Definition and classification
The Working Party on World Landslide Inventory (1990) defines a landslide simply as ‘the movement of a mass of rock, earth, or debris down a slope’ (q.v.). A more comprehensive definition which helps to distinguish landslides from the other geomorphological processes is ‘the downward or outward movement of a mass of slope-forming material under the influence of gravity, occurring on discrete boundaries and taking place initially without the aid of water as a transportational agent.’ As this second definition indicates, landslides are more than just a simple down-slope movement of material. The three most widely used classifications involving landslides (Sharpe, 1938; Varnes, 1958 and 1978; Hutchinson 1988) separate ‘mass movements’ (Fairbridge, 1968) into two categories: subsidence (which is the vertical sinking of material-see entry on Land Subsidence) and those movements that occur on slopes. These’ slope movements’ are then usually divided firstly into...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Bibliography
Bell, D. H. (ed.), 1992. Landslides. Proc. 6th Int. Symp. Landslides, Volumes 1 and 2. Rotterdam: Balkema, 1495.
Brabb, E. E., 1989. Landslides; extent and economic significance in the United States. In Brabb, E. E., and Harrod, B. L. (eds), Landslides: Extent and Economic Significance. Rotterdam: Balkema, 25–50.
Brabb, E. E, and Harrod, B. L. (eds), 1989. Landslides: Extent and Economic Significane. Rotterdam: Balkema, 385.
Carson, M. A., and Kirkby, M. J., 1972. Hillslope Form and Process. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 475.
Carter, W. N., 1991. Disaster Management: A Disaster Manager's Handbook. Bangkok: Asian Development Bank, 417.
Close, U., and McCormick, E., 1922. Where the mountains walked. Natl. Geog., 41, 445–64.
Cooke, R. U., and Doornkamp, J. C., 1990. Geomorphology in Environmental Management (2nd edn). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 410.
Cotecchia, V., 1987. Earthquake-prone environments. In Anderson, M. G., and Richards, K. S. (eds), Slope Stability. Chichester: Wiley, 287–330.
Crozier, M. J., 1986. Landslides: Causes, Consequences, and Environment. London: Croom-Helm, 252.
Cruden, D. M. 1991. A simple definition of a landslide. Bull. Int. Assoc. Eng. Geol., 43, 27–9.
Evans, S. F., 1989. Rock avalanche run-up record. Nature, 340, 271.
Fairbridge, R. W. (ed.), 1968. The Encyclopedia of Geomorphology. New York: Reinhold, 1295.
Hansen, A., 1984a. Strategies for classification of landslides. In Brunsden, D., and Prior, D. B. (eds), Slope Instability. New York: Wiley, 1–26.
Hansen, A., 1984b. Landslide hazards analysis. In Brunsden, D., and Prior, D. B. (eds), Slope Instability. New York: Wiley, 523–602.
Hutchinson, J. N., 1988. General report: morphological and geotechnical parameters of landslides in relation to geology and hydrogeology. Proc. 5th Int. Symp. Landslides, Volume 1. Rotterdam: Balkema, 3–35.
Keefer, D. K., 1984. Landslides caused by earthquakes. Geol. Soc. Am. Bull., 95, 406–21.
Perrin, N. D., and Hancox, G. T., 1992. Landslide-dammed lakes in New Zealand: preliminary studies on their distribution causes and effects. In Bell, D. H. (ed.), Landslides. Proc. 6th Int. Symp. Landslides, Volume 2. Rotterdam: Balkema, 1457–66.
Plafker, G., Ericksen, G. E., and Concha, J. F., 1971. Geological aspects of the May 31, 1970, Peru earthquake. Seismol. Soc. Am. Bull., 61, 543–78.
Prior, D. B., and Coleman, J. M., 1984. Submarine slope instability. In Brunsden, D., and Prior, D. B. (eds), Slope Instability. New York: Wiley, 419–56.
Selby, M. J., 1993. Hillslope Materials and Processes (2nd edn). Oxford: Oxford University Press, 451.
Sharpe, C.F.S., 1938. Landslides and Related Phenomena. New York: Pageant, 137.
Sidle, R. C., Pearce, A. J., and O'Loughlin, C. L., 1985. Hillslope Stability and Land Use. Water Resources Monograph 11. Washington, DC: American Geophysical Union, 140.
Smith, K., 1992. Environmental Hazards: Assessing Risk and Reducing Disaster. London: Routledge, 324.
Varnes, D. J., 1958. Landslides types and processes. In Eckel, E. B. (ed.), Landslides and Engineering Practice. Special Report 29, NAS-NRC Publication 544. Washington, DC: Highway Research Board, 20–47.
Varnes, D. J., 1978, Slope movement and types and processes. In Schuster, R. L., and Krizek, R. J. (eds), Landslides: Analysis and Control. Special Report 176, Washington, DC: National Academy of Sciences,11–33.
Varnes, D. J., 1984. Landslide Hazard Zonation: A Review of Principles and Practice. Paris: UNESCO, 63.
Working Party on World Landslide Inventory, 1990. A suggested method for reporting a landslide. Bull. Int. Assoc. Eng. Geol., 41, 5–12.
Cross-references
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1999 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this entry
Cite this entry
Crozier, M.J. (1999). Landslides. In: Environmental Geology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_200
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4494-1_200
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-0-412-74050-3
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-4494-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive