INSTABLITY PROCESS AND MECHANISM OF STEEP SLOPE COMPRISING LAYERED SOILS DUE TO WIND EROSION

It is very typical that wind erosion controls and influences the instability process of steep slope comprising layered soils at the mesa of Jiaohe Ruins in Turpan. Wind erosion caverns can be formed in the layered slope soils. They can further cause the slope to deform and failure. They are typically formed in the slopes with low anti-wind erosion capacity and together with the local climate characteristic of frequent gales. The paper employs the methods of engineering geology, experiment of wind tunnel, physical simulation and numerical simulation to analyze the slope instablity characteristics in terms of particularity, diversity and stages. It further validates the presence of forming and developing wind erosion caverns.It reveals the mechanism of differential wind erosions and deformation and failure mechanism of suspended soil masses. It provides some useful references for the controlling and monitoring of the deformation and failure in such steep slopes.