Susceptibility of reservoir-induced landslides and strategies for increasing the slope stability in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area: Zigui Basin as an example

Abstract The construction of the huge Three Gorges reservoir affected a large region, and the resultant geological and environmental impacts have caused global concern. The remarkable, 30-m annual fluctuation in the reservoir water level poses a significant threat to slope stability in this area. Four hundred sixty-two landslides were identified in the Zigui basin using historical records, satellite images, field investigations and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) observations, enabling the construction of a complete landslide database and distribution map. Three failure modes of landslides in the Zigui basin are used to illustrate the major factors that govern reservoir-induced landslides. The results show that (1) > 99% of identified landslides occur on slopes angle 80% occur at elevations below 600 m; (2) Jurassic Niejiashan Formation is highly prone to landslides; (3) Low reservoir levels of 145 m to 155 m greatly reduce slope stability. Based on the information entropy method that use the conditional probability of different influencing factors and principal component analysis as inputs, the relative contributions of various influencing factors are quantified and a landslide susceptibility map was drawn. This susceptibility map helps define the countermeasures that will best reduce fatalities and property losses for areas having different landslide conditions and susceptibilities.

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