Abstract
In this work, we explored a novel approach to integrate both geo-environmental and soil geomechanical parameters in a landslide susceptibility model. A total of 179 shallow to deep landslides were identified using Google Earth images and field observations. Moreover, soil geomechanical properties of 11 representative soil samples were analyzed. The relationship between soil properties was evaluated using the Pearson correlation coefficient and geotechnical diagrams. Membership values were assigned to each soil property class, using the fuzzy membership method. The information value method allowed computing the weight value of geo-environmental factor classes. From the soil geomechanical membership values and the geo-environmental factor weights, three landslide predisposition models were produced, two separate models and one combined model. The results of the soil testing allowed classifying the soils in the study area as highly plastic clays, with high water content, swelling, and shrinkage potential. Some geo-environmental factor classes revealed their landslide prediction ability by displaying high weight values. While the model with only soil properties tended to underrate unstable and stable areas, the model combining soil properties and geo-environmental factors allowed a more precise identification of stability conditions. The geo-environmental factors model and the model combining geo-environmental factors and soil properties displayed predictive powers of 80 and 93%, respectively. It can be concluded that the spatial analysis of soil geomechanical properties can play a major role in the detection of landslide prone areas, which is of great interest for site selection and planning with respect to sustainable development at Mount Oku.
Highlights
Soil geomechanical properties have long been investigated to characterize the behavior of soils from a small scale to a landslide scale
The bivariate correlation of soil geomechanical properties was analyzed by computing the Pearson correlation coefficient and using the textural and Casagrande diagrams
Geomechanical properties determined at the Sol Solution Afrique Centrale Laboratory, Yaoundé Cameroon (PT01, PT02, PT03, PT04, and PT05 samples) and the Engineering Geology Department of the Technische Universität
Summary
Soil geomechanical properties have long been investigated to characterize the behavior of soils from a small scale (grain or particle) to a landslide scale. Soil geomechanics overlap with parts of geotechnical engineering and provide useful information about soil mechanical behavior. The study of rock and soil characteristics, faults, lineaments, and seismic events allows detecting warning signs, including small displacements of parts of the slope, tension cracking, and reactivation of spring lines [3,4,5,6]. Soil geomechanical properties, such as water content, porosity, grain sizes, plasticity index, methylene blue value (MBV), soil angle of internal friction, and cohesion, can play a significant role when trying to understand and predict slope soil failure mechanisms [3,7,8,9]
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