The Dynamic Amplification Effect of A Site with Earth Fissures: A Case Study in the Taiyuan Basin, China

As a widespread geological hazard, the disaster development process of earth fissures is irreversible and difficult to control, which seriously affects the construction and safe operation of engineering facilities. However, few clear conclusions and special regulations have been given regarding the influence of earth fissures on the dynamic response characteristics of a site and earthquake prevention and disaster reduction measures. Therefore, the microtremor was used instead of earthquake motions to reveal the dynamic response of a site with fissures. The earth fissures in the Taiyuan Basin, which exhibit a large amount of activity, were used as examples. In order to reveal the dynamic response from several aspects, four methods, including the Fourier spectrum, the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratio (HVSR), the response acceleration, and the Arias intensity, were employed. The results show that the spectrum peaks increase sharply at an earth fissure and return to a stable value approximately 20–25 m away from the fissure, indicating that the earth fissures have an amplification effect on the dynamic response of the site. Additionally, a greater amplification occurs on the hanging wall of the earth fissure. The influence range of the dynamic response of site can be divided into four areas. Suggestions on the seismic fortification intensity and setback distances were also proposed. The amplification mechanism was summarized as the coupling of the changes in the soil properties caused by earth fissure activity, the catadioptric effect of the earth fissure interface, and the multiple amplifications caused by secondary fissures.

A probabilistic method for mapping earth fissure hazards

Earth fissures caused by tectonic forces, human activities, or both seriously threaten the safety of people’s lives and properties. The Taiyuan Basin, a Cenozoic downfaulted basin located in the centre of the Fen-Wei Basin tectonic belt, in northwestern China, presents the ideal study area for a hazard assessment of earth fissures. A total of 104 earth fissures have been observed in the Taiyuan Basin, with a total length of approximately 128 km. In this paper, we proposed a probabilistic method for mapping earth fissure hazards by integrating the analytic hierarchy process (AHP), the area under the curve (AUC), and the certainty factor model (CFM). Geomorphic units, geologic formations, active faults and land subsidence zones of the Taiyuan Basin were mapped in detail. Correlations between these factors and earth fissures were evaluated through spatial modelling in ArcGIS. The AUC was introduced into the AHP to weight each factor and thus, to derive an earth fissure susceptibility map. Finally, the modelled earth fissure susceptibility was compared with a digital inventory of earth fissures to develop a probability function and map the spatial variability in failure probability through the CFM. The study indicates that active faults have the greatest contribution to the generation of earth fissures. Earth fissures are prone to develop in the piedmont alluvial-diluvial clinoplain and the transitional zone near the geomorphic boundary. This mapping procedure can assist in making rational decisions regarding urban planning and infrastructure development in areas susceptible to earth fissures.

Deformation Monitoring of Earth Fissure Hazards Using Terrestrial Laser Scanning

Deformation monitoring is a powerful tool to understand the formation mechanism of earth fissure hazards, enabling the engineering and planning efforts to be more effective. To assess the evolution characteristics of the Yangshuli earth fissure hazard more completely, terrestrial laser scanning (TLS), a remote sensing technique which is regarded as one of the most promising surveying technologies in geohazard monitoring, was employed to detect the changes to ground surfaces and buildings in small- and large-scales, respectively. Time-series of high-density point clouds were collected through 5 sequential scans from 2014 to 2017 and then pre-processing was performed to filter the noise data of point clouds. A tiny deformation was observed on both the scarp and the walls, based on the local displacement analysis. The relative height differences between the two sides of the scarp increase slowly from 0.169 m to 0.178 m, while no obvious inclining (the maximum tilt reaches just to 0.0023) happens on the two walls, based on tilt measurement. Meanwhile, global displacement analysis indicates that the overall settlement slowly increases for the ground surface, but the regions in the left side of scarp are characterized by a relatively larger vertical displacement than the right. Furthermore, the comparisons of monitoring results on the same measuring line are discussed in this study and TLS monitoring results have an acceptable consistency with the global positioning system (GPS) measurements. The case study shows that the TLS technique can provide an adequate solution in deformation monitoring of earth fissure hazards, with high effectiveness and applicability.