmental Geology, CGS, Baoding, 071501, China

    Xudong Han

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  1. Yuchao Li
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  2. Jianping Chen
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  3. Zhihai Li
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  4. Xudong Han
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  7. Yiwei Zhang
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  8. Feifan Gu
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Correspondence to Jianping Chen.

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Li, Y., Chen, J., Li, Z. et al. Comprehensive analysis of a paleo-landslide damming event on the upper reach of the Jinsha River, SE Tibetan Plateau. Bull Eng Geol Environ 81, 334 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-022-02791-z

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