Landslides 1/ Contributing Factors for the Frank slide 1.

Geology - The mountain is a deeply eroded anticline of Paleozic limestones thrust over weaker Mesozic coal-bearing shales - Water infiltrates and dissolves the carbonates Decrease the stability 2. Glaciation - Glacial erosion steepened the slope of the mountain, reducing its strength 3. Mining - Coal mining at the base reduced the stability of the limestones higher on the mountain - Seams of coal mined in large openings deep in the mountain 4. Weather - Heavy snowfalls initially - Unusual warm temperature later - On the night of the slide, temperature dropped steeply - Snow melted then froze => pressure on the unstable rock 2/ Lesson Leaned 1. Large landslides cannot be prevented 2. Geology is important 3. Human activity can trigger landslides 3/ Types of landslides Important variables to classify landslides: - The mechanism of movement - The type of material (rock, consolidated sediment or organic soil) - Amount of water present - Rate of movement

Mechanism Fall Slide

Type of Mass Movement Rock Fall Slump

Characteristics Individual rocks bound downward or fall through the air Coherent blocks of rock or sediment slide on an upward-curved surface, also called ROTATIONAL LANDSLIDE Sediment or soil slides on an inclined surface, also called as EARTH SLIDE Large blocks of bedrock slide on an inclined surface, typically bedding planes, foliation surfaces, or joints A type of rockslide in which the fragmented rock mass flows at very high velocities, commonly for long distances Very slow downslope movement of rock and soil. Sackung is deepseated creep of large masses of fragmented rock along poorly defined slip surfaces A flow of wet, deformed soil and weathered rock A cement-like mixture of rock, sand, mud, plant debris, and water travels rapidly down a stream channel or ravine, includes mudflows and lahars A combination of two or more types of mass movement

Debris slide or avalanche Rockslide

Rock avalanche

Flow

Creep

Earthflow Debris flow

Complex

*Note: A special type of creep involves movement of large masses of rock, up to many billions of cubic meters, along ill-defined, deep failure planes is called SACKUNG, meaning slope sag. A slow creep-like movement in which a rock mass pivots about a point is called a TOPPLE (common in rocks with joints or bedding planes that dip steeply into the slope) - Most subaqueous (underwater) landslides are complex events.

4/ Forces on Slopes - Slope stability can be evaluated by determining the relationship between driving forces (that move rock or sediment down a slop) and resisting forces ( that oppose such movement) - The LARGEST driving force is the WEIGHT of the material - The resisting force is the SHEAR STRENGTH of the slope material resistance to failure by sliding or flow Slope stability is evaluated by computing a FACTOR OF SAFETY (FS) the ratio of the resisting forces to the driving forces. - FS =< 1 : the resisting forces exceed the driving forces and the slope is considered stable - FS = 1 : the driving forces equal the resisting forces and a slop failure can be expected Driving and resisting forces are not static, as local conditions change, these forces may change They are determined by the interrelations of the following variables: o Type of material o Slope and topography o Climate o Vegetation o Water o Time 1. THE ROLE OF MATERIAL - Affect both the type and the frequency of the landslides - Important characteristics: Mineral composition, degree of cementation or consolidation, and the presence of planes of weakness, - Planes of weakness maybe sedimentary bedding planes, metamorphic foliation, secondary joints, or zone along which the Earth has moved. - Especially hazardous if inclined more than 15 and interest or parallel to the slope. - Two basic movements: rotational and translational. - Slumps are most common in unconsolidated sediment and in mudstone, shale, other weak rock types. - The inclined slip planes of translational slides include fractures in all rock types, bedding planes in sedimentary rocks, weak clay layers, and foliation planes in metamorphic rocks. - Moving along these planes are large blocks of bedrock or sediment. - Common type of translational slide is a debris avalanche, a very shallow slide of sediment or soil over bedrock. . The failure plane is at the base of the organic soil or in colluvium, a mixture of weathered rock and other debris below the soil.

2. THE ROLE OF SLOPE AND TOPOGRAPHY - The steeper the slope, the greater the driving forces that promote failure - Topography relief refers to the height of a hill or mountain above the land below - Areas of high relief are hilly or mountainous, have dozens to thousands of meters of relief, and are generally prone to landslides. - In Canada and US, the Appalachian Mountains, the mountains of western part, walls of river valleys and coastal bluffs have the greatest frequency of landslides. - All types of landslides occur on steep slopes within these areas, and gentle slopes developed on some rocks may be imperceptibly. - The soil layer on steep slopes can become saturated with water and slide down the hill => transform into debris flow. 3. THE ROLE OF CLIMATE - Climate is the characteristic weather typical of a place - More than just average air temp and amount of precipitation - Types of precipitation and its seasonal patterns, such as winter rain and snow, winter blizzards, summer thunderstorms, hurricane activity. - Temperate climate characterize much of the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, whereas most of the continental interior has strong seasonal contrasts, with cold winters and hot summers. - Influences the amount of timing of water that infiltrates or erodes a hillslope and the type and the abundance of hillslope vegetation. - In arid and semi-arid climates, vegetation tends to be sparse, soils are thin and bare rock is exposed in many areas. Free-face and talus slopes are common => rock fall, debris flow, shallow soil slips - In subhumid or humid climates, abundant vegetation and thick soil cover most slopes => deep complex landslides, soil creep, rockslides, slumps and debris flows. 4. THE ROLD OF VEGETATION - A function of climate, soil type, topography and fire history - Provides a protective cover that reduces the impact of falling rains. Allows rainwater to infiltrate into the slope while retarding surface erosion - Plant roots add strength and cohesion to slope materials - Acts like steel rebar reinforcements in concrete - Increase the resistance of a slope to landsliding - Vegetation adds weight to a slope, increasing the likelihood that the slope will fail 5. THE ROLE OF WATER - Nearly always involved with landslides - Many landslides, such as shallow soil slips and debris flows, happen during rainstorms when slope materials become saturated

Others like slumps develop months or even year following deep infiltration of water into a slope Erosion of the toe of a slope by a stream reduces the mass of resisting material and decreases the slopes stability Stream or wave erosion reduces the factor of safety by removing material from the base of a slope Water contributes to the liquefaction of fine granular sediments. When disturbed, water-saturated silts and sands can lose their strength and flow as a liquid. Leda clay (quick clay): Quebec and Ontario Liquefaction can occur without earthquake shaking The sensitivity of Leda clay to liquefaction stems from the structure of the sediment Freezing of water in fracture in rock can destabilize slopes and trigger rock falls. Rock fall is most common at times when temperature fluctuate frequently above and below freezing point. Water is also implicated in shallow landslides (thaw flow slides) in area of permafrost = occur during warm spells in summer when the active layer is thickest. The skin of water-saturated sediment slides away from the frozen ground.

6. THE ROLE OF TIME - Forces can change w time as water table fluctuates - Weathering of rocks, which slowly reduces their cohesion and strength, is caused by the chemical reaction of water in contact with soil and rock - Soil is commonly acidic because it reacts with carbon dioxide and produce weak carbonic acid - The failure may be preceded, over days or months, by an increase in the rate of creep.