Increasing irrigation-triggered landslide activity caused by intensive farming in deserts on three continents

Abstract

Population growth and agricultural intensification lead to stress on landscapes that are highly sensitive to land-use changes. An increase in irrigation-triggered landslides (ITL) in dry climates has negative impacts on local communities. However, evolution and global impacts of ITL are little-known. Here, we use Multi-Temporal Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (MT-InSAR), vectorization, and differential method to study surface deformation, ground displacement, and changes in headscarp morphology and topography in regions prone to ITL, aiming to uncover the evolution and spatiotemporal distribution of ITL. Findings show that the most severe surface deformation of ITL occurs on the landslide body. Meanwhile, the ITL displacement curve indicates the ITL will maintain continuous movement for at least 7 years, while ancient ITL also poses a threat. Moreover, the headscarp of ITL shows lateral expansion and longitudinal retrogression on the horizontal ground, whereby the scale of expansion is greater than that of retrogression, which transforms landslides into landslide clusters. Finally, the topographic changes further reveal that the main development pattern of ITL is lateral expansion. We suggest that the frequency and disaster-causing ability of ITL will increase greatly with further population growth and related intensification in the agricultural sector.