Causes: Landslide

LANDSLIDE
A landslide or landslip is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows, which can occur in offshore, coastal and onshore environments. Although the action of gravity is the primary driving force for a landslide to occur, there are other contributing factors affecting the original slope stability. Typically, pre-conditional factors build up specific sub-surface conditions that make the area/slope prone to failure, whereas the actual landslide often requires a trigger before being released.
Causes
The causes of landslides are usually related to instabilities in slopes. It is usually possible to identify one or more landslide causes and one landslide trigger. The difference between these two concepts is subtle but important. The landslide causes are the reasons that a landslide occurred in that location and at that time. Landslide causes are listed in the following table, and include geological factors, morphological factors, physical factors and factors associated with human activity. Causes may be considered to be factors that made the slope vulnerable to failure, that predispose the slope to becoming unstable. The trigger is the single event that finally initiated the landslide. Thus, causes combine to make a slope vulnerable to failure, and the trigger finally initiates the movement. Landslides can have many causes but can only have one trigger as shown in the next figure. Usually, it is relatively easy to determine the trigger after the landslide has occurred (although it is generally very difficult to determine the exact nature of landslide triggers ahead of a movement event).
Main article: Causes of landslides
The Mameyes Landslide, in barrio Tibes, Ponce, Puerto Rico, which buried more than 100 homes, was caused by extensive accumulation of rains and, according to some sources, lightning. Landslides occur when the stability of a slope changes from a stable to an unstable condition. A change in the stability of a slope can be caused by a number of factors, acting together or alone. Natural causes of landslides include:
groundwater (porewater) pressure acting to destabilize the slope
Loss or absence of vertical vegetative structure, soil nutrients, and soil structure (e.g. after a wildfire) erosion of the toe of a slope by rivers or ocean waves weakening of a slope through saturation by snowmelt, glaciers melting, or heavy rains earthquakes adding loads to barely-stable slope earthquake-caused liquefaction destabilizing slopes volcanic eruptions
landslides are aggravated by human activities, Human causes include:deforestation, cultivation and construction, which destabilize the already fragile slopes

vibrations from machinery or traffic blasting earthwork which alters the shape of a slope, or which imposes new loads on an existing slope in shallow soils, the removal of deep-rooted vegetation that binds colluvium to bedrock Construction, agricultural or forestry activities (logging) which change the amount of water which infiltrates the soil.
Geological causes

Weak materials Sensitive materials Weathered materials Sheared materials Jointed or fissured materials Adversely orientated discontinuities Permeability contrasts Material contrasts Rainfall and snow fall
[edit] Morphological causes

Slope angle Uplift Rebound Fluvial erosion Wave erosion Glacial erosion Erosion of lateral margins Subterranean erosion Slope loading Vegetation change Erosion Erosion
[edit] Physical causes

Intense rainfall Rapid snow melt
Prolonged precipitation Rapid drawdown Earthquake Volcanic eruption Thawing Freeze-thaw Ground water changes Soil pore water pressure Surface runoff Seismic activity
[edit] Human causes

Excavation Loadin Drawdown Land use change Water management Mining Quarrying Vibration Water leakage Deforestation Yodeling
PREVENTIVE MEASURES
The first cause listed is gravity. Since we cannot alter gravity, what we can do, is alter geometry of the man-made slope so that the gravity effects are not detrimental. If the landslide is surficial (not too deep), the easiest way to prevent the fall of rocks and soil over the slope is to vegetate it! However, vegetation can help only if the movement hasnt already begun or if the landslide is deep! Groundwater table changes are the most common cause of landslides. Heavy rains, leaking pipes, melting of snow in warm weather, floods, etc can cause changes in the groundwater table, thus inducing a landslide. Although natural phenomena such as heavy rains, melting snow, etc cannot be modified, its effect on the groundwater table can be controlled by applying the principles of hydrology and geotechnical engineering. Rain water or snow melt can be directed far away from the slopes by building drainage channels or swales that convey the water where it shall not be detrimental to the stability of the slope. Leaking pipes or leaking swimming pools can be easily fixed, once the location of the leak is determined.
(Courtsey BBC News) Earthquakes cause ground shaking which may directly lead to a landslide. Or, the ground shaking may cause the soil to loosen and become weak, leading to a landslide. To prevent earthquake induced landslides, the ideal solution is to design the geometry of the slope such that it has an adequate factor of safety even for seismic cases.
(Courtsey Emergency Management Australia) To prevent landslides triggered due to construction on top of the slope, a setback distance should be maintained between the top of slope and construction. The distance will depend on the type of construction and geology and geometry of the slope

Causes: Landslide

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LANDSLIDE

Main article: Causes of landslides

groundwater (porewater) pressure acting to destabilize the slope

[edit] Morphological causes

[edit] Physical causes

Intense rainfall Rapid snow melt

[edit] Human causes

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