LAND

SLIDES
LANDSLIDES
 LANDSLIDES
 A landslide is the mass movement of
rock, soil, and debris down a slope
due to gravity. It occurs when the
driving force is greater than the
resisting force.
 It is a natural process that occurs in
steep slopes. The movement may
range from very slow to rapid.
 It can affect areas both near and far
from the source.
Landslide materials may include:

 Soil
 Debris
 Rock
 Garbage
Three distinct physical
events occur during a
landslide :

 The initial slope

failure;

 The subsequent
transport; and

 The final deposition

of the slide materials
Landslide triggers

 Natural triggers
 Intense rainfall
 Weathering of rocks
 Ground vibrations created
during earthquakes
 Volcanic activity
 Man-made triggers
TYPES OF LANDSLIDES
 TYPES OF LANDSLIDES
ROCKS FALL
 Single and small rock falls from cliffs build up to form aprons of scree or
talus, sometimes developing over long time periods. Some scree slopes are
relict, where the scree apron almost buries the crags that once released rock
falls that formed them.

 A trait of actively forming rock fall screes is the sorting of rock debris,
with the largest stones at the base of the scree and the smallest at the top.
Reworking of the scree slopes by other processes – e.g. snow avalanching,
debris flows and gully erosion by water – disrupts this sorting.
 TYPES OF LANDSLIDES

ROTATIONAL LANDSLIDES

 Rotational landslides occur where more resistant rocks founder over

underlying weaker rocks. Multiple failures may produce spectacular
whole mountainside collapse.
 TYPES OF LANDSLIDES
DEBRIS FLOW

 Debris flows are Scotland’s most common type of landslide hazard. They
range in character from sloppy wet mudflows to slurries of rock debris
similar in texture to wet concrete.

 Debris flows begin on steep slopes of more than 20 degrees. But they can
continue to travel over much gentler ground that slopes at only 10 degrees.
How far a debris flow can travel depends on how much debris it carries
compared to the volume of water.
 TYPES OF LANDSLIDES
CREEP
Creep is the slow downslope movement of material under gravity. It generally occurs over
large areas.

Three types of creep occur:

 seasonal movement or creep within the soil – due to seasonal changes in soil moisture
and temperature, e.g. frost heave processes
 continuous creep – where the soil and rock debris isn’t strong enough to resist gravity
 progressive creep – where the soil and rock debris suddenly reaches a critical state such
that it will fail due to other factors
 TYPES OF LANDSLIDES

TRANSNATIONAL SLIDES

 Such slumps and slides occur in very wet weather, when the near-
surface soil and rock debris gets saturated with water, and slides and
flows downslope. They can develop into more dangerous debris flows
on steep ground, where the landslide may travel a long distance,
churning up the debris into a slurry.
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