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Rainfall-Induced Landslides: Influencing, Modelling and Hazard Assessment: 2nd Edition

A special issue of Water (ISSN 2073-4441). This special issue belongs to the section "Water Erosion and Sediment Transport".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 July 2025 | Viewed by 638

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Geotechnical Engineering, College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Interests: engineering geology; rock mass and slope engineering; tunnels and underground works
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Institute of Geotechnical Engineering, College of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China
Interests: landslide dam; stability analysis; rapid assessment; rock mass structural plane; shear seepage; constitutive model
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Rainfall of different intensities is the main factor triggering both shallow and deep-seated landslides. Shallow landslides, especially soil slips, are usually triggered by intense short-duration rainfall, whereas landslides in clayey soils and deep-seated landslides are more sensitive to long-term and moderate-intensity rainfall. Historically, rainfall-induced landslides have posed risks to constructed facilities and  led to fatalities, widespread damages, and economic losses. As a consequence, studying the causes and conducting hazard assessments of rainfall-induced landslide disasters have remained some of the most important challenges in the field of engineering geology. Given the projected climate and environmental changes, further research on the topic of landslides is crucial. This Special Issue invites research on rainfall-induced landslides, including geological surveys, comprehensive field monitoring, laboratory physical modelling, theoretical analyses, and numerical simulations, that can advance landslide forecasting and hazard mitigation.

Dr. Qingzhao Zhang
Dr. Danyi Shen
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • rainfall
  • landslides
  • causes
  • modelling
  • hazard assessment

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 4819 KiB  
Article
Antecedent Rainfall Duration Controls Stage-Based Erosion Mechanisms in Engineered Loess-Filled Gully Beds: A Laboratory Flume Study
by Yanjie Ma, Xingrong Liu, Heping Shu, Yunkun Wang, Jinyan Huang, Qirun Li and Ziyang Xiao
Water 2025, 17(9), 1290; https://doi.org/10.3390/w17091290 - 25 Apr 2025
Viewed by 243
Abstract
Engineered loess-filled gullies, which are widely distributed across China’s Loess Plateau, face significant stability challenges under extreme rainfall conditions. To elucidate the regulatory mechanisms of antecedent rainfall on the erosion and failure processes of such gullies, this study conducted large-scale flume experiments to [...] Read more.
Engineered loess-filled gullies, which are widely distributed across China’s Loess Plateau, face significant stability challenges under extreme rainfall conditions. To elucidate the regulatory mechanisms of antecedent rainfall on the erosion and failure processes of such gullies, this study conducted large-scale flume experiments to reveal their phased erosion mechanisms and hydromechanical responses under different antecedent rainfall durations (10, 20, and 30 min). The results indicate that the erosion process features three prominent phases: initial splash erosion, structural reorganization during the intermission period, and runoff-induced gully erosion. Our critical advancement is the identification of antecedent rainfall duration as the primary “pre-regulation” factor: short-duration (10–20 min) rainfall predominantly induces surface crack networks during the intermission, whereas long-duration (30 min) rainfall directly triggers substantial holistic collapse. These differentiated structural weakening pathways are governed by the duration of antecedent rainfall and fundamentally control the initiation thresholds, progression rates, and channel morphology of subsequent runoff erosion. The long-duration group demonstrated accelerated erosion rates and greater erosion amounts. Concurrent monitoring demonstrated that transient pulse-like increases in pore-water pressure were strongly coupled with localized instability and gully wall failures, verifying the hydromechanical coupling mechanism during the failure process. These results quantitatively demonstrate the critical modulatory role of antecedent rainfall duration in determining erosion patterns in engineered disturbed loess, transcending the prior understanding that emphasized only the contributions of rainfall intensity or runoff. They offer a direct mechanistic basis for explaining the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of erosion and failure observed in field investigations of the engineered fills. The results directly contribute to risk assessments for land reclamation projects on the Loess Plateau, underscoring the importance of incorporating antecedent rainfall history into stability analyses and drainage designs. This study provides essential scientific evidence for advancing the precision of disaster prediction models and enhancing the efficacy of mitigation strategies. Full article
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