landslide types and classification

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Introduction

A landslide is a geological phenomenon which includes a wide range of ground movement, such as rock falls, deep failure of slopes and shallow debris flows. The term therefore describes a movement of a mass of rocks or soil from a higher point to a lower one. A complete definition of a landslide event could be the following: "movement of soil or rock controlled by gravity, superficial or deep, with movement from slow to rapid, but not very slow, which involves materials which make up a mass that is a portion of the slope or the slope itself". Although gravity acting on an over steepened slope is the primary reason for a landslide, there are other contributing factors affecting the original slope stability: erosion by rivers, glaciers, or ocean waves create over steepened slopes; rock and soil slopes are weakened through saturation by snowmelt or heavy rains; earthquakes create stresses that make weak slopes fail; volcanic eruptions produce loose ash deposits, heavy rain, and debris flows; vibrations from machinery, traffic, blasting and even thunder may trigger failure of weak slopes excess weight from accumulation of rain or snow, stockpiling of rock or ore, from waste piles, or from man-made structures may stress weak slopes to failure and other structures groundwater pressure acting to destabilize the slope in shallow soils, the removal of deep-rooted vegetation that binds the colluvium to bedrock.

The used classification factors

Various scientific disciplines have developed taxonomic classification systems to describe natural phenomena or individuals, like for example, plants or animals. These systems are based on Huge debris flow in Sarno, Southern Italy specific features like shape of organs or nature of reproduction. Differently, in landslide classification, there are great difficulties due to the fact that landslide events are not perfectly repeatable; usually being characterised by different causes, movements and morphology, and involving different soil materials. For this reason, landslide classifications are based on different factors, sometimes very subjective. In the following the criteria most commonly used in the classification systems are shown:

Type of movement

This is the most important criteria, even if uncertainties and difficulties can arise in the identification of movements, being the mechanisms of some landslides often particularly complex. The main movements are falls, slides and flows, but usually topples, lateral spreading and complex movements are added to these. Rock, earth and debris are the terms generally used to distinguish the materials involved in the landslide process. For example, the distinction between earth and debris is usually made by comparing the percentage of coarse grain size particles. If the weight of the particles with a diameter greater than 2mm is less than 20%, the material will be defined as earth; in the opposite case, it is debris.

Involved material

Activity

The classification of a landslide based on its activity is particularly relevant in the evaluation of future events.

The recommendations of the WP/WLI of 1993 define the concept of activity with reference to the spatial and temporal conditions, defining the, the distribution and the style. The first term describes the information regarding the time in which the movement took place, permitting information to be available on future evolution, the second term describes, in a general way, where the landslide is moving and the third term indicates how it is moving.

A4) Movement velocity

This factor has a great importance in the landslide hazard evaluation. A velocity range is connected to the different type of landslides, on the basis of observation of case history or site observations.

Types and classification

In the following table shows a schematic landslide classification adopting the classification of Varnes 1978 and taking into account the modifications made by Cruden and Varnes, in 1996. Some integration have been made by using the definitions of Hutchinson (1988) and Hungr et al 2001. Type of movement Type of material Bedrock Engineering soils Predominantly Predominantly coarse fine Rockfall Earth fall Debris fall Rock topple Rotational Rock slump Earth topple Earth slump Debris topple Debris slump

Falls Topples Slides

Translational

Few Rock block units slide Many units Rock slide

Earth block slide Earth slide

Debris block slide Debris slide

Lateral spreads Flows

Complex and compound

Rock spread Earth spread Debris spread Rock flow Earth flow Debris flow Rock Debris avalanche avalanche (Deep creep) (Soil creep) Combination in time and/or space of two or more principal types of movement

References
CAINE, N., 1980. The rainfall intensity-duration control of shallow landslides and debris flows. Geografiska Annaler, 62A, 23-27. COATES, D. R. (1977) - Landslide prospectives. In: Landslides (D.R. Coates, Ed.) Geological Society of America, pp. 3-38. COROMINAS, J. and MOYA, J. 1999. Reconstructing recent landslide activity in relation to rainfall in the Llobregat River basin, Eastern Pyrenees, Spain. Geomorphology, 30, 79-93.



CRUDEN D.M., VARNES D. J. (1996) - Landslide types and processes. In: Turner A.K.; Shuster R.L. (eds) Landslides: Investigation and Mitigation. Transp Res Board, Spec Rep 247, pp 36-75. HUNGR O, EVANS SG, BOVIS M, and HUTCHINSON JN (2001) Review of the classification of landslides of the flow type. Environmental and Engineering Geoscience, VII, 221-238. HUTCHINSON J. N.: Mass Movement. In: The Encyclopedia of Geomorphology (Fairbridge, R.W., ed.), Reinhold Book Corp., New York, pp. 688-696, 1968. HARPE C. F. S.: Landslides and related phenomena. A Study of Mass Movements of Soil and Rock. Columbia Univo Press, New York, 137 pp., 1938. KEEFER, D.K. (1984) Landslides caused by earthquakes. Bulletin of the Geological Society of America 95, 406-421. VARNES D. J.: Slope movement types and processes. In: Schuster R. L. & Krizek R. J. Ed., Landslides, analysis and control. Transportation Research Board Sp. Rep. No. 176, Nat. Acad. oi Sciences, pp. 11-33, 1978. TERZAGHI K. - Mechanism of Landslides. In Engineering Geology (Berkel) Volume. Ed. da The Geological Society of America~ New York, 1950. WP/ WLI. 1993. A suggested method for describing the activity of a landslide. Bulletin of the International Association of Engineering Geology, No. 47, 53-57.

Glossary
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