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Reactivation of coastal landsliding at Sunkist Bay, Auckland, following ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie, 5 April 2017

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Abstract

The historically unstable Sunkist Bay cliff in Auckland, New Zealand, is formed of weak Pleistocene alluvial sediments, infilling a paleovalley eroded into Miocene sandstone. Weathered tephra layers dip at low angles out of the cliff, and part-control stability. The last major failure prior to 2017 occurred in 2011, immediately to the west of the 2017 failure. Despite the long-term history of instability, over the last two decades, residential property construction has continued to < 10 m of the cliff edge. On 5 April 2017, ex-tropical cyclone Debbie delivered 157 mm of rainfall in 24 h, the 3rd highest 24-h total in 40 years. This was preceded 1 month earlier by 210 mm of rainfall on 8 March (the ‘Tasman Tempest’ storm), locally a 1 in 100-year event. A seawall constructed at the base of the cliff may have acted to inhibit pore-water pressure reduction during March–April 2017, because horizontal drains were absent in the seawall directly in front of the 2017 slope failure. Irrespective of the exact process-mechanisms of the 2017 failure, this case study highlights the importance of careful land use planning and imposition of adequate setback distances in coastal zones in New Zealand, and globally.

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Acknowledgements

The staff at Auckland Council are thanked for useful discussions, and residents of the Sunkist Bay area are thanked for allowing site access. University of Auckland technicians Brendan Hall, David Wackrow, Mirja Heinrich, Catherine Hobbis, and Jeff Melster provided field and laboratory assistance. Alan Hogg at the University of Waikato Radiocarbon Laboratory is thanked for undertaking the 14C dating. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) provided climate station data via their Cliflo database.

Funding

This study was financially supported by the Earthquake Commission (EQC).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Environment, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1010, New Zealand

    Alex Palma, Rosie Garrill, Martin S. Brook, Nicholas Richards & Jon Tunnicliffe

Authors
  1. Alex Palma
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  2. Rosie Garrill
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  3. Martin S. Brook
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  4. Nicholas Richards
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  5. Jon Tunnicliffe
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Correspondence to Martin S. Brook.

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Palma, A., Garrill, R., Brook, M.S. et al. Reactivation of coastal landsliding at Sunkist Bay, Auckland, following ex-Tropical Cyclone Debbie, 5 April 2017. Landslides 17, 2659–2669 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-020-01474-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-020-01474-8

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