Logo image
Topographic features and stratified soil characteristics of a hillslope with fissures formed by the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Topographic features and stratified soil characteristics of a hillslope with fissures formed by the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake

Yohei Arata, Takashi Gomi and Roy C Sidle
Geoderma, Vol.376, pp.1-12
2020
pdf
Topographic features and stratified soil characteristics of a hillslope with fissures formed by the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake11.06 MBDownloadView
Published VersionCC BY V4.0 Open Access
url
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoderma.2020.114547View
Published Version Open

Abstract

Stratified soil properties Volcanic soils Topographic deformation 2016 Kumamoto earthquake Fissures
We examined topographic and stratified soil characteristics of a hillslope with fissures formed by the 2016 Kumamoto earthquake in Japan. Numerous fissures were developed on mountainous areas and concentrated along convex topography of ridgelines in addition to the occurrence of many landslides. Within a 6 × 20 m plot, depth of fissures ranged from 0.3 to 0.4 m near the ridgeline and from 0.6 to 0.8 m in the lower part of hillslope adjacent to a landslide of the same depth on the lower slope. Width of fissures ranged from 0.4 to 2.2 m (mean = 1.4 m; standard deviation = 0.6 m). Between fissures, soil blocks rotated downslope and remained on the slope. The soil matrix within the plot consisted of the four sequences of tephra with various thicknesses. Andisol layers with higher organic matter (16 ± 6%) were found between tephra deposits with lower organic matter (11 ± 2%), particularly at shallow depths (0.5 and 1.5 m). Soil bulk density was low in most andisol layers (0.55 ± 0.15 g/cm3), while mean bulk density of tephra deposits was slightly higher (0.66 ± 0.14 g/cm3). Bulk density was negatively correlated to organic matter content. The wet conditions (133 ± 37% gravimetric moisture) in the andisol layer (≈1.0 m depth), which corresponds to the landslide failure plane, are related to higher organic matter content and lower bulk density compared to the tephra layers situated above and below this layer. Differences in the depths of fissures along the ridgeline suggested that the development of fissures was associated with combinations of topographic factors and soil sequences. Findings from detailed topography and soil surveys provide insights into fissure formation processes and slope stability assessment.

Details

Metrics

18 File views/ downloads
31 Record Views

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Web Of Science research areas
Soil Science

UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

This output has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:

#13 Climate Action

Source: InCites

Logo image