Geological impact of the Three Gorges Reservoir on the Yangtze River in China

The Three Gorges Reservoir (TGR), located on the Yangtze River in China, currently holds the title as the biggest man-made water reservoir in the world. However, with its unprecedented size, construction has brought with it natural gas blowout incidents in nearby mining wells, a geological phenomenon that had not been considered before. These incidents had resulted in the loss of hundreds of lives as well as millions of dollars in properties. Through investigation, various hypotheses which suggest that the blowouts were indeed related to the reservoir are proposed. In addition, TGR’s size has made it a suitable target for quantifying and understanding various well-established side-effects that result from the creation of new reservoirs. Such ‘common’ effects that are considered include reactivated landslides and reservoir-induced earthquakes. From this, it is proposed that initial impoundment of water increases landslide susceptibility for a period, whilst being independent of rainfall. From this paper, it could be better understood how large-scale reservoirs are able to impact surrounding areas geologically.