Slope aspect effects of loess slides and its spatial differentiation in different geomorphologic types

Abstract

Several researchers have evaluated landslide susceptibility using various factors, and only few have focused on only one landslide impacting factor in detail, especially its response to geomorphologic evolution. Slope aspect is one of the key conditioning factors for landslide susceptibility assessment in fine-scale studies. To elucidate the slope aspect effect of loess slides and its spatial differentiation, we selected three study areas with different geomorphologic settings in the Chinese Loess Plateau, and developed landslide inventory through the interpretation of remote sensing images and intensive field survey. By using GIS and statistical approach, including extreme ratio and coefficient of variation, we characterized the distribution of loess slides in different slope aspects and compared their spatial differentiation. The results showed that the slope aspect has a significant influence on the spatial distribution of loess slides. The number and area of loess slide is higher in south-facing slope in all the three counties. Moreover, the slope aspect effects on loess slides were mediated by the geomorphologic types. The more mature the development of geomorphology, the more obvious is the slope aspect effect on the landslide. This study is very important for the study on geomorphologic evolution of Loess Plateau.