Abstract

Since large-scale agricultural irrigation began in the 1980s, 92 landslides have occurred around the South Jingyang Plateau during the past 40 years. The geological disaster and soil erosion have caused numerous casualties and substantial property loss. In this work, several field investigations are carried out to explore the soil erosion and mechanical mechanism of these irrigated shallow loess landslides on the South Jingyang Plateau. (1) We investigated the spatial distributions, types and developmental characteristics of loess landslides. (2) We surveyed and monitored seasonal agricultural irrigation features and groundwater changes in the area since the 1980s and found that irrigation is a significant factor influencing groundwater changes, soil erosion and even causing landslides to occur. (3) Based on the field investigation, the occurrence of these irrigated shallow loess landslides was generalized, and it was found that the core process was due to the liquefaction of softening zone. We carried out a static liquefaction test and verified that the natural loess was prone to liquefaction. (4) The three main reasons for shallow loess landslides in the South Jingyang Plateau were discussed. This study provides a valuable reference for achieving an understanding of the relationship between seasonal agricultural irrigation and the occurrence of loess landslides in the area as well as similar irrigated agricultural areas.

Highlights

  • The loess plateau, a special geomorphologic landscape located in the northwestern area of China, covers approximately 4.4% (620,000 km2 ) of China’s total land area [1,2]

  • This study provides a valuable reference for achieving an understanding of the relationship between seasonal agricultural irrigation and the occurrence of loess landslides in the area as well as similar irrigated agricultural areas

  • This study focuses on a systematic investigation of the hydrogeological conditions of loess landslides in this area, through statistical analysis of the relationship between irrigation, groundwater and intuitively establishes the internal relationship between agricultural irrigation and landslides

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Summary

Introduction

The loess plateau, a special geomorphologic landscape located in the northwestern area of China, covers approximately 4.4% (620,000 km2 ) of China’s total land area [1,2]. Due to the continental monsoon climate limit, seasonal irrigation has become a necessary approach for maintaining agricultural production in this area [3]. Loess has typical features including macro-pores, vertical joints, weak cementation and high sensitivity to water [4,5,6]. These characteristics are prone to lead to soil erosion, structural collapse under long-term immersion water and may even lead to instability [7,8,9]. Seasonal agricultural irrigation has become an important triggering factor inducing serious landslides on the loess plateau of northwest China [10,11,12]. Irrigation concrete-ditch prevented the evaporation of groundwater, resulting in the

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