ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Geoheritage Features in Xi’an, China: Cuihua Rock AvalancheLikely Originating from an Ancient Earthquake

Genlong Wang

Received: 28 March 2014 /Accepted: 28 August 2014# The European Association for Conservation of the Geological Heritage 2014

Abstract The Cuihua rock avalanche, which has been verywell preserved for thousands of years, is known as a geolog-ical museum in China. It includes a stone sea, residual cliffs,and a dammed lake that occupies a total area of 0.83 km2.Historically, it was viewed as a “royal garden” within thisregion of China. Now, it is one of the most famous sightseeingspots in Xi’an. Recent field investigations, discrete elementmethod (DEM), and lichen dating have revealed some inter-esting information about the rock avalanche features. Resultsshow that the Cuihua rock avalanche coincided with an ancientearthquake of 780 BC that triggered the landslide. Structuralplanes (e.g., joints in the granite) and topographic amplification(e.g., hill or steep slope) were among the conditions that werefavorable for the occurrence of the rock avalanche. The featuresof the Cuihua rock avalanche (e.g., Shuiqiu Pool, Cuihua Peak,WindCave, Ice Cave) have great value as tourist attractions andare surrounded by other features (e.g., rock sword, stone statueof Taiyi God, stone camel, stone toad) that can be visualized byvisitors with an aesthetic imagination. In addition, the geologicfeatures are of high scientific significance for researchersinterested in earthquake-induced landslides.

Keywords Geosites . Rock avalanche . Dammed lake .

Residual peaks . Earthquake

Introduction

Xi’an, located at N 34° 16′, E 108° 56′, is not only one of theoldest capital cities in Chinese history but also a well-known

city for tourism in modern Chinese society (Wang 1990).Cuihua Mountain National Geological Park, which is 30 kmsouth of Xi’an, China, is famous because of the unique rockavalanche features (Lu and Zhang 2008). Weidinger et al.(2002) reported that the rock avalanche is a rare example ofa landslide that is preserved in rock features (Fig. 1), whereone can walk and climb for several hours within the deposit bycrossing joints, structures, and caves. Consequently, re-nowned for its unique and unusual rock avalanche topogra-phy, it is known as a geological museum or miracle scenery ofrock avalanche in China.

Typically, geoheritages (e.g., geological sections, fossilizedremains, geomorphologic landscapes, geohazard relics) arethe results of the endogenic and exogenic geological processesthat occurred over geological time (Vdovets et al. 2010;Kazancı 2012; Ghazi et al. 2013). Many geoheritages areimportant from both a geological and scientific viewpoint;therefore, much attention has been given to the study ofgeohazard relics (Sassa 1998; Bromhead et al. 2006;D’Amato et al. 2006; Lollino and Audisio 2006; Tosatti2008; Borgatti and Tosatti 2010; Borgatti and Tosatti 2010;Binal and Ercanoğlu 2010). Although a geohazard (e.g., land-slide) may lead to some damage or risk, it can become a touristattraction after many years of stability. Generally, the landslideclassification of Varnes (1978) is an internationally acceptedclassification that has been modified by Hutchinson (1988),Cruden and Varnes (1996), and Hungr et al. (2001).According to the modified classification, a rock avalanchecan be defined as a landslide with extremely rapid, massive,flow-like motion of fragmented rock from a large rock slide orrock fall. Because of this, the landslide is referred to as“Cuihua rock avalanche” in this study.

The Cuihua rock avalanche is the largest one in China andthe third largest in the world, after the USOI Rock Avalanchein Tajikistan and the Waikaremoana Rock Avalanche in NewZealand (Qinling Zhongnanshan Global Geopark 2012).

G. Wang (*)Key Laboratory of Geo-hazards in Loess Area, Xi’an Centerof Geological Survey, China Geological Survey, Xi’an,Shaanxi Province, People’s Republic of Chinae-mail: wang2006@mail.iggcas.ac.cn

GeoheritageDOI 10.1007/s12371-014-0132-x

According to historical documents, the occurrence of theCuihua rock avalanche could be correlated with an ancientearthquake of 780 BC that triggered the landslide (Nan and Cui2000; Wu and Peng 2001; He et al. 2005; Guo 2005; Li et al.2007). Although more than 2,700 years have passed, thegeomorphic patterns in the area of the Cuihua rock avalancheare mostly intact and well preserved, including a stone sea, adammed lake, and cliffs. In fact, the Cuihua rock avalanche isa good example of a natural geologic feature that has with-stood the pressures of modern development and beenprotected by Chinese society as a geohazard relic.

In this study, some characteristics of the Cuihua rockavalanche were examined by means of field investigations,and several typical geosites in the region were analyzed fortheir tourism value. Furthermore, the cause of the rock ava-lanche related with an ancient earthquake was also discussed.

Study Area

The Cuihua Mountain is located in the north slope of QinlingMountains (Fig. 2), with elevations ranging from 1,000 to

Fig. 1 The IKONOS satellite image of the Cuihua Rock Avalanche andthe dammed lake

Fig. 2 The location of the Cuihua rock avalanche in Shaanxi Province, China

Geoheritage

2,000 m (Zhao et al. 2009). Because of rapid incision, the areais characterized by rugged topography, steep and high moun-tains, and deep valleys. As a tributary of the Weihe River, theTaiyi River is one of the main rivers of the region. The Taiyiforms at the confluence of the Dongcha Valley and theZhengcha Valley, flows from south to north, and reaches amaximum length of 17 km. Since ancient times, the DonchaValley has been dammed by a large-scale landslide (i.e.,Cuihua rock avalanche), which formed a dammed lake (alsocalled Shuiqiu Pool or Tianchi Pool).

Generally speaking, the study area can be divided into twodifferent geomorphic units: (a) Weihe Plain in the north and(b) Qinling Mountains in the south. The rock features of thestudy area (see Fig. 3) are mainly composed of (A) the LowerProterozoic Qinling Group (Pt1Q), which is composed of fourclosely related but different lithologic sequences includinggneiss, amphibolite, metadolerite, and marble; (B) the lower

Paleozoic Erlangping Formations (Pz1E), which is mainlycomprised of marine volcanic rocks and sedimentary rocks;and (C) the migmatitic (monzonitic) granites (Tγm), whichwere either generated during the tectonic phase of Y’ngsan orduring the phase of Y’ngsi (Zhang et al. 2001). The granites ofCuihua Mountain have undergone intercontinental orogene-sis, magmatic activities, and strong compressional movementsduring the Mesozoic-Cenozoic. It should be noted that theCuihua rock avalanche is composed mainly of the granites. Inaddition, Quaternary (Q) deposits are widely distributed overriver terraces and alluvial fans in the Weihe Plain Fig. 4.

It is noted that the Qinling Piedmont Fault extended east-ward for over 310 km from Baoji to Tongguan and is thelargest and most intensely active fault in this area (Zhang et al.1995). The normal fault generally dips northward at dip anglesranging from 50 to 70°. Since the Oligocene when the WeiheBasin (i.e., Guanzhong Plain) began to sink and accept

Fig. 3 Geological map of the Cuihua Mountain and surrounding areas. 1Quaternary. 2Migmatitic (monzonitic) granite. 3 Lower Paleozoic ErlangpingFormation. 4 Lower Proterozoic Qinling Group. 5 River system. 6 Normal fault. 7 Attitude of strata. 8 Rock avalanche

Geoheritage

Fig. 4 Topographical map of the study area, and the landslide boundaries. 1 Contour lines. 2 Elevation point. 3 River system. 4 Boundaries of theCuihua rock avalanche. 5 Building

Geoheritage

sediment, the activity of the Qinling Piedmont Fault along thebasin margin has very strong (Seismological Bureau ofShaanxi Province 1996). Moreover, Zhang et al. (1995) re-ported that the activity of the Qinling Piedmont Fault isoutstanding in the Quaternary, especially since human activitybegan. The vertical differential movement rate of the faultreached 1.7–3.4 mm/a in the Holocene (Peng et al. 1992).Neotectonic structures within the region have been generatedand activated by a series of young and recent earthquakes.According to statistics of earthquakes in the Shaanxi Provinceof China from 1831 BC to 1969 AD, nineteen earthquakes withMs >5 have been registered around Xi’an. Among them, twoevents with Ms=8.0 occurred in Qishan County (about140 km west of Xi’an) in the year of BC 780 and HuaxianCounty (about 93 km east of Xi’an) in 1556 AD. The researchof Qi et al. (2010), Dai et al. (2011), and Wang (2014)indicated that the shaking motion within 10 km of thecoseismic fault was very strong at the time of the earthquake,and most of landslides (rock fall, rockslide, rock avalanche,etc.) occurred within the zone. It is noted that the distancebetween the Cuihua rock avalanche and the Qinling PiedmontFault is only 4.5 km.

The study area has a warm and subhumid monsoonclimate characterized by four distinct seasons (i.e., warmand hot, wet and cold corresponding to spring and sum-mer, autumn and winter, respectively). The annual averagetemperature is 10–13 °C, and the highest temperaturereaches 36 °C during the period from August toSeptember. The annual average precipitation ranges from600 to 1,284 mm in the region, with 75 % of the annualprecipitation falling from June to October.

Rock Avalanche Features

Geotourism Attractions

As mentioned above, the heritage sites of the Cuihua rockavalanche are mainly represented with a stone sea (i.e., de-posits of the rock avalanche), cliffs (i.e., steep back scarps),and a dammed lake (i.e., Shuiqiu Pool). Table 1 is the com-parison of geomorphic patterns of the Cuihua rock avalanchein China and the other two famous rock avalanches in foreigncountries. Some geosites in the region of the Cuihua rockavalanche have unique geological features that attract touristsfrom all over the world. Some of the geotourism attractions inthis area are described below.

Stone Sea

The rock avalanche (Fig. 4) is 720 m in length from southwestto northeast, 920 m in width from southeast to northwest, withan area of about 0.66 km2; because the thickness ranges from30 to 80 m, the total volume of the rock avalanche isabout 4×107 m3. Field investigations indicate that itsorientation is roughly perpendicular to the DongchaValley, with a dip direction of NEE. The lowest point(1,162.7 m a.s.l.) in the area of the rock avalanche islocated at the barrier dam, whereas the highest peak(named Cuihua Peak) is located on the top of the backscarp at an elevation of 1,414 m. The vertical intervalreaches as much as 250 m in a smaller area. Although theback scarp is very steep, the deposit of the rock avalancheis a gentle slope with a gradient of 15°; however, the

Table 1 Comparison of geomor-phic patterns of the Cuihua rockavalanche, Usoi rock avalanche,and Waikaremoana rockavalanche

No. Name Dammed lake Barrier dam Stone sea Cliff

1 Usoi, Tajikstan Yes Yes No No

2 Waikaremoana, New Zealand Yes Yes No No

3 Cuihua, China Yes Yes Yes Yes

Fig. 5 Stone Sea, in fact, is thedeposit of the Cuihua rockavalanche with total volume of4×107 m3

Geoheritage

ground surface is rugged owing to lots of different sizerocks.

After thousands of years, the deposits of the rock avalancheare intact and well preserved (Fig. 5). There is a large quantityof rocks with various sizes accumulated in valleys, thusforming the splendid Stone Sea. Field investigations indicatedthat the percentages of rocks with diameters of 5–10, 10–20,and 20–50 m account for 27.8, 14.8, and 6.8 %, respectively.Weidinger et al (2002) reported that the largest blocks reacheddimensions of 60–70 m in diameter. These blocks are not onlyvery big in size, but also angular and irregular in shape. Thesemutual superimposed big stones (i.e., mutual support) withchaotic arrangement constitute some marvelous caves that

have become famous geological relics such as “Wind Cave”and “Ice Cave.”

Wind Cave (Fig. 6) is formed by two big stonesmutually propping up as an inverted V-shaped patternwith a long and narrow air passage. Wind Cave is 40 mlong, 15 m high, and 2.5 m wide. A cold wind usuallygusts through the cave due to a “narrow pipe effect.” Insummer, due to a great difference of temperatures insideand outside the Wind Cave, the cave offers relief fromhigh summer temperatures.

Ice Cave is tortuous and extends underground for a totallength of about 120 m (Fig. 7). Because the temperature in IceCave can be up to 23 °C cooler than outdoor temperatures, it

Fig. 6 The “Wind Cave” is aninverted V-shaped joint throughtwo (formerly one) blocks, andthe cold wind usually guststhrough the cave due to a “narrowpipe effect”. a Wind Cave. b In-side view of Wind Cave

Fig. 7 The inside of Ice Cave canbe only −4 °C, and terribly coldduring June of a hot summer. aIce Cave. b Ice columns hangingon the ceiling of Ice Cave

Geoheritage

may retain ice in the early summer. According to historicrecords, during ancient times in China, the imperial familyoften fetched ice from Ice Cave in the summer season.

Many of the unique arrangements within the deposits ofrock avalanche are highly appreciated by visitors because theyprovide opportunities to use their aesthetic imagination. Forexample, a rock sword, a Chinese Taoist, a lying camel, and acrouching toad can all be visualized from the shapes andarrangements of rock outcrops (Fig. 8).

Dammed Lake

The dammed lake (Fig. 9) on Cuihua Mountain is usuallynamed the “Shuiqiu Pool,” and also called the “Tianchi Lake”(meaning the Sky Lake), which is shaped like a fusiform witha length about 600 m and a width ranging from 90 to 300 m,thus having an area of about 0.17 km2. The depth of the lakeranges from 7 to 10 m. According to historical records,Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty built a palace near thedammed lake in 109 BC to offer a sacrifice to the Taiyi God (aman in a Chinese mythological tale). Hence, the dammed lakehas lasted at least 2,120 years or more. Nowadays, thedammed lake plays an important role in touristic sightseeing,and is suitable for boating and fishing.

Residual Peaks and Back Scarps

Freeing surfaces that resulted from the rock avalanche arepresent in residual peaks, back scarps, and precipices thatare generally 100–250 m high (Fig. 10). The ridge ofCuihua Peak (1,414 m) stands in Cuihua Mountain, lookinglike an impregnable fortress. The west end of Cuihua Peak isflanked by steep cliffs with a height difference of up to 200 m.Along with the ridge, a long stone corridor (narrow paths), isnearly 1,000 m in length. It has been said that the Taiyi God(the residual peak), looks like an old Taoist scholar fixing hiseyes in endless space, stands alone on the top of the mountain.

Lichenometric Dating

Lichenometry was first used in the 1950s by a botanist namedBeschel (1961) to date pale-glacial extents in the Alps ofEurope. Since then, the dating method has been used in a widerange of mountain environments because it is inexpensive anddoes not require specific laboratory equipment. Nevertheless,few lichenometric studies have been completed for dating oflandslides. Examples include Goulden and Sauchyn (1986)who used lichenometry to date landslides in the CypressHills, Alberta-Saskatchewan, Canada, and Jomelli (2012)who used lichenometric dating to study the frequencies and

Fig. 8 Several individual rocksin the region of Stone Sea havegreat ornamental value andaesthetic imagination. a A rocksword. b A Chinese Taoist namedas ‘Taiyi God,’ which is a man inancient Chinese myths. c A lyingcamel. d A crouching toad

Geoheritage

changes of debris avalanches of the La Sella valley, Alps,France.

In the Cuihua rock avalanche area, Xie and Xiao (1991)reported that Xanthoria elegans (commonly known as theelegant sunburst lichen) grows on rocks of the back scarps(Fig. 11). Two approaches were employed to measure thelichens in the study area (Table 2). One approach was tomeasure the diameter of dozens to hundreds of semicircularlichens on rock surfaces of the back scarps. The largest diam-eter measured, or the average of the five largest diameters (D)measured, can be used with empirical Eq. 1 (i.e., relationshipbetween mean lichen diameter and age) to obtain a surfaceage. Another approach was to measure the total lichen coveron a substrate. The total lichen cover (a) was then used withempirical Eq. 2 (i.e., relationship between total lichen coverand age) to obtain a surface age. According to the results oflichen dating (sampling from its back scarp), the age of theCuihua rock avalanche is about 3,000 years (Table 2).

According to historical records, there was a great earthquakein the Weihe Basin of the Shaanxi province in the second year(780 BC) of You King’s period of the West Zhou Dynasty. Theearthquake (Ms=8.0) resulted in drying of the Jinghe andWeihe Rivers and collapse of the Qishan plateau. The strongearthquake severely damaged the capital of the West ZhouDynasty (about 28 km south of the Cuihua rock avalanche),and the Emperor moves to Luoyang in the Henan province. So,by inference from literature records and lichen dating, theCuihua rock avalanche was triggered by the earthquake event.

Potential Triggering Mechanisms

Structural Planes

Generally speaking, a rock avalanche does not easily occurunder earthquake loading when a rock mass is intact and hard.

Fig. 9 An ancient earthquakeformed a barrier dam, creating adammed lake with an area of0.17 km2. a Photo taken from abank of the lake. b Photo takenfrom the peak of the CuihuaMountain

Geoheritage

Failures usually initiate and follow preexisting discontinuities(i.e., structural planes) rather than break through intact rocks.In other words, some structural planes (e.g., joints, beddingplanes, fractures, and small faults) of the rock mass play a keyrole in controlling the occurrence of a rock avalanche duringseismic events. Thus, it is the nature of the structural planes,

not the nature of intact rock, which governed the mechanicalbehavior of the rock avalanche.

Field investigations indicate that several sets of joints aredeveloped in the Cuihua Mountain migmatitic granite rockmasses. Making use of the measured dip and dip directions ofjoints, the contour plot of joint sets was plotted using DIPS

Fig. 10 Residual peaks and backscarps resulted from the Cuihuarock avalanche. a. Side view ofthe steep back scarp. b A longnarrow mountain path along theridge of Mt. Cuihua. c Panoramaof the back scarp of the rockavalanche. d Residual peak

Fig. 11 Lichen dating wasused to determine the age of theCuihua rock avalanche(photo by Xie (1991))

Geoheritage

(Version 5.01) (RocScience Inc. 1999). Based on these anal-yses, three major joint sets were found in the study area withdips/dip directions of 40–65°/70–85°, 60–70°/160–175°, and4–15°/266–278° (Fig. 12). The joints resulted from multi-periodic and complicated fault activities in the QinlinMountains. The first groups are almost parallel to the slope ofCuihua Peak (Fig. 13); therefore, they probably played a veryimportant role in the Cuihua rock avalanche. Furthermore, thesecond group of joints is almost perpendicular to the slope.Therefore, they probably played a role in formation of thelateral cutting plane. Finally, the third group of joints is arelatively flat, with dip angles of only 4–15°, so they probablyhad no significant effect on the rock avalanche.

Topographic Amplification

Currently, there are two types of dynamic simulation methodsfor landslides. The first method (continuous numerical

method) is based on the application of either the finite elementmethod (FEM) or the finite difference method (FDM). Thesecond method (discontinuous numerical method) is usuallyimplemented with the distinct element method (DEM), wherea rock mass is represented as an assembly of blocks and jointsas interfaces between the blocks (Cundall 1971). In particular,as a fully dynamic analysis, the universal distinct elementcode (UDEC) has been successfully applied to analyze rock-structure interaction brought about by seismic loading.Genevois et al. (2006) used the distinct element 2D code(UDEC) to simulate three rock avalanches in the northeasternItalian Alps. Cui et al. (2009) made use of the UDEC numer-ical simulation method to model movement of avalanchesduring seismic events. In the study, a 2D numerical modelwas constructed using the UDEC 4.0 (Itasca 2005).

The Cuihua rock avalanche area is mainly characterized bygranite and migmatite rock masses, so, because of intersectingjoints, the rock mass is separated into different size blocks

Table 2 Results of lichenometry(after Xie and Xiao 1991). Lichenswere measured on the back scarpsof the Cuihua rock avalanche

Equation 1 Mean lichen diameter, D (mm) Lichen dates, T (years) Error of calculation

T = e−2.1698 + 1.894In(D) 196 2,506 ±426

Equation 2 Total lichen cover, a (mm2) Lichen dates, T (years) Error of calculation

T = 38.2594 + 0.0838a 30,172 2,573 ±334

Fig. 12 Contour plot of joint sets measured in the Cuihua Mountains

Geoheritage

from several meters to a few tens of meters. According to the(engineering) geologic conditions, the UDEC model is illus-trated in Fig. 14a. The model has a total length of 964.8 m, aheight difference of 350.7 m on the left side, and a heightdifference of 157.7 m on the right side.

An initial static gravitational equilibrium was reached be-fore applying the seismic wave. Then, viscous boundary andfree-field boundaries were applied to the bottom and thelateral boundaries, respectively. A typical earthquake recordwith peak ground acceleration (PGA) of 1.0 g and durationtime (t) of 45 s was chosen as the input seismic wave (Fig. 15).The entire numerical simulation lasted 60 s. The previous 45 shad dynamic input, and the last 15 s had no dynamic input.

Fig. 13 Cuihua peak (1,414 m) iscomposed of granite, which is cutand divided by several joint sets

Fig. 14 The Cuihua rock avalanche simulated by the dynamic discreteelement method before and after the ancient earthquake of 780 BC. aUDECmodel for the Cuihua rock avalanche before input wave. b Failurestate after earthquake loading

Fig. 15 Input wave with horizontal PGA=1.0 g and duration time=45 sapplied at the bottom of the model

Geoheritage

The results of numerical simulation showed that the nu-merous rocks formed the Stone Sea with some caves, and theyblocked up the Dongcha Valley and formed a dammed lake(Fig. 14b). Furthermore, topographical amplification of theground motion was very obvious. Figure 16 is the monitoringcurve of horizontal acceleration corresponding to the moni-toring point at the peak of the slope. In comparison with theinput wave (horizontal PGA=1.0 g), the horizontal PGA at thepeak of the slope reached 2.0 g. Previous research (Houghet al. 2010; Kailser et al. 2013; Dai and Li 2014) also revealedthat the topographic features, such as cliffs, isolated hills, andthin mountain ridges gave significant amplifications, andmany failures of steep rock slopes are attributed to the topo-graphic amplifications. According to Ibetsberger andWeidinger (1997), the eastern flank of the Cuihua Peak musthave reached a dip of more than 80°. Therefore, it can beestimated that the topographic amplification also was a con-tributing factor to the Cuihua rock avalanche.

Conclusions

The Cuihua rock avalanche is a geoheritage site that is related toan historic earthquake landslide. It was historically viewed asthe “royal garden,” partly because of its unique geologic fea-tures. Today, it is one of the most famous sightseeing spots inXi’an and is visited by thousands of tourists and researchersevery year. The Cuihua rock avalanche has unique geologicalfeatures and is worthy of admiration for its beautiful landscapes,but also for geological entities of special scientific importance.Some of the main features of interest include the following:

– Heritage sites of the Cuihua rock avalanche include thestone sea, residual cliffs, and dammed lake occupying atotal area of 0.83 km2.

– Based on lichen dating and historical documents, theoccurrence of the Cuihua rock avalanche could be corre-lated with an ancient earthquake of 780 BC that probablytriggered the landslide.

– Structural planes (e.g., joints in granite) and topographicamplification (e.g., hills or steep slopes) were probablycontributing factors to the Cuihua rock avalanche.

– The rock avalanche has great ornamental value and aes-thetic beauty that is highly valued by tourists, while alsoholding scientific significance for researchers examiningthe geologic history of the region.

Acknowledgments This work was supported by the Opening Fund ofKey Laboratory ofWesternMineral Resources andGeological Engineeringof Ministry of Education (Chang’an University) (no. 2013G1502008) andthe Science Innovation Projects of Shaanxi Province (no. 2011KTZB03-02-01). The author would like to thank Professor Peng JB, Dr. LV Y andDing H for their constructive comments that have contributed to improvethe manuscript. We thank LetPub for its linguistic assistance during thepreparation of this manuscript. Finally, the author would like to thank theEditor-in-Chief Kevin Page for his valuable comments on an earlier draft ofthis paper.

References

Beschel RE (1961) Dating of rock surfaces by lichen growth and itsapplication to glaciology and physiography (lichenometry). In:Raasch GO (ed) Geology of the arctic II. 1st InternationalProceedings, Arctic Geology, 1960. University of Toronto Press,Toronto, pp 1044–1062

Binal A, ErcanoğluM (2010) Assessment of rockfall potential in the Kula(Manis, Turkey) Geopark Region. Environ Earth Sci 61:1361–1373

Borgatti L, Tosatti G (2010) Slope instability processes affecting thePietra Di Bismantova geosite (Northern Apennines, Italy).Geoheritage 2:155–168

Bromhead EN, Canuti P, Ibsen ML (2006) Landslides and culturalheritage. Landslides 3(4):273–274

Cruden DM, Varnes DJ (1996) Landslide types and processes. In: TurnerAK, Schuster RL (eds) Landslides. Investigation and mitigation.Special Report 247. Transportation Research Board, NationalResearch Council, Washington, pp 36–75

Cui FP, Hu RL, Yin YP, Xu Q, Zhang M (2009) Numerical simulation ofslope collapsing and sliding due to single or combined actions ofseismic and waves with time difference. J Eng Geol 17(4):455–462(in Chinese with English abstract)

Cundall PA (1971) A computer model for simulating progressive large scalemovements in blocky rock systems. In: Proceedings of the symposiumof the international society of rock mechanics, Nancy, France

Dai ZJ, Li XJ (2014) An explanation of the large PGAvalue of 2013 Ms7.0 Lushan earthquake at 51BXD station through topographic anal-ysis. Earthq Sci. doi: 10.1007/s11589-013-0043-y

Dai FC, XuC,YaoX,XuL, TuXB,GongQM (2011) Spatial distributionof landslides triggered by the 2008 Ms 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake,China. J Asian Earth Sci 40:883–895

D’Amato Avanzi G, Marchetti D, Puccinelli A (2006) Cultural heritageand geological hazards: the case of the Calomini hermitage inTuscany (Italy). Landslides 3(4):331–340

Genevois R, Armento C, Tecca PR (2006) Failure mechanisms andrunout behaviour of three rock avalanches in the north-easternItalian Alps. In: Evans SG, Scarascia Mugnozza G, Strom AL,

Fig. 16 Curve of the horizontal acceleration (PGA=2.0 g) correspondingto the monitoring point on the top of the model

Geoheritage

Hermanns RL (eds) Landslides from massive rock slope failure.NATO science series IV: earth and environmental sciences, 49.Springer, Dordrecht, pp 407–427

Ghazi JM, Ólafsdóttir R, Tongkul R, Ghazi JM (2013) Geological fea-tures for geotourism in the western part of Sahand volcano, NWIran. Geoheritage 5:23–34

Goulden MR, Sauchyn DJ (1986) Age of rotational landslides in thecypress hills, Alberta-Saskatchewan. Géogr Phys Quat 40:239–248

Guo LY (2005) Shaanxi Cuihuashan landslide landscape and itsprotection. J Fujian Norm Univ (Nat Sci Ed) 21(1):103–106,111 (in Chinese with English abstract)

He MJ, Sun GN, Song YM (2005) Study on the formation causes of thegeologic landscape relics in the Cuihuashan Mountain NationalGeo-Park in Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province. Arid Land Geography28(2):145–149 (in Chinese with English abstract)

Hough SE, Altidor JR, Anglade D, Given D, Janvier MG, Maharrey JZ,Meremonte M, Mildor BS-L, Prepetit C, Yong A (2010) Localizeddamage caused by topographic amplification during the 2010M7.0Haiti earthquake. Nat Geosci 3(11):778–782

Hungr O, Evans SG, Bovis MJ, Hutchinson JN (2001) A review of theclassification of landslides of the flow type. Environ Eng Geosci 7:221–238

Hutchinson JN (1988) Mass movement. In: Fairbridge RW (ed)Encyclopedia geomorphology. Reinhold Book Corp, New York,pp 688–696

Ibetsberger HJ, Weidinger JT (1997) Geomorphic hazard studies oftwo big landslide areas (Langthang Himal—Nepal, Qin LingMountains—P. R. China). In: ‘97 North-East Asia Symposiumand Field Workshop on Landslides and Debris Flows, 17–23July 1997, Yichang-Chongqing, China, Abstract Volume. Journalof Gansu Sciences, Supplement 9(36):109–112

Itasca (2005) UDEC-Universal Distinct Element Code (Version 4.0).Itasca Consulting Group, Inc, Minneapolis

Jomelli V (2012) Lichenometric dating of debris avalanche deposits withan example from the French Alps. In: Schneuwly-Bollschweiler M,Stoffel M, Rudolf-Miklau M (eds) Dating torrential processes onfans and cones - methods and their application for hazard and riskassessment. Advances in global change research. Springer,Dordrecht, pp 211–224

Kailser A, Holden C, Massey C (2013) Determination of site amplifica-tion, polarization and topographic effects in the seismic response ofthe port hills following the 2011 Christchurch earthquake. NZSEEConference, Wellington

Kazancı N (2012) Geological background and three vulnerable geositesof the Kızılcahamam–Çamlıdere Geopark Project in Ankara,Turkey. Geoheritage 4:249–261

Li ZS, Ding B, Wang T (2007) The analysis of collapsed scenery ofCuihua Mountains. J Northwest Univ (Nat Soc Ed) 37(6):912–916(in Chinese with English abstract)

Lollino G, Audisio C (2006) UNESCO world heritage sites in Italyaffected by geological problems, specifically landslides and floodhazards. Landslides 3(4):311–321

Lu XW, Zhang XL (2008) 226Ra, 232Th and 40K activities in soils ofCuihua Mountain National Geological Park, China. Environ Geol56:353–357

Nan L, Cui ZJ (2000) The deposit characteristics of the paleo-avalanche landslide in Xi’an Cuihua Mountain and analysis ofits generative process. J Mt Sci 18(6):502–507 (in Chinese withEnglish abstract)

Peng JB, Zhang J, Su SR, Mi FS (1992) Active faults and geologicalhazards in Weihe basin. Northwest University Press, Xi’an(in Chinese)

Qi SW, Xu Q, Lan HX, Zhang B, Liu JY (2010) Spatial distributionanalysis of landslides triggered by 2008.5.12Wenchuan earthquake,China. Eng Geol 116:95–108

Qinling Zhongnanshan Global Geopark (2012) The Cuihuashan scenicarea. http://www.qlzns.com/en/html/jqjs/chsjq.html

Rocscience Inc. (1999) Rock fall – computer program for risk analysis offalling rocks on steep slopes. Version 5.01, Toronto, Canada

Sassa K (1998) IGCP-425 Landslide hazard assessment and mitigationfor cultural heritage sites and other locations of high societal value.Landslide News 11:34–36

Tosatti G (2008) Slope instability affecting the Canossa geosite (northernApennines, Italy). Geogr Fis Din Quat 31(2):239–246

Varnes DJ (1978) Slope movement types and processes. In: Schuster RL,Krizek RJ (eds) Landslides analysis and control. Special Report 176.National Academy of Science, Transportation Research Board,Washington, pp 11–33

Vdovets MS, Silantiev VV, Mozzherin VV (2010) A national geopark inthe Republic of Tatarstan (Russia): a feasibility study. Geoheritage 2:25–37

Wang XJ (1990) Tourist geography of Xi’an. Geo J 21:147–153Wang GL (2014) Comparison of the landslides triggered by the 2013

Lushan earthquake with those triggered by the strong 2008Wenchuan earthquake in areas with high seismic intensities. BullEng Geol Environ. doi:10.1007/s10064-014-0574-z

Weidinger JT, Wang JD, Ma NX (2002) The earthquake-triggered rockavalanche of Cui Hua, Qin ling Mountains, P. R. of China―thebenefits of a lake-damming prehistoric natural disaster. Quat Int 93–94:207–214

Wu CJ, Peng YX (2001) The resource of geological remains by landslidein Cuihua Mountain, Xi’an and resource evaluation. J Mt Sci 19(4):359–362 (in Chinese with English abstract)

Xie XS, Xiao ZM (1991) The lichenometry in North China.Seismological Press, Beijing (in Chinese)

Zhang AL, Yang ZT, Zhong J, Mi FS (1995) Characteristics of latequaternary activity along the southern border fault zone of WeiheGraben Basin. Quat Int 25:25–31

Zhang GW, Zhang BR, Yuan XC (2001) Qinling belt and continentaldynamical. Science Press, Beijing (in Chinese)

Zhao JB, Wang CY, Jin ZD, Sun GZ, Xiao J (2009) Seasonal variation innature and chemical compositions of spring water in CuihuaMountain, Shaanxi Province, Central China. Environ Geol 57:1753–1760

Geoheritage