The Formation Process of Badlands in Mudstone Areas in Southwest Taiwan

摘要

Plio-Pleistocene mudstone in the southwestern Taiwan is weathered and eroded very rapidly,forming badlands and causing many problems on environments and engineering construction.We measured the erosion rate and obtained the rates as large as 10 cm per year.We also analyzed the rock property changes according the depth from the slope surfaces and found the major cause of the rapid weathering and erosion is the iteration of wetting and drying near the slope surfaces.