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The Classification of Rockslide Dams

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Natural and Artificial Rockslide Dams

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences ((LNEARTH,volume 133))

Abstract

It is suggested that rockslide – rock avalanche dams are more complex than is recognized in existing landslide dam classifications. A classification system is proposed emphasizing the three-dimensional relations of the landslide deposit to valley morphology. This system combines a three-step classification taking account of: (A) the plan view distribution of the deposit in relation to valley morphology and the impounded water bodies, (B) the cross valley profile of the landslide deposit as it relates to the buried valley morphology, and (C) the profile of the rockslide debris and the underlying substrate along the thalweg of the valley. It is argued this serves to better describe the dams with respect to the hazard of outburst floods, impoundment histories and the subsequent morphological evolution of mountain stream valleys.

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Acknowledgement

This paper was partly written at the Geological Survey of Canada and partly at the Norges geologiske undersøkelse. The work described in this paper is therefore partially supported by the Research Council of Norway through the International Centre for Geohazards (ICG). Their support is gratefully acknowledged. This is ICG contribution No. 283.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. International Centre for Geohazards, Geological Survey of Norway, Trondheim, Norway

    Reginald L. Hermanns

  2. Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Cold Regions Research Centre, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON, Canada, N2L 3C5

    Kenneth Hewitt

  3. Institute of Geospheres Dynamics, Russian Academy of Sciences, 119334, Moscow, Russia

    Alexander Strom

  4. Landslide Research Programme, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada, N2L 3G1

    Stephen G. Evans

  5. Discipline of Geography and Environment, Northumbria University, Newcastle, Upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK

    Stuart A. Dunning

  6. Department of Geography, University of Durham, DH1 3LE, Durham, UK

    Stuart A. Dunning

  7. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Rome “La Sapienza”, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, 00185, Rome, Italy

    Gabriele Scarascia-Mugnozza

Authors
  1. Reginald L. Hermanns
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  2. Kenneth Hewitt
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  3. Alexander Strom
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  4. Stephen G. Evans
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  5. Stuart A. Dunning
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  6. Gabriele Scarascia-Mugnozza
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Reginald L. Hermanns .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Earth & Environmental Sciences, Landslide Research Program, University of Waterloo, University Avenue W. 200, Waterloo, N2L 3G1, Ontario, Canada

    Stephen G. Evans

  2. Dept. Geophysics, Geological Survey of Norway, Trondheim, 7491, Norway

    Reginald L. Hermanns

  3. Institute of the Geospheres Dynamics, Russian Academy of Sciences, Leninskiy Avenue 38, Moscow, 119334, Russian Federation

    Alexander Strom

  4. Dipto. Scienze della Terra, Università Roma, La Sapienza, Piazzale Aldo Moro 5, Roma, 00185, Italy

    Gabriele Scarascia-Mugnozza

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Hermanns, R.L., Hewitt, K., Strom, A., Evans, S.G., Dunning, S.A., Scarascia-Mugnozza, G. (2011). The Classification of Rockslide Dams. In: Evans, S., Hermanns, R., Strom, A., Scarascia-Mugnozza, G. (eds) Natural and Artificial Rockslide Dams. Lecture Notes in Earth Sciences, vol 133. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-04764-0_24

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