Details of Award
NERC Reference : NE/C514566/1
The development of progressive failure in cohesive landslides.
Grant Award
- Principal Investigator:
- Professor D Petley, Durham University, Geography
- Grant held at:
- Durham University, Geography
- Science Area:
- Earth
- Overall Classification:
- Earth
- ENRIs:
- Environmental Risks and Hazards
- Science Topics:
- Earth Surface Processes
- Geohazards
- Earth Engineering
- Abstract:
- URGENCY (ES) ABSTRACT (typed - Sep 04) NE/C514566/1 - Petley Globally, landslides are a major and increasing problem, especially in mountainous less-economically developed countries. The Durham landslide database suggests that on average over 5000 people are killed by landslides per year. One major type of landslide occurs in so-called cohesive materials - those are mostly sediments that derive a part of their strength from bonds between the grains from which they are formed. It is well-established that first time landslides in such materials develop 'progressively' - that is they move slowly for a period prior to final failure. As final failure is approached they accelerate, and if this acceleration is plotted as 1/velocity against time, a straight line is usually derived. This straight line allows estimation in advance of the time of final failure. The PI has spent the last few year investigating why this is the case, and has shown in recent papers that linearity in 1/v-t space is associated with a specific process in the basal region of the slide, which is the growth of a shear surface - a crack along which sliding can occur. So, when linearity in 1/v-t space is seen we can state with confidence what is happening at the base of the landslide. Until now we have not been able to explain why this should be the case. Recently, the PI wrote a paper that explained why this should be the case, and produced a model for how landslides actually develop. In August 2004 a typhoon swept across Japan, and the heavy rainfall triggered a landslide at Jishuberi in Nari. This landslide is remarkable for two reasons. First, the failure was recorded on video (see http://www.kkr.mlit.go.jp/plan/2004-jisuberi-0810/data.wmv), and second the failure occurred after the rainfall event, as predicted by the recent paper by the PI. Thus, this is a unique opportunity to investigate the mechanisms of progressive failure and to validate the model. However, data collection needs to be undertaken urgently in order to characterise the slide properly and to obtain samples of the basal material before they weather. The samples will be returned to the UK and subjected to a novel set of experiments that allows us to characterise how the movement of the landslide is related to the pore pressure conditions within the slope and the deformation of the materials in the basal realm. These data will then be combined with a dataset collected for the landslide by scanning the surface with a laser to develop a three dimensional impression of the surface characteristics of the slide, this combined dataset will be put into a computer model to investigate the deformation of the basal region and to validate or improve the model proposed by the PI for the development of progressive failures.
- NERC Reference:
- NE/C514566/1
- Grant Stage:
- Completed
- Scheme:
- Standard Grants Pre FEC
- Grant Status:
- Closed
- Programme:
- Urgency
This grant award has a total value of £12,259
FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)
| Total - T&S | Total - Other Costs |
|---|---|
| £11,771 | £488 |
If you need further help, please read the user guide.