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Study on Differential Weathering and Induced Failure Mechanism of High and Steep Slopes with Interbedded Soft and Hard Rocks

Author(s)

Dawei Li

Affiliation(s)

The Prevention and Control Center for the Geological Disaster of Henan Geological Bureau, Zhengzhou, China

Abstract

Differential weathering of high and steep slopes composed of interbedded soft and hard rocks serves as a typical trigger for geological hazards. Weathering processes are mainly categorized into physical, chemical and biological weathering. Multiple factors including rock mineral composition, rock mass structure and water-rock interaction are coupled to dominate the differential weathering evolution. Representative rock mass samples were tested and analyzed in this work, focusing on mineral components and their contents, cement types and cementation strength, as well as macroscopic and mesoscopic structures of rocks, to interpret the formation mechanism of differential weathering. The results demonstrate that clay mineral content, cement properties and cementation degree, together with macroscopic rock mass structure, exert controlling effects on differential weathering, and these parameters can be adopted as critical indicators to characterize the weathering response of rocks. Temperature analysis reveals that short-term temperature variation hardly imposes direct influences on the intrinsic weathering properties of rocks. Nevertheless, temperature can remarkably aggravate differential weathering between soft and hard rock layers by modulating water-rock interaction. Combined with engineering cases and FLAC3D numerical simulations, it is found that the risk of collapse instability of interbedded soft-hard rock slopes rises substantially once rock cavities are formed due to progressive differential weathering. This study preliminarily identifies the major hazard modes induced by differential weathering, and provides theoretical support and scientific references for the engineering prevention and mitigation of potential geological hazards in interbedded soft and hard rock slopes.

Keywords

High and Steep Slope; Interbedded Soft and Hard Rocks; Differential Weathering; Numerical Simulation.

References

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