Topics for today

Mass Wasting (Ch. 13 418-425)

1. Controlling factors
Soil strength
Hill slope gradient
2 Physical model
3 Natural cases
Rain storms
Timber harvesting
Roads
3. Coefficient of friction
Water in soils
4. Mechanisms of movement
5. Mass wasting types
6. Large landslides
Mass wasting
Mass wasting is the down slope
movement of rock, regolith, and soil,
under the influence of gravity.
Rock fall
Rock fall
Rock fall
Landslide
Landslide
Creep
Debris
flow
Coefficient of friction
Angle of repose = angle of internal friction in dry, loose
material
Cohesion
Water reduces cohesion, removes frictional
contact between grains
Landslide
 Mechanisms of movement
Pure flow
Earth flows
Mudflows
Pure slide/fall
Rock falls
Avalanches
landslides
Creep
Gradual movement - Freezing cycles
Dry mass wasting from Slow to fast
Creep------->Rock fall
Creep
Soil Creep
Creep
Rock fall
Rockfall
Rockfall
Rock fall
Talus slope
Slow-medium velocity mass wasting
from dry to wet
Earthflow
Slumgullion Earthflow, CO

6 m/yr
Highway 149
The earthflow
began 700 years
ago.
About 350 years
ago, a second
earthflow
Solifluction
 Fasts mass wasting processes from
dry to wet
Rockfall
Debris avalanche
Mud flow
Blackhawk rockslide, Ca
 It is a prehistoric landslide ~20,000
years old
Source was 4000 ft height
5 miles long X 2 miles wide X 50 feet
thick
Velocity = 270 miles/hour
Traveled time 8 sec
Huascaran Debris
avalanche, Peru
(1970)
 Huascaran (6768m)
Trigger by an
earthquake M=8
Buried the city of
Yungay, 18,000
people died
Traveled 9 miles
175-200 mph
 Explanations
Liquefaction-wet
Air cushioning
Acoustic fluidization (high vibration)
Liquefaction

Lost of friction
between grain
 Air cushioning
Air layer underneath the slide
reduces friction and can travel
farther.
Acoustic fluidization (high
vibration)