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Characteristics and dynamics of the Ganqiuchi rock avalanche triggered by a paleo-earthquake in the Northern Qinling Mountains
- Source :
- Journal of Mountain Science. 17:1143-1160
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2020.
-
Abstract
- Analyzing large prehistoric rock avalanches provides significant data for evaluating the disaster posed by these relatively infrequent but destructive geological events. This paper attempts to study the characteristics and dynamics of the Ganqiuchi granitic rock avalanche, in the middle of the northern margin of Qinling Mountains, 30 km to the south of Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China. In plane view, this rock avalanche is characterized by source area, accumulation area and dammed lake area. Based on previous studies, historical records and regional geological data, the major trigger of the Ganqiuchi rock avalanche is considered to be a strong paleo-earthquake with tremendous energy. The in situ deposit block size distributions of the intact rock mass and the debris deposits are presented and analyzed by using a simple model for estimating the number of fragmentation cycles that the blocks underwent. The results show that the primary controlling factor of the fragmentation process is the pre-existing fractures, and there is a relationship between the potential energy and the fragmentation energy: the latter is approximately 20% of the former. Based on the dynamic discrete element technique, the study proposes a four-stage model for the dynamic course of the Ganqiuchi rock avalanche: (1) failing; (2) highspeed sliding; (3) collision with obstacles; (4) decelerated sliding, which has implication for hazard assessment of the potential rock avalanches in China and other countries with similar geological setting.
- Subjects :
- Global and Planetary Change
Source area
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Geography, Planning and Development
Fragmentation (computing)
Geology
Hazard analysis
010502 geochemistry & geophysics
Collision
01 natural sciences
Debris
In plane
Rock mass classification
Geomorphology
Historical record
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
Nature and Landscape Conservation
Earth-Surface Processes
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 19930321 and 16726316
- Volume :
- 17
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Mountain Science
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........61be845587967f431b59e1276a81c37f