Abstract
The cyclic fluctuations of matric suction and its influence on unsaturated soil mechanics in the active zone is largely disregarded in many slope stability calculations. However, the depth of the unsaturated zone can be significant, especially in semi-arid to arid climates where large portions of the slope are not governed by saturated soil mechanics. Additional tools are used to characterize historical climate and compare several factors that have resulted in changing landslide movement rates and magnitude. Infiltration of precipitation and snowmelt directly contributes to matric suction losses in the head scarp and is exacerbated by the presence of tension cracks. While groundwater levels are primarily correlated to changing movement rates in the Thompson River valley, seasonal changes in matric suction can influence the degree to which movement rates change. Climatic events and trends over the past few years alter the long-term soil water accumulation in the valley. By accounting for the additional strength or potentially rapid losses in strength due to increasing water content, it may be possible to develop a more complete understanding of the climate change mechanisms driving changing movement rates in the translational, metastable earthen slides that dominate the Thompson River valley.
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Acknowledgements
Installation and monitoring would not be possible without continued access to the research site and ongoing support from CP and CN. Productive collaboration and data sharing with the Geological Survey of Canada (Peter Bobrowsky), the British Geological Survey (Jonathan Chambers and Philip Meldrum), as well as Shane Donohue (University College Dublin), have been greatly appreciated as we work towards the common goal of protecting railway infrastructure. The authors would like to thank Canada (TC), the (Canadian) Railway Ground Hazard Research Program (RGHRP), and the Canadian Rail Research Laboratory (CaRRL) for continued financial support and resources. These entities are supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), CP, and CN. Holmes and Wilkinson publish with permission of the Executive Director of the BGS (UKRI).
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Sattler, K., Elwood, D., Hendry, M.T., Huntley, D., Holmes, J., Wilkinson, P.B. (2021). Effect of Pore Pressure Dynamics on Progressive Failure in a Clayey Glaciolacustrine Landslide. In: Tiwari, B., Sassa, K., Bobrowsky, P.T., Takara, K. (eds) Understanding and Reducing Landslide Disaster Risk. WLF 2020. ICL Contribution to Landslide Disaster Risk Reduction. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-60706-7_45
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