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Landslide Classification Cruden y Varnes PDF
Landslide Classification Cruden y Varnes PDF
Classification
What is the purpose of
a classification?
• To file material so it can be easily retrieved*
• To organize thought
• To communicate
*J.N. Hutchinson, c. 2000
Requirements:
1) Comprehensive definition
2) Type examples
3) References
Desirable qualities of a
typological classification system:
33 types
Varnes Classification Type Names
L andslide classificatio n (V arnes, 1978) C o de: R A P ID , S L O W (IN M O S T C A S E S )
BEDROCK D E B R IS EARTH
(< 80% sand and finer) (> 80% sand and finer)
FA L L S ROCK FALL D E B R IS F A L L EARTH FALL
FL O W S ROCK CREEP D E B R IS F L O W W E T S A N D A N D S IL T
S L O P E S A G G IN G D E B R IS FLOW
AVALANCHE R A P ID E A R T H F L O W
S O IL C R E E P LOESS FLOW
S O L IFL U C T IO N D R Y S A N D FL O W
E A R T H FL O W
1. Difficult to evaluate
2. Little relevance to slide behaviour
3. Incompatible with established systems
Suggested material classes
Suggested material classes
Geotechnical
classes
- plastic
- granular
Suggested material classes
Mixed materials
- plastic
- granular
(Mixed grain sizes,
diluted by water)
Geotechnical materials:
Clay, silt, sand, gravel, boulders
How to simplify?
Suggestion: use dominant component
with emphasis on mechanical
behaviour.
Example:
plastic clayey silt > “clay”
low plasticity clayey silt > “silt”
Materials not used in geotechnical
classifications (but common in Geology):
“Debris” – mixture of
components, non-plastic
Internal deformation
required
Graben
Vaiont (1963)
A compound slide
(Mencl, Hutchinson) non-circular
view
section
random
joints
(or deformation?)
Crest sagging in
slopes formed from a
stronger layer (cap
rock) over weak rock.
Blocks of the stronger
rock spread and tilt by
deformation of the
underlying weak
material, without the
formation of a defined
rupture surface.
Extremely slow.
Turnagain
Heights Slide,
1964
Frank Slide,
Rock avalanche 1903
Debris flow:
Very rapid to extremely
rapid surging flow of
saturated non-plastic
debris in a steep
CHANNEL
channel. Strong
(“GORGE”) entrainment of material
and water from the flow
path. (Plasticity Index <
DEBRIS 5% in sand and finer
(“COLLUVIAL”)
FAN fractions).
Debris avalanche
Extremely rapid shallow
flow of partially or fully
saturated debris on a
steep slope, without
confinement in an
established channel.
Morphologically similar
to a snow avalanche)
Sharpe (1938)
Alberta
Debris avalanche in Brazil, 2010
(courtesy Prof. Andre S. Avelar, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro
Debris flood:
Very rapid surging flow of water, heavily charged with
debris, in a steep channel. Peak discharge comparable
to that of a major water flood.
(Hungr et al., 2001)
Difference between debris flow and flood?
Peak discharge (of the largest surge)
(Qf = extreme
DEBRIS FLOOD, Qp= 1 to 3 x Qf
“hydrological” flood)
PIERSON, 1980
Earth flow (or “Mudslide”?)
Rapid or slower, intermittent flow-like movement of plastic,
clayey soil, facilitated by a combination of sliding along
multiple discrete shear surfaces, and internal shear strains.
Long periods of dormancy alternate with more rapid surges.
deformation
Large-scale
gravitational
deformation of steep,
high mountain slopes,
manifested by scarps,
benches, cracks and
bulges, but lacking a
fully defined rupture
surface. Extremely
slow, or unmeasurable
movement rates.
Mountain
slope
deformation
Nemcok, 1982
Weak rocks
Initial
Mature
Final
Surficial
Mountain slope deformations are ubiquitous
ValPola, Italy
ValPola, Italy
Sharpe (1938)
Summary