Central Geological Survey, MOEA

About: Central Geological Survey, MOEA is a government organization based out in Taipei, Taiwan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Landslide & Fault (geology). The organization has 68 authors who have published 81 publications receiving 2037 citations. The organization is also known as: Jīngjì Bù Zhōngyāng Dìzhí Diàochá Suǒ.

Seismo-Geochemical Variations in SW Taiwan: Multi-Parameter Automatic Gas Monitoring Results

Abstract: Gas variations of many mud volcanoes and hot springs distributed along the tectonic sutures in southwestern Taiwan are considered to be sensitive to the earthquake activity. Therefore, a multi-parameter automatic gas station was built on the bank of one of the largest mud-pools at an active fault zone of southwestern Taiwan, for continuous monitoring of CO2, CH4, N2 and H2O, the major constituents of its bubbling gases. During the year round monitoring from October 2001 to October 2002, the gas composition, especially, CH4 and CO2, of the mud pool showed significant variations. Taking the CO2/CH4 ratio as the main indicator, anomalous variations can be recognized from a few days to a few weeks before earthquakes and correlated well with those with a local magnitude >4.0 and local intensities >2. It is concluded that the gas composition in the area is sensitive to the local crustal stress/strain and is worthy to conduct real-time monitoring for the seismo-geochemical precursors.

Application of a multi-temporal, LiDAR-derived, digital terrain model in a landslide-volume estimation

Abstract: Sediments produced by landslides are crucial in the sediment yield of a catchment, debris flow forecasting, and related hazard assessment. On a regional scale, however, it is difficult and time consuming to measure the volumes of such sediment. This paper uses a LiDAR-derived digital terrain model (DTM) taken in 2005 and 2010 (at 2 m resolution) to accurately obtain landslide-induced sediment volumes that resulted from a single catastrophic typhoon event in a heavily forested mountainous area of Taiwan. The landslides induced by Typhoon Morakot are mapped by comparison of 25 cm resolution aerial photographs taken before and after the typhoon in an 83.6 km2 study area. Each landslide volume is calculated by subtraction of the 2005 DTM from the 2010 DTM, and the scaling relationship between landslide area and its volume are further regressed. The relationship between volume and area are also determined for all the disturbed areas (VL = 0.452AL1.242) and for the crown areas of the landslides (VL = 2.510AL1.206). The uncertainty in estimated volume caused by use of the LiDAR DTMs is discussed, and the error in absolute volume estimation for landslides with an area >105 m2 is within 20%. The volume–area relationship obtained in this study is also validated in 11 small to medium-sized catchments located outside the study area, and there is good agreement between the calculation from DTMs and the regression formula. By comparison of debris volumes estimated in this study with previous work, it is found that a wider volume variation exists that is directly proportional to the landslide area, especially under a higher scaling exponent. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.