Loess Cave Formation Mechanism Study

Loess cave is one of the main problems of engineering geology in collapsible loess area. With the promotion day by day of construction of the West Region, its hazard to construction becomes more and more remarkable. It is imperative to clarify its mechanism of origin cause of formation in order to make prevention and cure in accordance with own characteristic. Combining the western traffic project, this paper researches the cause of formation of loess cave.Collapsible loess is the base of loess cave growth. The research of loess collapsibility is beneficial to the research of its cause of formation. Thus synthesizing forefathers' results and our datum of experimentation, firstly this paper systematically researches characteristic of collapsible loess distribution and collapsible reason and mechanism.Investigating loess cave in collapsible loess of middle reaches of the Yellow River, the paper summarizes loess cave basic characteristic and regularities of distribution. Thereafter, based on investigation and experiment, analyzes loess tunnel growth's factors, especially researches relation of collapsibility and formation of loess cave. Based on loess collapsible mechanism, this paper analyzes how macro collapse and microcosmic collapse affect formation of loess cave.Lastly this paper synthesizes every factor that affect the cause of formation of loess cave. Mainly analyzes how water relies on every advantageous factor to corrode loess in order to form loess cave. In addition, analyzes functions of a few water power corrosion manners in loess cave growth's different stage. On the base of that, this paper systematically researches formation and development of loess tunnel.