Relationship between continuous or discontinuous of controlling factors and landslide susceptibility in the high-cold mountainous areas, China

• The accuracy of landslide susceptibility influenced by controlling factor continuity and discontinuity was investigated. • A rapid assessment tool for landslide susceptibility has been proposed. • The geological potential risks driven by population migration were discussed. The continuity, discontinuity, and combination conditions of landslide triggering factors are critical issues that must be addressed in the process of calculating landslide susceptibility (LS). However, the different methods and factor combinations used to process these factors can significantly affect the accuracy and reliability of susceptibility results and disaster management. To explore this, the Xiying River Basin in the Qilian Mountains was selected as the study area. A combination of field investigations, 3S technology, conventional information value (CIV), Automatic Landslide Susceptibility Analysis software (ALSA), and random forest (RF) were used to calculate the weights of landslide-controlling factors and the LS. Additionally, the role of factor continuity and discontinuity within LS and the implications for disaster prevention and mitigation were further discussed. The results showed that the LS accuracy of ALSA consistently outperformed that of other methods across different factor combinations. The average accuracy of CIV, ALSA, and RF were 0.870, 0.923, and 0.894, respectively. The spatial distribution of LS generally showed similar patterns under different combinations of evaluation factors and methods. The relative importance of the factors under the 15-factor, 12-factor, and 9-factor conditions was similar, with road construction, rivers, surface temperature, and faults having a significant impact on landslide occurrence. Specifically, the weight of road construction was 16.49 %, 20.32 %, and 24.19 %, respectively, while the weight of rivers was 13.04 %, 12.83 %, and 16.58 %. Furthermore, ALSA demonstrated its ability to quickly classify continuous factors and assess landslide susceptibility, which is particularly useful in geological disaster response and relief operations. Additionally, in order to enhance the effectiveness of national poverty reduction policies, it is crucial to consider the increased geological disaster risks associated with population migration. As population density and wealth concentration grow in “Socialist New Countryside” areas, particularly in the western mountainous regions of China, the transition of potential geological disaster risks must be carefully managed.