Landslide Survey at Cam Mountain (An Giang, Vietnam) by Seismic Refraction and GPR Methods

Abstract

cam Mountain in An Giang Province, Vietnam, is a granite peak that is severely fractured and eroded on its slopes and summit. Trees cover the top of the mountain and around the side of the mountain. The roads are the primary means of transportation for indigenous people and tourists daily. Recently, there has been a phenomenon of large-sized boulders rolling down from the top of the mountain, causing an accident and killing tourists. To investigate the internal causes of landslides on a 2.3 km road stretch, geophysical profiles using GPR and seismic refraction methods were conducted to clarify the current status of geological structures beneath the road surface. The refractive seismic data analysis revealed four distinct layers based on elastic wave propagation velocity. Velocity values range from 1000 to 3000 m/s for the 2 upper layers corresponding to the weathered, broken, and highly fractured rock layers and in the lower 2 layers from 3000 to more than 4500 m/s, respectively corresponding to less fractured rock on the depth of more than 50 m. According to GPR data, the structural cross-section to an average depth of 30 m is a more complex picture. Detected 6 layers with different degrees of fracture cracking and showing different structural zones. in a few places are the drainage creeks from the mountain. These places need to be monitored regularly to have a basis for predicting landslides and rockfalls in the area of cam Mountain. Landslides occur in geological rocks which are of different ages: claystone, mudstone, siltstone, shale, or marlstone. The rock-falls occur in more compact rocks: metamorphic or igneous rocks.