Frequency Ratio Analysis of Mass Movements in the Xiangxi Catchment, Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China

In 2003, the Three Gorges Project (TGP, China), currently the world’s largest hydroelectric power plant by total capacity, went into operation. Due to large-scale impoundment of the Yangtze River and its tributaries and also due to resettlement, extensive environmental impacts like land use change and increase of geohazards are associated with the TGP. Within the Yangtze Project, we investigate these effects for the Xiangxi (香溪) catchment which is part of the Three Gorges Reservoir. The aim of this study is to evaluate the susceptibility for mass movement within the Xiangxi River backwater area using geographic information system (GIS). We used existing mass movements and the conditioning factors (geology, elevation, slope, curvature, land use, and land use change) for analyzing mass movement susceptibility. Mass movements and geology were mapped in the field to establish a mass movement inventory and a geological map. Land use and digital elevation model (DEM) were obtained from remote-sensing data. We determined the relation between mass movements and the conditioning factors by using the frequency ratio method and found strong relation between mass movements and both natural and human-influenced conditioning factors.