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Types of Landslides (... Continuing) : Unit V Landslides and Floods

The document discusses different types of landslides and floods. It describes 5 types of flows: debris flow, debris avalanche, earthflow, mudflow, and creep. Debris flows contain less than 50% fines and are caused by heavy precipitation. Debris avalanches are very rapid debris flows. Earthflows have an hourglass shape and occur in fine-grained materials on moderate slopes. Mudflows contain at least 50% sand, silt, and clay and flow rapidly. Creep is the slow, imperceptible downward movement of slope-forming materials. The document also discusses lateral spreads, which occur on gentle slopes and are caused by liquefaction during earthquakes.

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Janai Marngar
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56 views2 pages

Types of Landslides (... Continuing) : Unit V Landslides and Floods

The document discusses different types of landslides and floods. It describes 5 types of flows: debris flow, debris avalanche, earthflow, mudflow, and creep. Debris flows contain less than 50% fines and are caused by heavy precipitation. Debris avalanches are very rapid debris flows. Earthflows have an hourglass shape and occur in fine-grained materials on moderate slopes. Mudflows contain at least 50% sand, silt, and clay and flow rapidly. Creep is the slow, imperceptible downward movement of slope-forming materials. The document also discusses lateral spreads, which occur on gentle slopes and are caused by liquefaction during earthquakes.

Uploaded by

Janai Marngar
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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DISASTER MANAGEMENT RIST D. Thakuria, Asst.

Prof, CE

UNIT V

LANDSLIDES AND FLOODS

Types of Landslides (...continuing)

4. Flows: Flows are differentiated from slides, on the basis of water content, mobility and evolution of
movement.There are five basic categories of flows that differ from one another in fundamental ways.

a. Debris flow: A debris flow is a form of rapid mass movement in which a combination of loose soil, rock,
organic matter, air, and water mobilize as a slurry that flows downslope. Debris flows include <50%
fines. Debris flows are commonly caused by intense surface-water flow, due to heavy precipitation or
rapid snowmelt, that erodes and mobilizes loose soil or rock on steep slopes. Debris flows also
commonly mobilize from other types of landslides that occur on steep slopes, are nearly saturated, and
consist of a large proportion of silt- and sand-sized material. Debris flow source areas are often
associated with steep gullies, and debris-flow deposits are usually indicated by the presence of debris
fans at the mouths of gullies. Fires that denude slopes of vegetation intensify the susceptibility of slopes
to debris flows.

b. Debris avalanche: This is a variety of very rapid to extremely rapid debris flow.

c. Earthflow: Earthflows have a characteristic "hourglass" shape. The slope material liquefies and runs out,
forming a bowl or depression at the head. The flow itself is elongate and usually occurs in fine-grained
materials or clay-bearing rocks on moderate slopes and under saturated conditions. However, dry flows of
granular material are also possible.

d. Mudflow: A mudflow is an earthflow consisting of material that is wet enough to flow rapidly and that
contains at least 50 percent sand, silt, and clay-sized particles. In some instances, mudflows and debris flows
are commonly referred to as "mudslides."

e. Creep: Creep is the imperceptibly slow, steady, downward movement of slope-forming soil or rock.
Movement is caused by shear stress sufficient to produce permanent deformation, but too small to produce
shear failure. There are generally three types of creep: (1) seasonal, where movement is within the depth of
soil affected by seasonal changes in soil moisture and soil temperature; (2) continuous, where shear stress
continuously exceeds the strength of the material; and (3) progressive, where slopes are reaching the point of
failure as other types of mass movements. Creep is indicated by curved tree trunks, bent fences or retaining
walls, tilted poles or fences, and small soil ripples or ridges.

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DISASTER MANAGEMENT RIST D. Thakuria, Asst. Prof, CE

5. LATERAL SPREADS: Lateral spreads are distinctive because they usually occur on very gentle slopes or
flat terrain or low relief areas. The dominant mode of movement is lateral extension accompanied by shear
or tensile fractures. The failure is caused by liquefaction, the process whereby saturated, loose, cohesionless
sediments (usually sands and silts) are transformed from a solid into a liquefied state. Failure is usually
triggered by rapid ground motion, such as that experienced during an earthquake, but can also be artificially
induced. When coherent material, either bedrock or soil, rests on materials that liquefy, the upper units may
undergo fracturing and extension and may then subside, translate, rotate, disintegrate, or liquefy and flow.
Lateral spreading in fine-grained materials on shallow slopes is usually progressive. The failure starts
suddenly in a small area and spreads rapidly. Often the initial failure is a slump, but in some materials
movement occurs for no apparent reason. Combination of two or more of the above types is known as a
complex landslide.

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