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Numerical Modeling of the Climate Effect on

the Evolution of the Landslide of Ain El
Hammam (Algeria)

Article · January 2015

DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-09057-3_220

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Lynda Djerbal Bachir Melbouci

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Numerical Modeling of the Climate Effect on
the Evolution of the Landslide of Ain El
Hammam (Algeria)

Lynda DJERBAL1 and Bachir MELBOUCI1,2

1
Laboratory Geomaterials, Environment and Installations (LGEA), Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria.
2
University Mouloud Mammeri of Tizi-Ouzou (LGEA), Tizi-Ouzou, Algeria.

Climate action is one of the main causes of sliding of natural and artificial
slopes. The climate change that knows the Northern Algeria in recent years (pre-
cipitation rate often exceeds the seasonal average observed during the 1990s) con-
tributed significantly to the revival and the intense activity of several very large
landslides. The Ain El Hammam landslide is one of the most active cases knows
in the region of Tizi-Ouzou. It is an old movement, reactivated by heavy rainfall in
2005, which affects the town of Ain El Hammam and the downstream side the-
reof. The unstable area is spread over an area greater than 23 hectares and has im-
plemented three deformation mechanisms.
This communication is devoted to the study and numerical modeling of pro-
gressive failure of the Ain El Hammam slope under the effect of the climate varia-
bility and the fluctuations of the water table in this site. The results show the sig-
nificant effect of the water factor on the development, activity and the failure
growth of this landslide as well as the evolution of the safety factor as a function
of these parameters. Moreover, the results represent adequately the morphology
and activity of the movement observed on the site.

Keywords: Landslide, Climate, Modeling, Safety factor, Movement structure.

1 Introduction

Climate change that knows northern Algeria since a few years, contributed to the
reactivation of several landslides. The region of Tizi-Ouzou was known an intense
activity of instabilities since 2009 that affected several towns and villages such as:
Azazga, Ain El Hammam, Azzefoun, Tala Allam, Tigzirt, etc (Fig. 1).
The town of Ain El Hammam, located at about 50 km south-east of Tizi-
Ouzou, is characterized by a Mediterranean continental climate. It is affected,
since December 1969, by an active and extensive landslide. The activity and the
extent of the landslide have seen a significant increase past few years. This in-
crease is due to the harsh winters that know the region in recent years.
2

Fig. 1 The most towns affected by active landslides in the region of Tizi-
Ouzou.

2 Presentation of the instability

The landslide of the centre town of Ain El Hammam affects an area greater than
23 hectares (Djerbal and Melbouci, 2012). It affects a slope composed mainly of
altered shale formations (Table 1 and Fig. 4). This instability is very complex (it
results from the nesting of several sliding surfaces forming a plane sliding) and
implements three deformation mechanisms. The activity of this landslide is clearly
influenced by the climate and the hydrology of Ain El Hammam region.

Table 1: Recapitulation of geotechnical characteristics of the soil layers (Accord-

ing to the report of GEOMICA, 2009).

γd γh Wl Ip C’ φ’ Vs
Soil layers
(KN/m3) ((KN/m3) (%) (%) (KPa) (°) (m/s)
Embankment 17.9 19 24 3.4 17 36.8 160
Debris of shale 20.2 21.5 19 7.3 34 36.8 285
Altered shale 23.1 24.5 / / 58 35.4 394.7
Satin shale 23.2 24 / / 2000 14.3 1950

3 Hydro-climatology action on the slope of Ain El Hammam

The climate of Ain El Hammam, characterized by a periods of heavy rainfall

which lasts five to six months and a significant snow cover, has contributed sig-
nificantly to the reactivation of the landslide of the center town. In fact, all phases
of reactivation of movement are related to extreme weather events or specific wa-
 3

ter conditions (such as the rupture of a sewage system). Water acts with different
ways on the stability of the slope (Fig. 2):
- Action of water on the motive force (increases of the formations weight
and the pore pressure);
- Action of water on the geometry of the slope (effect of runoff);
- Action of water on the shale formation.

Q1: Component of water infiltration.

Q2: Component of the water runoff.
Q3: Component of the accidental infiltration of
water through the cracks due to the landslide.
Q4: Component of water infiltration through the
dip plans of the shale bedrock.

Fig. 2 The main components of the hydric factor in the stability of the hill of
Ain El Hammam.

4 Numerical modeling of water table fluctuations

The modeling of Ain El Hammam landslide is performed using the computer code
PLAXIS 2D. The numerical analysis is realized by taking into account fluctua-
tions of the water table observed in this site in recent years. The choice of litholog-
ical profile of the site constitutes an important step for the numerical modeling of
the problem. The field observation coupled with the analysis of geological and
morphological context of this site led the definition of a hypothetical profile of the
slope. The selected profile crossing point the two drilling cores SC02 and SC04
and spread over a length of about 850 m (Fig. 3 and 4).

0 100 200 m

Fig. 3 Implementation of the mod- Fig. 4 The unstable slope profile

eled profile. (Djerbal, 2013).
4

4.1 Presentation of the model

The mesh chosen for this calculation is constituted by triangular elements at 15

nodes (the studied profile contains 6259 elements). The boundary conditions
adopted for this model (Fig. 4) let to fix the vertical lines where the abscissa is
equal to the smallest or the largest of the abscissa of the model in the horizontal
direction and the horizontal lines for which the ordinates are equal to the smallest
of the ordinates of the model in the horizontal and vertical directions.
The Mohr-Coulomb model is chosen for modeling the surface layers (em-
bankment, superficial recovery and altered shale). This model requires the know-
ledge of the Young's modulus E, the Poisson ratio ν, cohesion C’, the friction an-
gle φ’ and the dilation angle ψ. Otherwise, the jointed rock model is chosen to
represent the bedrock that has a schistose structure (because this model takes into
account the anisotropy of the material modeled).

4.2 Stability study

Analysis of slope stability can be achieved using the PLAXIS 2D software using
the method of reduction of shear strength parameters (Brinkgreve R.B.J. and al.,
2003). The study slope of the center town of Ain El Hammam under the effect of
hydric factor (fluctuations of the water table depending on the season) is per-
formed in three cycles. The first phase of this modeling is performed taking into
account the profile and conditions (water table that is 10 m deep) observed in this
site on June 2009. Each hydrologic cycle consists of four phases of calculation
which represent varying levels of the water table (these are the following levels of
water respectively: at 10 m from the ground level, at 5 m from the ground level, at
the natural ground level and at 5 m from the ground level). Moreover, each phase
of the modeling is realized by taking into account the deformed profile of the pre-
vious phase.

4.3 Results and discussion

The results show the strong influence of fluctuations of water table levels on the
activity and the evolution of Ain El Hammam's landslide (Fig. 8, 9 and 10) and
safety factor (Fig. 5). The maximum displacement obtained after the completion
of the three hydric cycles is greater than 6.8 m (Fig. 6); it affects the boulevard
Amirouche and market area. The structure of this landslide is very complex, it is
the result of the joint and the superposition of several sliding surfaces that form a
flat surface of sliding (Fig. 7). The calculation results, of the progressive failure of
 5

the slope, indicate that this landslide is characterized by periods of slow motion
that correspond to a water table depth of about 10 m. The drawdown of the water
table to a depth of 10 m from the natural ground level has increased the safety fac-
tor of about 30%, but remains insufficient to ensure the stability of the slope.
Moreover, these results adequately represent the morphology and kinematics of
the landslide observed in situ.

Fig. 5 Evolution of the safety factor. Fig. 6 Global deformation of the un-
stable slope.

Fig. 7 Propagation of the sliding sur- Fig. 8 Horizontal displacements ob-

faces. tained for the cycle 1.

Fig. 9 Horizontal displacements ob-

Fig. 10 Horizontal displacements ob-
tained for the cycle 2.
tained for the cycle 3.
 6

5 Conclusion

The unstable slope of Ain El Hammam has undergone several deformation me-
chanisms that give to the site a look in bleachers. It is a slow landslide characte-
rized by quiet periods (in summer) and periods of acceleration of movement which
correspond to periods of heavy rainfall represented by an increase in the level of
the water table. In addition, the history of this instability has shown the existence
of a close relationship between the activity of movement and climate (rainfall).
The results of numerical modeling have also highlighted this relationship and de-
monstrating that this landslide is characterized by a hydraulic control.

6 Bibliographie

Brinkgreve R.B.J., Al-Khoury R., Bakker K.J., Bounnier P.G., Brand P.J.W.,
Broere W., Burd H.J., Soltys G., Vermeer P.A., Waterman D., Simon B., Bern-
hardt V. and Reboul M. (2003) – PLAXIS version 8 : Manuel de référence –
PLAXIS b.v. P.O. Box 572, 2600 AN DELFT, The Netherlands, ISBN 90-
808079-3-1, 194 p.
Djerbal L. (2013) – analyse des mécanismes de déformation et de la rupture pro-
gressive du versant instable d’Ain El Hammam – PhD thesis, University of Ti-
zi-Ouzou (Algeria), 246 p.
Djerbal L. and Melbouci B. (2012) - Le glissement de terrain d’Ain El Hammam
(Algérie) : causes et évolution – Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Envi-
ronment, Vol. 71, pp. 587-597.
GEOMICA (2009) – Étude géotechnique de la zone de tassement d’Ain El Ham-
mam (phase II) – Internal report.

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