Spatial structural characteristics of the Deda ancient landslide in the eastern Tibetan Plateau: Insights from Audio-frequency Magnetotellurics and the Microtremor Survey Method

Abstract

It is of crucial importance to investigate the spatial structures of ancient landslides in the eastern Tibetan Plateau's alpine canyons as they could provide valuable insights into the evolutionary history of the landslides and indicate the potential for future reactivation. This study examines the Deda ancient landslide, situated in the Chalong-ranbu fault zone, where creep deformation suggests a complex underground structure. By integrating remote sensing, field surveys, Audio-frequency Magnetotellurics (AMT), and Microtremor Survey Method(MSM) techniques, along with engineering geological drilling for validation, to uncover the landslide's spatial features. The research indicates that a fault is developed in the upper part of the Deda ancient landslide, and the gully divides it into Deda landslide accumulation zone I and Deda landslide accumulation zone II in space. The distinctive geological characteristics detectable by MSM in the shallow subsurface and by AMT in deeper layers. The findings include the identification of two sliding zones in the Deda I landslide, the shallow sliding zone (DD-I-S1) depth is approximately 20 m, and the deep sliding zone (DD-I-S2) depth is 36.2-49.9 m. The sliding zone (DD-II-S1) depth of the Deda II landslide is 37.6-43.1 m. A novel MSM-based method for sliding zone identification is proposed, achieving less than 5% discrepancy in depth determination when compared with drilling data. These results provide a valuable reference for the spatial structural analysis of large-deep-seated landslides in geologically complex regions like the eastern Tibetan Plateau.

Keywords

Ancient landslide / Remote sensing / Audio-frequency Magnetotellurics (AMT) / Microtremor Survey Method (MSM) / Geological drilling engineering / Spatial structure / Tibetan Plateau / Geological hazard survey engineering

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (42372339) and the China Geological Survey Project (DD20221816, DD20190319). The field geophysical prospecting and data processing of this work were guided and assisted by senior engineer Guo-hua Zhang of Chengdu Blue Sky Information Engineering Co., Ltd.; the field engineering drilling construction was guided and assisted by senior engineers Chang-li Wei and Wei Liao of Sichuan Geological Survey Institute; postgraduate student Ji-jun Jin from the Institute of Geomechanics, Chinese Academy of Geological Sciences and postgraduate student De-guang Song from Tibet University provided relevant help and support in this field survey; postgraduate students Yu-wei Ling and Xinxia Yuan from China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) participated in some map drawing work.

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