Fractal analysis of rainfall-induced landslide and debris flow spread distribution in the Chenyulan Creek Basin, Taiwan

Abstract

The Chenyulan Stream in Central Taiwan follows the Chenyulan fault line which is a major boundary fault in Taiwan. In recent years, many destructive landslides have occurred in the Chenyulan Creek Basin after heavy rainfall accompanied by several strong typhoons. Three examples of landslide distributions in the Chenyulan Creek Basin, before and after 1996 and after 2004 are analyzed. The box dimension and two-point correlation dimension are employed to describe the landslide area size distribution and distance distribution between every two landslides, respectively. It is found that the number of landslides increased in this period. However, the average landslide area decreased. The correlation dimension gradually increased from 1.15 to 1.32 during this period (before and after 1996 and after 2004). This implies that the landslide distribution in the Chenyulan Creek Basin has become diffuse and extensive. The box dimension value shows the degree of the landslide density occupied in a space. The box dimension also increased from 0.3 to 0.69 during this period. The increasing box dimension means that the landslide presented in this creek basin has gradually increased. This indicates that the slopes of this creek basin have become more unstable and susceptible.