Exploring the diversity and scaling laws of landslides using small-scale laboratory experiments

我们进行了实验室实验，其中地下水渗入湿砂触发滑坡。结果表明：（1）滑坡是在水通过砂柱后发生的;（2）随着地下水位的升高，滑坡的数量从0个增加到3个，然后整个砂柱以泥石流的形式被推动;（3）滑坡发生的时间与地下水位决定的压力扩散时间尺度相吻合。此外，我们还发现，随着水的蒸发，在滑坡发生之前，砂柱底部的压力减小，而两侧的压力增大。这表明，压力测量可以用来监测滑坡的初步阶段。

We have conducted laboratory experiments in which the ground water percolating into the wet sand triggers the landslides. We find that(1) landslides are triggered after the water percolates through the sand column,(2) as the groundwater level rises, the number of slides increases from 0 to 3, after which the whole sand column is pushed in the form of debris flow,(3) the time until the slide occurs agree well with the pressure diffusion time scale determined by the groundwater level. In addition we find that as the water percolates, the pressure at the bottom of the sand column decreases whereas that at the sides increases, prior to the landslide. This suggests that pressure measurements may be used to monitor the precursory stage of the landslides.