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Causes and processes of mass wasting Mechanics of mass movements Classification of mass movements
Lecture 21
Landslide Hazards
Landslides in the US cause an annual loss of about $1.5 billion, >25 fatalities. The most expensive landslide in U.S. history occurred in Thistle, Utah, in 1983. >$500 million. The Loma Prieta earthquake in October 1989 triggered thousands of landslides. In addition to tens of millions of dollars of damage, landslides blocked transportation routes, greatly hampering rescue and relief efforts.
Examples of Damage by MW
www.fema.gov/fema/landslif.htmlgeohazards.cr.usgs.gov/html_files/nlicsun.html
Geomorphology
toe
Landslide in Japan
Rock Falls
Rock failure requires steep slopes and bedrock exposures Common in mountain belts and often triggered by earthquakes
Talus Deposits
Rock Slides
The rapid movement of large blocks of detached bedrock sliding more or less as a unit.
Rock Avalanches
slump
Loss of vegetation and root systems increases susceptibility of soils to erosion and mass movement
Earthquake Shaking
Mt Huascaran, Peru (before 1970)
Landslide models predict rainfall-caused slides will occur at the bottom of slopes (Italy) while earthquake-induced slides occur at the tops of slopes (El Salvador).
Debris Flows
Alluvial Fan!
top
bottom
Earth Flow/Landslide
Creep
Creep
Earth Flows
Take unconsolidated soil and sediment on moderate slope Add lots of water - Shake or Stir A fluid movement of relatively fine-grained material, e.g. soils, weathered shale, and clay.
Debris Flows
Take unconsolidated soil and sediment on moderate slope Add lots of water - Shake or Stir A fluid mass movement of rock fragments supported by a muddy matrix. May move a speeds of up to 100 km/hr!
Mud Flows
Take unconsolidated soil and sediment on moderate slope Add lots of water - Shake or Stir A flowing mass of material (mostly finer than sand, along with some rock debris) containing a large amount of water. It may travel large distances and high speeds, and carry particles as large as a house!
Debris slide Rock material and soil move largely as one or more units along planes of weakness
Landslides present significant hazard in particular during earthquakes and wet years Level of consolidation, pre-existing structure and water content play important role in slope failures Classification of mass movements
Falls, flows, and slides
Examples
Landslides occur at all scales, including some that we have not experienced yet in historic times
Photo by Kerry Sieh, Caltech
External causes:
Slope, removal of support, addition of mass, increasing water saturation, shaking
Internal causes:
Inherent material weakness, water, change in cohesion, structural weaknesses (anisotropy)
Undercutting Slopes
Adding load on top or removing support at bottom (by river or coastal erosion) can cause sliding
Sourgrass debris flow (Sierra Nevada, N. Fork of Stanislaus River), Jan 1, 1997
Deep-seated slump at Polhemus Rd. in San Mateo County. Began a few days after the 1997 New Years storm (sound familiar?), movement continued at an average rate of ~1 meter per day. Over 250,000 tons of rock and soil moved.
Angle of Repose
The maximum angle at which a pile of unconsolidated particles can rest. The angle of repose increases with increasing grain size
The cohesion between grains determines the angle of repose Depends on grain size, angularity, water Surface tension from water strengthens unconsolidated material BUT more water weakens unconsolidated material
shear
=C+(
normal -
Ppore) * tan
Internal friction
Shear resistance
Cohesion
Look familiar? Expanded version of Amonton-Coulomb Law ( s Cohesion represents inherent strength Normal stress represents the weight of slide mass Pore water pressure counteracts load Material frictional strength (angle of slide surface )
n)
Debris flow