Surface temperature controls the pattern of post-earthquake landslide activity
Abstract The patterns and controls of the transient enhanced landsliding that follows strong earthquakes remain elusive. Geostatistical models can provide clues on the underlying processes by identifying relationships with a number of physical variables. These models do not typically consider therma...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2022-01-01
|
| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-04992-8 |
| _version_ | 1828127335978631168 |
|---|---|
| author | Marco Loche Gianvito Scaringi Ali P. Yunus Filippo Catani Hakan Tanyaş William Frodella Xuanmei Fan Luigi Lombardo |
| author_facet | Marco Loche Gianvito Scaringi Ali P. Yunus Filippo Catani Hakan Tanyaş William Frodella Xuanmei Fan Luigi Lombardo |
| author_sort | Marco Loche |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract The patterns and controls of the transient enhanced landsliding that follows strong earthquakes remain elusive. Geostatistical models can provide clues on the underlying processes by identifying relationships with a number of physical variables. These models do not typically consider thermal information, even though temperature is known to affect the hydro-mechanical behavior of geomaterials, which, in turn, controls slope stability. Here, we develop a slope unit-based multitemporal susceptibility model for the epicentral region of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake to explore how land surface temperature (LST) relates to landslide patterns over time. We find that LST can explain post-earthquake landsliding while it has no visible effect on the coseismic scene, which is dominated by the strong shaking. Specifically, as the landscape progressively recovers and landslide rates decay to pre-earthquake levels, a positive relationship between LST and landslide persistence emerges. This seems consistent with the action of healing processes, capable of restoring the thermal sensitivity of the slope material after the seismic disturbance. Although analyses in other contexts (not necessarily seismic) are warranted, we advocate for the inclusion of thermal information in geostatistical modeling as it can help form a more physically consistent picture of slope stability controls. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T15:47:40Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1daadef51a4c4801a656f68f02c4cbea |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T15:47:40Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-1daadef51a4c4801a656f68f02c4cbea2022-12-22T04:15:27ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-01-0112111110.1038/s41598-022-04992-8Surface temperature controls the pattern of post-earthquake landslide activityMarco Loche0Gianvito Scaringi1Ali P. Yunus2Filippo Catani3Hakan Tanyaş4William Frodella5Xuanmei Fan6Luigi Lombardo7Institute of Hydrogeology, Engineering Geology and Applied Geophysics, Faculty of Science, Charles UniversityInstitute of Hydrogeology, Engineering Geology and Applied Geophysics, Faculty of Science, Charles UniversityState Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of TechnologyDepartment of Geosciences, University of PadovaFaculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of TwenteDepartment of Earth Sciences, University of FlorenceState Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of TechnologyFaculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of TwenteAbstract The patterns and controls of the transient enhanced landsliding that follows strong earthquakes remain elusive. Geostatistical models can provide clues on the underlying processes by identifying relationships with a number of physical variables. These models do not typically consider thermal information, even though temperature is known to affect the hydro-mechanical behavior of geomaterials, which, in turn, controls slope stability. Here, we develop a slope unit-based multitemporal susceptibility model for the epicentral region of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake to explore how land surface temperature (LST) relates to landslide patterns over time. We find that LST can explain post-earthquake landsliding while it has no visible effect on the coseismic scene, which is dominated by the strong shaking. Specifically, as the landscape progressively recovers and landslide rates decay to pre-earthquake levels, a positive relationship between LST and landslide persistence emerges. This seems consistent with the action of healing processes, capable of restoring the thermal sensitivity of the slope material after the seismic disturbance. Although analyses in other contexts (not necessarily seismic) are warranted, we advocate for the inclusion of thermal information in geostatistical modeling as it can help form a more physically consistent picture of slope stability controls.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-04992-8 |
| spellingShingle | Marco Loche Gianvito Scaringi Ali P. Yunus Filippo Catani Hakan Tanyaş William Frodella Xuanmei Fan Luigi Lombardo Surface temperature controls the pattern of post-earthquake landslide activity Scientific Reports |
| title | Surface temperature controls the pattern of post-earthquake landslide activity |
| title_full | Surface temperature controls the pattern of post-earthquake landslide activity |
| title_fullStr | Surface temperature controls the pattern of post-earthquake landslide activity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Surface temperature controls the pattern of post-earthquake landslide activity |
| title_short | Surface temperature controls the pattern of post-earthquake landslide activity |
| title_sort | surface temperature controls the pattern of post earthquake landslide activity |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-04992-8 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marcoloche surfacetemperaturecontrolsthepatternofpostearthquakelandslideactivity AT gianvitoscaringi surfacetemperaturecontrolsthepatternofpostearthquakelandslideactivity AT alipyunus surfacetemperaturecontrolsthepatternofpostearthquakelandslideactivity AT filippocatani surfacetemperaturecontrolsthepatternofpostearthquakelandslideactivity AT hakantanyas surfacetemperaturecontrolsthepatternofpostearthquakelandslideactivity AT williamfrodella surfacetemperaturecontrolsthepatternofpostearthquakelandslideactivity AT xuanmeifan surfacetemperaturecontrolsthepatternofpostearthquakelandslideactivity AT luigilombardo surfacetemperaturecontrolsthepatternofpostearthquakelandslideactivity |