000170441 001__ 170441
000170441 005__ 20260420103355.0
000170441 0247_ $$2doi$$a10.5194/essd-18-2093-2026
000170441 0248_ $$2sideral$$a148921
000170441 037__ $$aART-2026-148921
000170441 041__ $$aeng
000170441 100__ $$aHu, Sheng
000170441 245__ $$aSpatial and morphometric analysis of a comprehensive dataset of loess sinkholes from a small basin in the Chinese Loess Plateau
000170441 260__ $$c2026
000170441 5060_ $$aAccess copy available to the general public$$fUnrestricted
000170441 5203_ $$aFrom a global perspective, the basic mapping and investigation of the loess sinkholes are far less extensive and in-depth than those of karst sinkholes. To some extent, this has limited people's understanding of the morphological characteristics, development patterns, and formation mechanisms of the loess sinkholes. The Chinese Loess Plateau (CLP) features the most typical loess landforms in the world, where tens of thousands of loess sinkholes have developed. However, due to the lack of high-precision and high-resolution survey data, the identification, characterization, and quantification of sinkholes in the CLP are basically blank, which significantly hinders in-depth research on loess sinkholes. In this study, we investigated a typical watershed in the CLP using photogrammetry, airborne laser scanning, and a handheld laser scanner. Based on previous studies, this paper introduces indices and methods for the morphological quantification of loess sinkholes and constructs the first-ever dataset of loess sinkhole morphology containing 1194 records at the basin scale. On this basis, we completed the spatial mapping of loess sinkholes, analysis of distribution patterns, morphological analysis, size-frequency analysis, fitting analysis of different parameters, estimation of subsurface soil erosion, in-depth investigation of typical sinkholes, and quantification of the contributions of different factors to sinkhole development. These efforts provide rich information for a deeper understanding of the morphological characteristics and genesis of loess sinkholes and offer data support for comparative studies with sinkholes in other regions. More importantly, we preliminarily estimate that the subsurface soil erosion triggered by sinkholes in the study area reaches as high as 345 000 metric tons. This finding underscores that loess sinkholes are not only a geological disaster but also a serious form of soil loss, highlighting their undeniable significance in regional soil erosion studies and laying a solid foundation for subsequent research and disaster prevention efforts. Furthermore, we suggest that the integration of airborne laser scanning and handheld laser scanning may represent a new trend in the detailed investigation of sinkholes in the future. This dataset is available on the Zenodo platform (https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14000267, Hu et al., 2025).
000170441 536__ $$9info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/E02-23R
000170441 540__ $$9info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess$$aby$$uhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.es
000170441 655_4 $$ainfo:eu-repo/semantics/article$$vinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
000170441 700__ $$0(orcid)0000-0002-5407-940X$$aGutiérrez, Francisco$$uUniversidad de Zaragoza
000170441 700__ $$aZhang, Fanyu
000170441 700__ $$aLi, Sisi
000170441 700__ $$aWang, Ninglian
000170441 700__ $$aLi, Xi-an
000170441 700__ $$aWang, Xingang
000170441 700__ $$aSun, Jinhui
000170441 700__ $$aWu, Songbai
000170441 7102_ $$12000$$2427$$aUniversidad de Zaragoza$$bDpto. Ciencias de la Tierra$$cÁrea Geodinámica Externa
000170441 773__ $$g18, 3 (2026), 2093-2118$$pEarth syst. sci. data$$tEARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE DATA$$x1866-3508
000170441 8564_ $$s1773352$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/170441/files/texto_completo.pdf$$yVersión publicada
000170441 8564_ $$s2599019$$uhttps://zaguan.unizar.es/record/170441/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon$$xicon$$yVersión publicada
000170441 909CO $$ooai:zaguan.unizar.es:170441$$particulos$$pdriver
000170441 951__ $$a2026-04-18-10:49:38
000170441 980__ $$aARTICLE