Geologically complex regions more prone to landslides, study suggests

We know that steep slopes and heavy rain help to trigger landslides, but are some types of landscape more susceptible than others? A study suggests that geologically complex regions are more likely to produce landslides. Yifan Zhang, from the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment in Chengdu, China, and colleagues developed an index of geological complexity that combines four different geological components: lithologic complexity (number of different rock types per unit area); tectonic complexity (density of faults); seismicity (probability of earthquake activity); and structural complexity (how disordered the rock structures…

Student rescued from Mount Fuji twice in one week

A university student has been rescued from the slopes of Mount Fuji twice in the space of a week – the second time during an attempt to retrieve his mobile phone. The hapless climber, a 27-year-old Chinese national who has not been named, was airlifted from Japan’s highest mountain last week, only to be the subject of a second search four days later. It emerged that he had returned to the scene of his first rescue to retrieve his phone, Japanese media reported. The student, who lives in Japan, was…

My path to inner peace, via ‘Dalifornia’ in southwest China

Nine months after I moved to Dali, in the autumn of 2020, I finally set off to climb Cangshan, the high mountain which towers over this valley in southwest China. Each morning, I had looked up at the top of its imposing ridge line, 2,000m above the village of Silver Bridge, north of Dali’s historic old town, that for a while I called home. Eighteen glacial gorges separated the 19 peaks, each carved by a running stream. Ever since moving there, I had fantasised about standing on top of that…