Study on the Soil Deterioration Mechanism in the Subsidence Zone of the Wildcat Landslide in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area

Abstract

The stability of soil mass near the dam bank in the Three Gorges Reservoir is closely related to the periodic variation in the reservoir water level. In order to study the influence of water level variation on soil mass, the soil mass in the water level fluctuation zone of the Wildcat landslide was taken as the research object, and the mechanism of soil mass deterioration in this area was revealed by comparing the strength and mineral structure characteristics of soil mass at different elevations by means of macro- and meso-microscopic analysis. The results show the following: (1) With the increase in sampling elevation, the natural water content of the soil decreases, and the dry density of the soil is a minimum when the elevation is 155 m and at a maximum when the elevation is 175 m. (2) The soil mass in the water dissipation zone of the Wildcat landslide can be divided into three areas: When the elevation is 145–155 m, the fractal dimension increases, the soil fragmentation increases, the cohesion decreases, and the soil deterioration increases. When the elevation is 155–175 m, the fractal dimension decreases, the soil fragmentation decreases, the cohesion increases, and the soil deterioration weakens. When the elevation is greater than 175 m, there is no soil deterioration. (3) X-ray diffraction (XRD) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) were used to test the soil’s mineral composition and pore size at different elevations. It was found that the main reason for the severe deterioration of macro-strength parameters of the soil at the elevation of 155 m was that the proportion of clay minerals and quartz was at the lowest, and the proportion of medium pores and large pores was at the highest. (4) Through the combination of macro and mesoscopic testing and analysis, it was found that the rise and fall of the reservoir water level will lead to the strong chemical action of the skeleton and cemented mineral dissolution in the soil degradation-enhanced area, as well as the physical action of soil particles, resulting in the formation of more medium pores and large pores in the soil and eventually the formation of seepage channels.