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ANALYSIS OF POST-FAILURE BEHAVIOUR

  • Conference paper
Landslides from Massive Rock Slope Failure

Part of the book series: NATO Science Series ((NAIV,volume 49))

Abstract

Landslides are known to travel further than expected from the coefficient of friction of their material. In some cases, this is just because the ratio of the height lost to the horizontal distance travelled (H/L), which is compared to the coefficient of friction, is not computed from the centre of mass of the deposit, as it should be, but from the distal end. Simple spreading of the landslide mass can then explain the excess runout. However, spreading alone is not able to explain the spectacular runout of most landslides, for which the centre of mass does travel further than predicted for a frictionally-controlled slide. The long travel distance of the centre of mass cannot be explained by dry granular models. As it is well known that water reduces solid friction in debris flows, and that significant amounts of water are present in many landslides, it is proposed here that water is the main cause for the unexpectedly high mobility of landslides. Water in the debris also introduces a viscous dissipative stress which can account for the relatively channelled behaviour of landslides over topography. The difference between landslides and debris flows is wholly gradational and related to the water content.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Geofísico del Perú Urb., La Marina B19, Cayma, Arequipa, Peru

    LANDSLIDE MOBILITY AND THE ROLE OF WATER F. LEGROS

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  1. LANDSLIDE MOBILITY AND THE ROLE OF WATER F. LEGROS
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Waterloo, ON, Canada

    Stephen G. Evans

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, Università degli Studi di Roma, ȘLa Sapienza’, Rome, Italy

    Gabriele Scarascia Mugnozza

  3. Institute of the Geospheres Dynamics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia

    Alexander Strom

  4. Geological Survey of Canada, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    Reginald L. Hermanns

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LEGROS, L.F. (2006). ANALYSIS OF POST-FAILURE BEHAVIOUR. In: Evans, S.G., Mugnozza, G.S., Strom, A., Hermanns, R.L. (eds) Landslides from Massive Rock Slope Failure. NATO Science Series, vol 49. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4037-5_13

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