Czech Geological Survey - Geological Survey of Austria - UNIMIB

Educational Project Geological Field Trip and Workshop

Koefels – Suedtirol - Matrei, 17-20 June 2012

Landslides:
definitions, classification, causes

Federico Agliardi

Geological Sciences and Geotechnologies

UNIMIB - University of Milano-Bicocca
Milano, Italy

Alpine rock slope failures: mechanisms, controls, characterization F. Agliardi – Matrei, 19 June 2012

Definition of landslide
Landslide
Mass movement of rock, soil, or debris
material forming a slope (natural or
engineered) towards the lower and
external part of the slope, along a defined
sliding surface.

Important distinction !
 Mass movement: occurs under the effect
of gravity
 Mass transport: material is transported by
an agent (e.g. water flowing in a river, wind)

(debris flows can sometimes by a

transitional term….)

Alpine rock slope failures: mechanisms, controls, characterization F. Agliardi – Matrei, 19 June 2012
 Landslide classification
 Several classifications available
depending on the criteria
(kinematics, material, fluid content,
geotechnical properties of clays,
triggering processes, style of activity)
(Varnes, 1978; WP/WLI, 1993-94)

Cruden and Varnes, 1996

 material + movement type
 additional: velocity

Materials: rock, debris, earth (soil)

Type of movement: falls, topples,
slides, spread, flows
Complex: 2 or more associated types

Alpine rock slope failures: mechanisms, controls, characterization F. Agliardi – Matrei, 19 June 2012

Landslide nomenclature
20 1
14
2 3
19
4
15 5 VC

L H
HC

7 11 10
9 8
12 16
20

18 17

1. Crown 11. Toe of failure surface

2. Main scarp 12. Surface of separation
3. Top 13. Displaced mass
4. Head 14. Zone of depletion
5. Secondary scarp 15. Zone of accumulation
6. Main body 16. Depletion
7. Foot 17. Depleted mass
8. Tip 18. Accumulation
9. Toe 19. Flank
10. Failure surface 20. Pre-failure topography

Alpine rock slope failures: mechanisms, controls, characterization F. Agliardi – Matrei, 19 June 2012
 State of activity (in time)
Varnes (1978) and WP/WLI (1993, 1994) :
.

- Active: moving (monitoring….)

- Suspended: moving during the last seasonal cycle, presently inactive
- Reactivated: active after a period of inactivity
- Dormant: inactive since more than one seasonal cycle, re-activation possible
- Abandoned: inactive, no more influenced by original triggers
- Stabilized: inactive after artificial protective measures
- Relict: “paleo-landslide”, inactive, occurred in extinct morpho-climatic settings
Cumulative displacement

suspended

reactivated

suspended dormant

active

relict

2 3 4 time (years)

Alpine rock slope failures: mechanisms, controls, characterization F. Agliardi – Matrei, 19 June 2012

Distribution of activity (in space)

Cruden e Varnes (1993):

1

2 1 – Progressive: failure surface propagates

downslope
2 – Retrogressive: failure surface propagates
upslope
3 3 – Confined: failure surface does not daylight
4 at the foot (or it is masked)
4 – Moving: landslide body moves without
5 changes of failure surface
5 – Widening: failure surface propagates
6 towards landslide flanks

Alpine rock slope failures: mechanisms, controls, characterization F. Agliardi – Matrei, 19 June 2012
 Causes and controls of landslides
In general terms, a slope fails when shear stress along a potential failure surface equals the available
shear resistance.
f c'(  u ) tan  '
In Mohr-Coulomb terms, a «factor of safety» can be defined: : FS  
 mob  mob

Then, instability (FS <= 1) can occur in response to:

1) processes increasing mobilized shear stresses;
2) processes decreasing the shear strength of materials
3) combinations of the two types (common)

a) Stress variations for: loading (1), excavation / erosion (2), increase of pore pressure u (3)
b) Strength reduction (c’ e ’): weathering, softening, etc.

Alpine rock slope failures: mechanisms, controls, characterization F. Agliardi – Matrei, 19 June 2012

Types: falls

Falls (usually rockfalls)

failure and detachment of rock fragments (i.e.
single block, several individual blocks, rock
mass volumes) followed by downward motion
by free falling, bouncing, rolling, and sliding,
without impulsive block-slope interaction.
Volume < 100.000 m3 : limited block-block
interaction  “fragmental rockfall”

Conditioning factors
Onset: presence of rocky cliffs, rock
fracturing, favourable rock type (hard,
fractured rock), water circulation
Runout: slope macro-topography and
roughness, block volume and shape,
vegetation

Alpine rock slope failures: mechanisms, controls, characterization F. Agliardi – Matrei, 19 June 2012
 Types: topples
Topples
Rotation of one or more rock blocks or slabs
around a hinge point (line) due to gravity, fluid
overpressure or seismic shaking

Conditioning factors block

flexural

Onset: Anisotropic rock mass with sub-vertical

bedding or structural pattern
Runout: rockfall

Head
Slope toe (associated to sliding
(associated to sliding)

Alpine rock slope failures: mechanisms, controls, characterization F. Agliardi – Matrei, 19 June 2012

Types: slides
Slides
Shear sliding of a mass of earth or rock, localised
into single or multiple sliding surfaces, or in narrow
Rotational
shear zones.
 Rotational v.s. translational sliding depending
on material anisotropy, stratigraphy, structure
Soils: shallow (soil slips) or deep-seated (slumps) Translational (planar)

Rocks:
 block slides (planar, wedge) of different size
 deep-seated rock slide, usually complex

Conditioning factors
 Slope gradient
 Material (soils, weak or fractured rocks,
flysch, marls)
 slope-scale persistent structures Ponte Sesa (BS) Cesana Brianza

Alpine rock slope failures: mechanisms, controls, characterization F. Agliardi – Matrei, 19 June 2012
 Types: lateral spreads
Lateral spreading
Seep-seated lateral extension over low-angle
shear zones and formation of associated tensile
fractures and gravitational normal faults.
Develop in sub-horizontal slabs of stiff materials
(rocks, over-consolidated cohesive soils),
overlying layers of soft rocks or soils subjected to
liquefaction

Conditioning factors
 Soft materials (e.g. clays, argillite) of soils Peru
with high liquefaction potential (e.g. silty
sands, fine sands)
 Water circulation
 Seismicity

Alpine rock slope failures: mechanisms, controls, characterization F. Agliardi – Matrei, 19 June 2012

Types: flows
Most complex group, including:
 flows in both granular material and cohesive soils
− Debris flows (fast)
− Earthflows (slow, fast)
− Rock avalanches (fast)
 wet: Newton or non-linear flow (mud flow, flow slide,
debris flow)
Alpisella, Valdidentro (SO)
 dry: granular flow (debris / rock avalanches)

Cavallerizzo, Calabria

Slumgullion earthflow,
Denali earthquake, Alaska Colorado

Alpine rock slope failures: mechanisms, controls, characterization F. Agliardi – Matrei, 19 June 2012
 Types: flows Val Tartano, SO, 1987

Debris flows
Rapid mass movement of mixtures of granular
solids, water and air, in an intermediate position
between flooding and landslide processes (Costa,
1984).
Triggered by: soil slips, debris remobilization in
steep channels or on talus slopes
High mobility, velocity, and runout potential

Conditioning factors
 Channel or slope steepness
 Water availability
 Relative abundance granular / cohesive soils
 Slope material and erodibility

Valtellina, 1987

Alpine rock slope failures: mechanisms, controls, characterization F. Agliardi – Matrei, 19 June 2012

Types: flows D
tail

Debris flows: morphological and Surges

Lateral levees
Channel deposits
sedimentological features
C
Depend on mixture rheology: Lobe

- newtonian fluid B

- bingham fluid (with strength) Snout

Inverse grading
- dilatant fluid A

Rheology = Longitudinal Plan Cross.

section view sections
f (% fine, sediment concentration)

LAMINAR FLOW
Pseudoplastic with strength
PLUG
Bingham
x
PLUG
y Dilatant with strength
SHEAR STRESS


R
c Pseudoplastic (shear thinning)
R T u
c Newton
T


Dilatant (shear thickening)

LAMINAR FLOW

SHEAR RATE u/y

Alpine rock slope failures: mechanisms, controls, characterization F. Agliardi – Matrei, 19 June 2012
 Lavina di Roncovetro
Types: flows
Earth-flows
Slow flow (associated to sliding) of cohesive soils or
clayey weak rocks. Triggering modes and mechanics
(e.g. flow, flow + sliding) depend on water content and
fine fraction

Conditioning factors
 Materials with abundant fine fraction (clay, argillite,
marl, flysch, weathered rock)
 Water availability / groundwater

Frana di Corniglio

Alpine rock slope failures: mechanisms, controls, characterization F. Agliardi – Matrei, 19 June 2012

Types: flows
Rock avalanches
Rapid granular flows (dry or wet) of large
volume of fragmenting rock masses or
pyroclastic materials
Triggered by: rockslide collapse on high
slopes, earthquakes, permafrost Denali earthquake, Alaska
degradation, very large rockfalls (bergsturz)
High mobility, velocity, and runout potential
Larger volume, larger runout (scaling)

Runout, morphology and features of the

deposit controlled by topography

Las Colinas, Salvador

Alpine rock slope failures: mechanisms, controls, characterization F. Agliardi – Matrei, 19 June 2012
 Types: flows
Rock avalanches: morphological and
sedimentological features

 coarse, poorly sorted debris

 fragmented material + boulders
 Lobes, transversal and longitudinal
ridges, levees
 «bedrock» erosion / deformation

Bualtar Glacier rock avalanche (Hewitt et al., 2008)

Alpine rock slope failures: mechanisms, controls, characterization F. Agliardi – Matrei, 19 June 2012

Complex landslides
Complex landslides

Varnes (1978): association of two or more

types of movement either in space or in
time
e.g. compound (mixed rotational-
translational) landslides

Cruden e Varnes (1993): association of two

or more types of movement in time
(evolution stages)

e.s.: rockfall  debris flow;

rockslide  rock avalanche, etc.
topple  rockfall

Val Pola rockslide / rock avalanche

Alpine rock slope failures: mechanisms, controls, characterization F. Agliardi – Matrei, 19 June 2012