The characteristics, induced factors, and formation mechanism of the 2018 Baige landslide in Jinsha River, Southwest China

Abstract

On October 11 and November 3, 2018, two successive landslides happened at the same location near Baige Village in Tibet of China and dammed the Jinsha River twice. The induced factors and formation mechanism of the Baige landslide are still being questioned. In this paper, high-resolution topographic data, multi-temporal remote sensing images (including the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) 3D image, remote sensing, and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) techniques), rainfall data, seismic records, comprehensive field investigations, and numerical simulations are used to identify the main characteristics, the induced factors, and the formation mechanism of the event. The results show that deep-seated gravitational slope deformations play an important role in the evolution process of the Baige landslide; river downcutting is a prerequisite for the progressive evolution of the gravitational slope deformation behavior of the Baige landslide, whereas earthquake plays a catalytic role in the development of the gravitational slope deformation of the Baige landslide. The Baige landslide would be a typical case study for understanding the formation mechanism of large-scale landslides along the Jinsha River.