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Advances in Natural and Technological Hazards Research
Landslides:
Theory,
Practice and
Modelling
Advances in Natural and Technological
Hazards Research
Volume 50
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/6362
S. P. Pradhan • V. Vishal • T. N. Singh
Editors
T. N. Singh
Department of Earth Sciences
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer International Publishing AG part of
Springer Nature.
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Foreword
v
vi Foreword
The subject of landslides has always been fascinating from both theoretical and
practical context that has gained attention of geologists, engineers, model devel-
opers, professionals and researchers, and students of geosciences worldwide. Land-
slides represent one of the most destructive geo-hazards, which can reach
remarkably long distances and velocities, and are also susceptible of wiping out
human communities and settlements. Landslides are more frequent nowadays due to
extreme climatic conditions and intervention of human with the nature. The aug-
mentation of human settlements and rapid developments that break the natural
geomorphic equilibrium contribute to landslides. Even small slopes are prone to
landslides and have potential to break the infrastructure, disrupt the traffic and bring
loss to lives. The economic distress induced by landslides makes terrible impact on
socio-economic conditions of human race.
This book is not an attempt to review the field of landslides, rather an attempt to
have a better understanding of the subject, and the need was felt during our teaching
exercises. In this book, the emphasis is placed on the dynamics of landslide research,
its monitoring and prediction, landslide risk and hazard mitigation, landslide numer-
ical modelling techniques and analysis of a few selected case studies. Each chapter is
self-consistent, with questions and arguments introduced from the beginning.
The book is broadly categorised into five parts, which include fourteen chapters
from contributors across the globe. The first part of the book introduces to landslide
dynamics comprising four chapters that focus on basic understanding of slope
stability, different types of mass movement, shear strength behaviour of jointed
rock mass and introduces to rock fall and man-made slope instabilities. The second
part of the book discourses about the modern monitoring and prediction techniques
for landslides and consists of two chapters. These chapters highlight on infrared
thermography and ground-based real time monitoring system using wireless instru-
mentation for prediction of slope instabilities. The third section of the book is
dedicated to risk and mitigation of landslides. There are four chapters in this part,
which discusses on landslide susceptibility assessment, mapping, vulnerability and
risk assessment. This also includes innovative and eco-friendly stabilisation methods
vii
viii Preface
ix
x Contents
Editors
xi
xii About the Editors and Authors
Trilok Nath Singh is the Institute Geoscience Chair Professor at the Department of
Earth Sciences, IIT Bombay, Mumbai, and an expert in the fields of rock mechanics,
mining geology, and clean energy. He received his Ph.D. from the Institute of
Technology BHU, Varanasi, in 1991, where he subsequently worked until 2003.
He has been honored with many prestigious awards such as the National Mineral
Award, the first P. N. Bose Mineral Award, the SEAGATE Excellence Award for
Geo-Engineering, and the GSI Sesquicentennial Commemorative Award. He has
nearly 28 years of experience in research and education and has authored more than
350 publications in various journals and for national and international conferences.
He serves on the governing and advisory councils of several national institutes and
universities and is currently leading projects of immense scientific and industrial
importance on, e.g. coalbed methane, carbon sequestration, shale gas, nuclear waste
repositories and mine slope stability.
Authors
Ismail Colkesen received the PhD degree from the Istanbul Technical University,
Istanbul, Turkey, in 2015. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department
of Geomatics Engineering, Gebze Technical University, Gebze, Turkey. His major
research areas are land use and land cover classification, image processing, machine
learning techniques, landslide susceptibility mapping and application of artificial
intelligence techniques in various engineering and environmental applications. He
gives remote sensing courses at graduate levels and continues research about raster
data analysis, digital image processing and natural hazard modelling.
About the Editors and Authors xiii
Gianpiero Amanzio was born on October 1, 1982, in Turin. Dr. Gianpiero holds a
master’s degree in Environmental Engineering in July 2009. During his studies, he
has acquired skills in remote sensing, geophysics, geotechnical, geomatics and
hydrogeology. He worked with engineering office dealing with risk analysis, CAD
project, acquisition and processing of points clouds collected by laser scanner and
drones (photogrammetry acquisition) in order to generate 3D models. He has
acquired the necessary qualifications for the drone flight in noncritical areas, as
required by the Civil Aviation Authority (ENAC). Since 2010, he is a research
fellow at the Politecnico di Torino, and in April 2014, he received a PhD in
Environmental Engineering in the field of Applied Geology. During his PhD, he
developed some statistical method in order to study the groundwater vulnerability of
mountain spring by the implementation of several algorithms in Matlab
environment.
Tushar Gupta is a final year research scholar presently under the joint PhD
programme of IITB-Monash Research Academy in IIT Bombay. His present
research is in the field of utilisation of coal fly ash in haul roads and other applica-
tions in open-cast coal mines. He has completed his bachelors in technology (BTech)
from Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, in mining engineering disci-
pline, and worked on dump slope and coal rib stability problems in open-cast mines
of NCL as his final year projects. Later, he has worked in underground coal mines of
Coal India Limited for 3 years as assistant manager (mining) before joining the joint
PhD programme at IIT Bombay.
Australia where she worked with the Airborne Research Australia. In 2017, she
earned her PhD and started working for a company focusing on ICT in the geospatial
and GIS market.
include landslide investigation, slope stability assessment, hazard and risk assess-
ment, slope-stabilisation and remote sensing and GIS application. He has published
more than 80 research publications in journals and conferences. He has been
awarded prestigious National Geoscience Award in the area of Disaster Management
by the Government of India and BOYSCAST Fellow by DST for post-doctoral
research at EPFL, Switzerland.
Ashwani Kumar Tiwari obtained his MPhil and PhD degrees in Environmental
Sciences. Currently, he is working as a Post-PhD Researcher at Politecnico di
Torino, Italy. He was awarded Erasmus Mundus Scholarship, one of the meritorious
and prestigious awards in Europe, and finished his research work as exchange
doctoral researcher in Politecnico di Torino, Italy. He holds to his credit a total of
37 publications on different domains of hydro-geochemistry, aquifer vulnerability,
water quality, health risk assessment, water resource management and remote
sensing and GIS in various journals. He has contributed one research book and
five chapters in the edited book volumes.
Abstract Mass wasting is a natural phenomenon by which rock, soil and/or debris
move downwards due to the action of gravity. It describes all the processes that act
continuously with varied intensity on all type of slopes to lower the ground surface.
The mass wasting process is controlled by the interaction of geological agents and
processes with the geo-materials. The degree and type of movements depend upon a
few aspects of geology, environment, geomorphology, hydrology, and some addi-
tional environmental stress factors, including biotic factors. It is more active in hilly
regions like Himalayas, Western Ghats, Alps, and some other extensive mountain
chains of the world. Sometimes it becomes disastrous to lives, property and econ-
omy. This chapter gives an overview of mass wasting processes and its classifica-
tion. Some widely used mass movement classification schemes have been
documented.
1.1 Introduction
S. P. Pradhan (*)
Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee, India
e-mail: sppradhanfes@iitr.ac.in
T. Siddique
Department of Earth Sciences, IIT Roorkee, Roorkee, India
Department of Geology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
regional scales. Mass wasting can also be defined as the continuum of erosional
processes that exist between weathering and transportation. Sediment wasting pro-
cess on continental slopes transfers significant volume of sediments in submarine
environment leading to lowering of the ground surface [1, 2]. It is a significant part of
the process of erosion as it transfers the material from higher elevation to lower
elevation. A landslide may be defined as the downward movement of mass rock,
earth, or debris [3]. According to Varnes [4] landslides include all types of mass
movement on the slope which includes sliding, rockfalls, topples, debris flows etc.
Brusden [5] defined landslide as a unique way of mass transport which does not
require transportation agent for slope movement. According to Cozier [6] landslide
is a downward and outward movement of slope forming material without the
involvement of surface runoff as transporting medium under the influence of gravity.
Hutchinson [7], Cruden [8] and Cruden and Varnes [9] described landslide as a rapid
mass wasting process that causes down slope movement of the mass of rock, debris
or earth which are induced by a variety of external stimulus. In the recent times, it has
been noted that the term mass movement is used interchangeably with landslide.
Mass movements, floods, tsunamis, cyclones, earthquakes are the most common
natural hazards and their impacts are very disastrous when they occur in clusters. In
India, one such event was Kedarnath disaster of June 2013 in Uttarakhand. The Flash
floods accompanied by mass movements in the various parts of the region devastated
the economy, lives and ecosystem of the region. Such hazards significantly affect
humans including loss of property and lives, cause severe injuries and sometimes
fatalities as well. Large scale mass wasting events also affect certain elements of
environment viz. topography of marine and terrestial landforms, quality of surface
runoff, groundwater flow, forest cover and habitats, destruction of biotic components
etc. In many countries, the number of casualties and economic losses occur because
landslides are more frequent than the other commonly occurring hazards like
earthquake, floods, windstorms [10–13].
Comprehensive understanding of mass movement in slopes require sound knowl-
edge of factors associated with groundwater [14]. Scheidegger [15] reviewed
surface-slips, deep seated soil creep, rock mass creep, surficial landslides, mudflows,
Alpine debris flows and illustrated some recent developments in the field of mass
movement. Mass movement occurs when the driving forces exceeds resisting forces
to pull slope forming material down the slope [16]. This stability of a slope is
quantified in terms of Factor of Safety (FoS) (Eq. 1.1). Prediction of mass movement
in space and time is very difficult; the area may be categorized into homogeneous
domains and can be ranked according to the degree of potential hazard.
In these years, landslides have grabbed the attention due to the growth of
urbanization and its socio-economic consequences [17]. For monitoring and evalu-
ation of mass movements, significant number of techniques are available and
few widely used such techniques are Global Positioning System (GPS), Geograph-
ical Information System, aerial photography, inclinometers, acoustic emission [18];
ground based geodetic techniques, satellite based geodetic techniques, geophysical
and geotechnical methods [19, 20]. The real time monitoring of landslides can be
done by wireless sensor network (WSN) [21].
1 Mass Wasting: An Overview 5
Factor of safety is the capacity of a system beyond the expected or actual load. It may
be defined as the ratio of resistive to driving forces.
Resistive forces
FoS ¼ ð1:1Þ
Driving forces
Resistive forces act opposite to the direction of the motion which tends to resist the
movement. The resistive force can be defined in terms of shear strength of the
material which is a function of cohesion and angle of internal friction. Cohesion is
the ability of the particles to hold together. For example the clays and granites are
cohesive, whereas the dry sand is non-cohesive. Angle of internal friction is the
measure of frictional forces acting between constituent grains.
Driving force acts in the direction of the motion and promotes the down slope
movement. The major driving force is gravity, which plays a significant role in
guiding or initiation of mass wasting phenomena. Gravitational force pulls every
material or body downward, towards the centre of the earth. As depicted in Fig. 1.1,
on flat surface gravitational force acts perpendicular to the ground. Hence, ground
forming material will remain intact and will not move. In slopes gravitational force
can be resolved into two components (Fig. 1.1):
(a) Acting perpendicular to the slope (gp): Resistive force or shear strength which
hold the object and resist movement.
(b) Acting tangential to the slope (gs): Driving force or shear stress that promote
down slope movement of the object.
6 S. P. Pradhan and T. Siddique
When the shear stress (driving force) exceeds the shear strength (resistive force),
the slope forming material will fail. Thus, on steeper slopes, the tangential compo-
nent of gravity is greater than the resistive component and cause down slope
movement of the mass. Slope angle, height of the slope, climatic conditions, types
of slope materials, runoff and groundwater etc. are some other significant factors that
affect the magnitude of the driving force. Water plays an important role in slope
instability. When water is added to a slope, it causes slope failure due to the
additional loading on the slope, accelerating erosion rates and increasing pore
pressure that ultimately led to the reduction in shear strength of the slope forming
material. Considering the above parameters FoS can be calculated from Eq. 1.2.
where,
1 Mass Wasting: An Overview 7
Crown cracks
Crown
Minor scarp Ma
in s
car
He p
Transverse cracks ad
Transverse ridges
Radial
cracks
Surface of rupture
Toe
Main body
Foot Toe of surface of rupture
Surface of separation
Fig. 1.2 Parts of slump-earth type landslide taken form Highland and Bobrowsky (Taken from
[22])
0
c : Effective cohesion
h: Thickness of potential slide
g: Acceleration due to gravity
θ: Dip angle of potential sliding plane
ρr: Material density of potential sliding plane
ρr: Density of water
φ: Angle of internal friction
In real practice, the different parts of a landslide depend upon the type of mass
movement. Various parts of typical slump-earth flow type landslide have been
depicted in Fig. 1.2.
[31] classified landslide forming materials (Table 1.5) and published an updated
classification of landslides (Table 1.6) by modifying definitions of landslide forming
materials and compatibility with geotechnical and geological terminologies of rock
and soil.
British Geological Survey (BGS) also presented a comprehensive classification of
mass movements by following classification scheme (Fig. 1.3) suggested by
UNESCO [32, 33]. The classification criterion involves the type of movement and
materials involved. Carson and Kirkby [34] proposed a ternary classification of mass
movements on the basis of pure slide, heave and flow type of movement (Fig. 1.4).
10 S. P. Pradhan and T. Siddique
Table 1.5 Types of landslide forming material from Hungr et al. [31]
Character Specified field description Corresponding
description for the purpose of unified soil Laboratory indices
Material if important classification classes (if available)
Rock Strong Strong-Broken with hammer – UCS > 25 MPa
Weak Weak-peeled with a knife – 2 < UCS < 25 MPa
Clay Stiff Plastic can be molded into GC, SC, CL, Ip > 0.05
Soft standard thread when moist, MH, CH, OL
Sensitive has dry strength and OH
Mud Liquid Plastic, unsorted remolded CL, CH, CM Ip > 0.05
and close to liquid limit
Silt, Dry Non-plastic (or very low ML Ip < 0.05
sand, Saturated plasticity), granular, sorted, SW, SP and
gravel silt particles cannot be seen SM
and Partly by eye GW,GP and
boulders saturated GM
Debris Dry Low plasticity, unsorted and SW-GW Ip < 0.05
Saturated mixed SM-GM
Partly CL, CH and
saturated CM
Peat – Organic – –
Ice – Glacier – –
GC Clayey gravels, gravelsand-clay mixtures, SC Clayey sands, sand-clay mixtures, CL Inorganic
clays of low to medium plasticity, gravelly/sandy/silty/lean clays, MH Inorganic silts, micaceous or
diatomaceous fine sands or silts, elastic silts, CH Inorganic clays or high plasticity, fat clay, OL
Organic silts and organic silty clays of low plasticity, OH Organic clays of medium to high
plasticity, CM Silt-clay mixture, ML Inorganic silts, very fine sands, rock four, silty or clayey
fine sands, SW Well-graded sands and gravelly sands, little or no fines, SP Poorly graded sands and
gravelly sands, little or no fines, SM Silty sands, sand-silt mixtures, GW Well-graded gravels and
gravel-sand mixtures, little or no fines, GP Poorly graded gravels and gravel-sand mixtures, little or
no fines, GM Siltygravels, gravel-sand-silt mixtures, UCS Uniaxial compressive strength, Ip Point
load index
The following description of some principal types of the mass movements are
based on Varnes [28], Hutchinson [7], Hungr et al. [35], Cruden and Varnes [9],
Highland et al. [22] and Hungr et al. [31].
Falls A fall occurs with the detachment of mass from a steep slope or cliff with no
shear displacement. The movement involves free fall through air, bouncing and or
rolling. Physical weathering, presence of interstitial water, seismic activity trigger
falls.
Flows Flow is a type of mass movement which is characterised by downward and
outward movement of ground/slope under water saturated condition in which mate-
rial moves as a viscous fluid. Depending upon the type of material involved and
degree of water saturation, variety of flows can be categorized as debris flow, mud
flow, and avalanche flow. Flows type of mass movement has been widely noticed in
slopes having finer material (silt and clay) at least 50% or more [28]. Such slopes
become extremely susceptible to failure under saturated conditions. Failure is
1 Mass Wasting: An Overview 11
Table 1.6 New version of the Varnes classification from Hungr et al. [31]
Type of movement Rock Soil
Fall Rock/ice fall Boulder/debris/silt fall
Topple Rock block topple Gravel/silt/sand topple
Rock flexural topple
Slide Rock rotational slide Clay/silt rotational slide
Rock planar slide Clay/silt planar slide
Rock wedge slide Gravel/sand/debris slide
Rock compound slide Clay/silt compound slide
Rock irregular slide
Spread Rock slope spread Sand/Silt liquefaction spread
Sensitive clay spread
Flow Rock/ice avalanche Sand/silt/debris dry flow
Sand/silt/debris dry flowslide
Sensitive clay flowslide
Debris flow
Mudflow
Debris flood
Debris avalanche
Earth flow
Peat flow
Slope deformation Mountain slope deformation Soil slope deformation
Rock slope deformation Soil creep
Solifluction
generally initiated from tension cracks at crown portion and forms nearly circular
failure scarp.
Topples It is the movement of rock that involves forward rotation about a point or
axis below the centre of gravity of the displaced mass. In jointed rock mass, closely
spaced and steeply dipping discontinuity sets that dip opposite to the slope surface
are necessary prerequisites for toppling failure.
Slides For landslides many technical terms have been proposed. However, slide is
restricted where there is a distinct zone of weakness that separates the slide material
from more stable underlying material. There are two types of slides i.e. rotational
slide and translational slide or combination of both. In rotational slides, material
slide outward and downward on one or more concave failure surfaces that impart a
backward tilt to the slipping mass. In this type of mass movement, the slide
movement is roughly rotational about an axis that is parallel to the ground surface
and traverse across the slide. In translational slides, material moves along planar
failure surface or discontinuities that may run more or less parallel to the slope.
Spreads Spread involves fracturing and lateral movement of rock or soil masses.
This occurs due to the plastic flow or liquefaction of material. Usually they occur on
gentle slopes that are triggered by rapid ground motion induced by earthquake or
artificially induced seismic waves.
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The muscle-scars in this family (Fig. 323, A, B) are most remarkable for the
development of the so-called “crescent,” (q.r.s.) which skirts the posterior
margin of both valves as a sub-cardinal impression. It is believed to be the
trace of a strong post-parietal muscular wall, analogous in position to that of
Lingula. The three pairs of “lateral” muscle-scars in the latter genus seem to
be represented by the “terminal” (s) and “lateral” (r) scars on the crescent of
the Trimerellidae. A pair of “transverse” scars (t) occurs in each valve between
the “terminals” and the antero-lateral edge of the “platform” (j). “Cardinal” (v),
“sub-cardinal” (w), and “umbo-lateral” (x) scars also occur. The median
impression which covers the “platform” (j) consists of a central, lateral, and
usually an anterior pair of scars; and the impressions of the genital organs,
according to Davidson and King, lie medianly posterior to the “platform.” The
“platform” itself is a more or less conspicuous central calcareous elevated area
occurring in each valve, but most developed in the dorsal; in some cases it is
double-chambered with tubular cavities (“platform vaults,” Fig. 323, A, B, k), in
others it is more or less solid. It appears to have originated through a posterior
shifting of the central muscular bands, that they might be inserted behind the
liver; at the same time a deposition of shelly material, to form fulcra to work the
heavy valves, took place at these points. The tunnelling-out of the platform
was probably due to the continual pressure of the lobes of the liver. The
division of the umbonal cavity into definite chambers in Monomerella, and to a
less extent in other members of this family, appears, according to Davidson
and King, to have been caused by pressure of the ovarian lobes.
In connexion with the foregoing remarks on the development of the
“platform,” it may be mentioned that the paths along which the muscle-bands
move, as the shell of Brachiopods increases in size, are marked by elongated
scars, and often by shelly deposits; and when the members of a muscle-pair
come into juxtaposition these shelly deposits (which act as fulcra for the
muscles) combine, and by the growth of the shell form a septum, as in the
case of the median septum of Lingulepis.
The Obolidae show some important features in the internal impressions.
Obolella crassa (Hall) may be taken as a well-known type of the family. In this
species a pair of small scars, one on each side of the pedicle-groove, lies
close under the hinge line in the ventral valve. There is also a well-marked
scar for the insertion of the pedicle-muscle at the end of the pedicle-groove. A
pair of much elongated lateral impressions extending forward from the
“cardinals” may be homologous with the “laterals” of Lingula; and the two small
central scars between them may be compared with the “centrals” of Lingula
which are in a somewhat similar position. In the dorsal valve of O. crassa a
pair of “cardinals” is found, and on each side of a low median rounded ridge
are two small “central” scars. Indistinct “lateral” scars arise close to or in the
central area, and diverge anteriorly.
Sometimes a great concentration of muscle-scars occurs round the foramen
in the ventral valve, as in Siphonotreta.
As regards the minute structure and composition of the shell in the
Ecardines, we find that the Lingulidae and Discinidae have their shell
composed of alternating layers of phosphate of lime and a corneous
substance; the former layers are pierced by microscopic canals. The Craniidae
have calcareous shells traversed by tubules, which divide into many fine
branches near the external surface; a thin periostracum covers the exterior.
The Trimerellidae have heavy thick calcareous shells, for which they required
the previously-described elaborate arrangement of muscles to open and shut
them.
II. TESTICARDINES
External Characters
It is to this division that the great majority of the Brachiopoda belong; and
the diversity of form, of ornamentation, and of internal characters is
correspondingly greater than in the Ecardines.
A transversely or longitudinally oval shape of shell is the commonest; but
sometimes it is triangular, as in Rhynchonella (Fig. 327), or bilobed, as in
Pygope (= Terebratula diphya). The ventral valve is usually more convex than
the dorsal, and the former may be prolonged into a tube by the accelerated
growth and infolding of the anterior and lateral margins, producing a very
abnormal form (Proboscidella). The external surface of the valves is frequently
ornamented with more or less prominent radiating ribs; and fine concentric
growth-lines are commonly shown, and may be developed into coarse ridges
or wrinkles, particularly in old individuals. The members of the family
Productidae are usually furnished with tubular spines, which are sometimes of
great length, and served to anchor the free shells in the mud, or were twisted
round Crinoid stems and similar objects.
In the ventral valve of many genera there is a median sinus, with a
corresponding fold in the dorsal valve, and rarely vice versâ; sometimes the
fold and sinus are double.
The hinge line is either curved or straight, and the valves are articulated by
means of a pair of “hinge-teeth” (Fig. 329, t) in the ventral valve, which fit into
corresponding sockets in the opposite valve. Some genera have the teeth very
rudimentary, or have lost them altogether. The teeth are frequently supported
by “dental plates,” and the sockets by “socket plates” (e.g. Conchidium, Figs.
324, 325). A few genera with a long hinge line have the whole of it
denticulated (Stropheodonta). In the dorsal valve medianly close under the
hinge line is a shelly protuberance—the “cardinal process”—to which the
diductor muscles are attached. It is sometimes of great length and forked
(Stringocephalus, Fig. 326), or tripartite, or even quadripartite; but in
Rhynchonella and some other genera it is rudimentary.
Fig. 324.—Conchidium
galeatum. Wenlock
Limestone.
Fig. 328.—Terebratula
sella. (Lower
Greensand.) d,
Deltidium; f, foramen.
The dorsal valve in a few cases has its beak perforated by a foramen—the
“visceral foramen.” This foramen is in no way connected with the pedicle
foramen, but points perhaps to the existence in the early Testicardinate genera
of an anal aperture. In Athyris concentrica (Devonian) this foramen is
connected internally with a cylindrical tube, which extends longitudinally to
about one-third the length of the valve. In Centronella the aperture in the
cardinal plate is rounded and complete; and in Strophomena and its allies the
opening lies between the cardinal processes. If this feature is correctly
interpreted, it suggests a retrogression of the group since Palaeozoic times not
only in numbers, but in structure; and other evidence points the same way.
Internal Characters
The interior of the shell is sometimes more or less divided up by septa. A
median septum occurs in one or both valves of many genera as a low ridge or
strongly developed partition (Waldheimia, Fig. 329, ss; and Stringocephalus,
Fig. 326, B, v.s). Conchidium (Fig. 325) has its dental plates of great size, and
uniting to form a V-shaped chamber or “spondylium,” supported by a median
double septum; and by means of these with a pair of septa and the large
socket-plates in the dorsal valve the interior of the shell of this genus is divided
up into several chambers.
The interiors of several other genera are somewhat similarly divided up.
Fig. 331.—Atrypa
reticularis. (Wenlock
Limestone.)
I. Ecardines
Family. Lingulidae
Shell elongated, composed of alternating chitinous and calcareous layers, the
latter of which are perforated. Attached by a pedicle passing between apices of
valves.
Arms have no calcified supports.
(For muscles see Fig. 322.)
Range.—Lower Cambrian to Recent.
Principal Genera.—Lingula, Lingulella, Lingulepis.
Family. Obolidae
Shell varies in shape. Ventral valve provided with pedicular groove or
foramen. Cardinal border thickened. No brachial supports. Shell composed of
alternating chitinous and calcareous layers.
(For muscles see p. 496.)
Range.—Lower Cambrian to Devonian.
Principal Genera.—Obolus, Obolella, Kutorgina, Linnarssonia,
Siphonotreta, Acrotreta, Neobolus.
Family. Discinidae
Shell rounded, valves more or less conical, fixed by pedicle passing through
slit or tubular foramen in ventral valve. No calcified brachial supports. Shell
structure chitino-calcareous.
Range.—Ordovician to Recent.
Principal Genera.—Discina, Orbiculoidea, Trematis.
Family. Craniidae
Shell calcareous, subcircular; fixed by surface of ventral valve; dorsal valve
the larger, depressed-conical. Shell structure punctate.
Four principal muscular scars in each valve, with central triangular
protuberance in ventral valve (see p. 476).
Range.—Ordovician to Recent.
Principal Genus.—Crania.
Family. Trimerellidae
Shell thick, calcareous, inequivalve; beak of ventral valve usually prominent;
rudimentary teeth maybe present; hinge area well developed, with pseudo-
deltidium. In interior of valves muscular platform, “crescent,” and sometimes
sub-umbonal chambers (see p. 494, Fig. 323).
Range.—Ordovician and Silurian; maximum in Wenlock.
Principal Genera.—Trimerella, Monomerella, Dinobolus, Rhinobolus.
II. Testicardines
Family. Productidae
Shell entirely free, or fixed by ventral valve or spines. Concavo-convex, more
or less covered with tubular spines. Hinge line straight. Hinge-teeth absent or
rudimentary.
Cardinal process prominent.
Reniform impressions in dorsal valve.
(For muscular impressions see p. 501, Fig. 333.)
Range.—Silurian to Permian. Genus Productus very characteristic of the
Carboniferous.
Principal Genera.—Productus, Chonetes, Strophalosia, Proboscidella,
Aulosteges.
Family. Strophomenidae
Shell very variable in shape; concavo-convex, plano-convex, or biconvex;
hinge line usually straight; frequently with an area on each valve; foramen may
or may not be present. Shell structure near always punctate. Ventral valve
usually furnished with hinge-teeth; and dorsal valve with cardinal process.
Brachial supports completely absent or very rudimentary.
(For muscular impressions see p. 502, Fig. 334.)
Range.—Wholly Palaeozoic.
Principal Genera.—Orthis, with many sub-genera, Clitambonites,
Skenidium, Strophomena, Orthothetes, Leptaena, Stropheodonta,
Plectambonites.
Family. Koninckinidae
Shell plano-convex or concavo-convex. Brachial apparatus composed of two
lamellae spirally enrolled in the same plane, or in the form of depressed cones,
with the apices directed into the ventral valve.
Range.—Silurian to Lias.
Principal Genera.—Koninckina, Koninckella, Coelospira, Davidsonia.
Family. Spiriferidae
Shell biconvex. Brachial apparatus consisting essentially of two descending
calcareous lamellae which by spiral enrolment form a pair of laterally-directed
cones (Fig. 330).
Range.—Chiefly Palaeozoic, but a few forms pass up into the Lias.
Principal Genera.—Spirifera, Cyrtia, Uncites, Athyris, Merista.
Family. Atrypidae
Brachial apparatus consists of two descending calcareous lamellae which
bend outwards at the extremity of the crura and are coiled into two spiral cones,
the apices of which either converge towards each other (Glassia) or towards the
dorsal valve (Atrypa, Fig. 332), or diverge towards the dorsal valve (Dayia); shell
structure impunctate.
Range.—Ordovician to Trias.
Principal Genera.—Atrypa, Dayia, Glassia.
Family. Rhynchonellidae
Shell biconvex, hinge line usually curved.
Beak of ventral valve incurved, with foramen.
Calcareous brachial supports reduced to a pair of short curved crura.
The septa, dental and socket plates may be highly developed and divide up
the cavity of the shell into chambers (Stenochisma, Conchidium).
Shell structure fibrous, rarely punctate; muscular impressions as in
Terebratulidae.
Range.—Ordovician to Recent: majority of the genera are Palaeozoic.
Principal Genera.—Rhynchonella (Fig. 327), Stenochisma, Stricklandia,
Conchidium.
Family. Terebratulidae
Shell structure punctate.
Arms supported by a calcareous loop, usually bent back on itself.
(For muscular impressions see p. 502, Figs. 328, 329.)
Beak of ventral valve perforated by foramen, furnished with deltidium.
Range.—Devonian to Recent; maximum development in Mesozoic times.
Principal Genera.—Terebratula, Terebratulina, Waldheimia, Terebratella,
Kingena, Magas, Centronella.
Family. Argiopidae
Large foramen for passage of pedicle. Marginal septa present in both valves.
Calcareous brachial loop follows margin of shell and is more or less fused with
the septa. Shell structure punctate.
Range.—Jurassic to Recent.
Principal Genera.—Argiope, Cistella.
Family. Stringocephalidae
Shell subcircular, punctate. Cardinal process highly developed, bifid. Brachial
apparatus composed of two calcareous free lamellae, prolonged at first
downwards, then bent back, upwards and outwards to run parallel to margin of
shell and to unite in front, thus constituting a wide loop.
Range.—Silurian and Devonian.
Sole Genus.—Stringocephalus.
Family. Thecidiidae
Shell usually fixed by beak of ventral valve, plano-convex. Sub-cardinal
apophysis in ventral valve for attachment of occlusors. Marginal septa in dorsal
valve. Calcareous brachial loop more or less fused with shell, and with
calcareous spicules of mantle. Shell structure: inner layer fibrous, outer layer
tubulated.
Range.—Carboniferous to Recent.
Principal Genera.—Thecidium, Oldhamina.