关键词: 黄土, 填埋场, 单一型土质覆盖层, 气候条件, 储水能力

Abstract: In Northwest China, the climate is mainly arid and semiarid and loess is widely distributed. This paper firstly presents the climate characteristics of three representative cities in Northwest China for nearly 50 years and the water storage capacities of the three types of loess. The water balance method proposed by Chen，Khire et al is used to evaluate the feasibility of using loess as soil cover material, and then the design thickness of monolithic loess soil cover is determined. The analyses demonstrate that: in Northwest China, hot rainy and the lush vegetation in summer compared with cold dry and the withered vegetation in winter , the intensities of precipitation and evapotranspiration have good synchronization, which is just application for soil cover. When the loess is used as soil cover material in the Northwest China, the design thickness of monolithic soil cover ranges from 0.54 to 1.92 m. The design thickness depends on the climate condition and the type of loess. From arid, semiarid to semihumid regions, the thickness becomes larger. For a given region, the design thickness for the silty loess is the least, and that for the sandy loess is the largest. The use of loess as soil cover material for landfills in Northwest China has advantages with respect to both technical and economical aspects. It is deserved to put the technique into engineering practice and call for more research.

Key words: loess, landfill, monolithic soil cover, climate condition, water storage capacity