Excess pore pressure and grain crushing of sands by means of undrained and naturally drained ring-shear tests

An investigation of excess pore-pressure generation of a weathered granitic sand, taken from the source area of a typical landslide caused as a result of liquefaction, and a fine silica sand was conducted, in which grain crushing within the shear zone of ring-shear test specimens was examined as the key phenomenon of rapid long-runout motion of landslides. In order to investigate and explain the low average apparent-friction angle, mobilized in a liquidized landslide, speed-controlled ring-shear tests were conducted under undrained conditions on weathered granitic-sand specimens, formed under a wide range of initial void ratios. It was revealed that very small steady-state shear resistances were obtained irrespective of the initial void ratios, which can explain the low average apparent-friction angle. In addition, two series of ring-shear tests on weathered-granitic and fine-silica sands were conducted under naturally drained conditions by keeping the upper drain valve of the shear box open during the tests. The first series of tests was performed under differing total normal stresses, but at the same shear speed, and the second series was conducted at differing shear speeds, but under the same total normal stress. In order to investigate and analyze excess pore-pressure generation and dissipation within the shear zone that is associated with grain crushing, permeability analyses were conducted by passing water through the sample box of the ring-shear test apparatus before and after shearing. In addition, grain-size distribution analyses of samples taken from the shear zone after shearing were carried out. For the weathered granitic-sand samples, a significant change in bulk permeability and large amount of grain crushing were observed. In these tests on the above soil, a considerable reduction of shear resistance, which increased proportionally to the total normal stress and shear speed, were obtained. It was observed that due to grain crushing, finer grains that lowered the permeability of the soil in the shear zone, were formed. It is likely that the decrease in permeability facilitated the generation of high excess pore pressures by reducing the pore-pressure dissipation rate from the shear zone; thus, flow behaviour was exhibited even under naturally drained conditions.     

Petrological evolution of a suite of spinel granulites from Vizianagram, Eastern Ghats Belt, India, and genesis of sapphirine-bearing assemblages

A suite of spinel–cordierite granulites from Viziangram, Eastern Ghats Belt, India preserve mineral assemblages and reaction textures indicative of peak metamorphic conditions of >1000 °C, >8<10 kbar, followed successively by near isobaric cooling (down to 750–800 °C), near isothermal decompression (to 4–5 kbar), and late hydration. P–T conditions of each stage are evaluated through a combination of petrogenetic grid approach and thermobarometry. Sapphirine is developed in sillimanite‐bearing acid pegmatite veins that intruded the spinel–cordierite granulite close to peak metamorphic conditions, and also in the host rock in immediate contact with the pegmatite. Both sillimanite and sapphirine in the pegmatite are considered to be magmatic phases. Field observations and textural characteristics suggest that Al‐metasomatism of the spinel–cordierite granulite due to the intrusion of pegmatite was responsible for sapphirine formation in the spinel granulite.     

Oxidation gradients in metamorphosed non-carbonatic manganese formations

This paper aims to ascertain the degree of equilibrium attained with respect to oxygen during metamorphism of non-carbonatic manganiferous sediments and the nature of mobility of oxygen in rocks of adjacent beds by measuring the composition of coexisting phases. Through algebraic analysis of the relevant phase equilibria, a difference of ≃17 kcal in in rocks of adjacent beds is obtained. This confirms the immobile nature of oxygen during metamorphism of manganiferous sediments.     

Elemental abundances in chondrules from unequilibrated chondrites: Evidence for chondrule origin by melting of pre-existing materials

Bulk abundances of Na, Mg, Al, Ca, Sc, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Zn, La, Sm, Eu, Yb, Lu, Ir, and Au were determined by neutron activation analysis of chondrules separated from unequilibrated H-, L-, and LL-chondrites (Tieschitz, Hallingeberg, Chainpur, Semarkona) and correlated with chondrule petrographic properties. Despite wellknown compositional differences among the whole-rock chondrites, the geometric mean compositions of their respective chondrule suites are nearly indistinguishable from each other for many elements. Relative to the condensible bulk solar system (approximated by the Cl chondrite Orgueil), chondrules are enriched in lithophile and depleted in siderophile elements in a pattern consistent with chondrule formation by melting of pre-existing materials, preceded or attended by silicate/metal fractionation. Relative to nonporphyritic chondrules, porphyritic chondrules are enriched in refractory and siderophile elements, suggesting that these two chondrule groups may have formed from different precursor materials.     

Landslide risk evaluation and hazard zoning for rapid and long-travel landslides in urban development areas

Risk evaluation for earthquake-induced rapid and long-travel landslides in densely populated urban areas is currently the most important disaster mitigation task in landslide-threatened areas throughout the world. The research achievements of the IPL M-101 APERITIF project were applied to two urban areas in megacities of Japan. One site is in the upper slope of the Nikawa landslide site where previous movements were triggered by the 1995 Hyogoken-Nambu earthquake. During detailed investigation, the slope was found to be at risk from a rapid and long-travel landslide induced by sliding surface liquefaction by earthquakes similar in scale to the 1995 event. A new plan to prevent the occurrence of this phenomenon was proposed and the plan was implemented. Another area is the Tama residential area near Tokyo. A set of field and laboratory investigations including laser scanner, geological drilling and ring-shear tests showed that there was a risk of sliding surface liquefaction for both sites. A geotechnical computer simulation (Rapid/LS) using the quantitative data obtained in the study allowed urban landslide hazard zoning to be made at individual street level.     

Observation of shear zone development in ring-shear apparatus with a transparent shear box

Using a new ring-shear apparatus with a transparent shear box and video image analysis system, drained and undrained speed-controlled tests were conducted on coarse-grained silica sands to study the shear-zone formation process in granular materials. Velocity distribution profiles of grains under shear at various stages in the ring shear tests were observed through processing the video image by the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) program. Shear-zone thickness and type of shear mode (slide-like or flow-like) during shear were observed. Before reaching peak strength in low-speed and drained condition test, a comparatively major part of the sample in the upper shear box showed a velocity distribution profile of structural deformation and dilatancy behavior. After peak strength, the velocity profile changed into a slide-like mode and thereafter showed almost no change. In higher speed tests with drained and undrained conditions, an almost slide-like mode was observed, compared to low-speed test. Apparent shear-zone thicknesses of high-speed tests are thinner than low-speed tests. Unexpectedly, almost no difference was observed in the shear-zone thickness and mode of shear (slide or flow-like) between drained and undrained tests. This study was conducted as part of the International Programme on Landslides (IPL) M101 “Areal prediction of earthquake and rain induced rapid and long-traveling flow phenomena (APERITIF)” of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL). These results will contribute to understanding the mechanism of shear-zone development in granular materials as a basic knowledge for disaster risk mitigation of rapid long run-out landslides.     

Failure mechanism in an extremely slow rock slide at Bitchu-Matsuyama castle site (Japan)

One of the specific problems related to historical structures is the fact that they are prone to damage caused by even very small deformations acting over a long period of time, such as creep or extremely small rock displacements. If any damage has already occurred, the determination of the rock slope failure mechanism is one of the prerequisites for successful mitigation technique selection. In this study a medieval castle in central Japan, suffering damage caused by deformation of the rock mass in the subgrade of the castle, was investigated using a combination of field investigation, high-precision monitoring and physical modeling experiments. Using these techniques an attempt to determine the failure mechanism of the rock slope was made. Based on the field investigation a toe-slope failure seemed to be the main triggering factor activating the deformations in the upper slope area, right below the defense walls of the castle. The displacement monitoring of the surface rock blocks revealed a slumping failure with the backward rotational component prevailing over the sliding in the immediate vicinity of the castle wall. This was in accordance with the expectations obtained from the structural analysis of the rock mass carried out during the field investigation. The displacements obtained during the rock block monitoring, especially from the crack gauges, were not sufficient for drawing a satisfactory conclusions about the failure mechanism of the blocks located in the central part of the slope. Therefore, the failure mechanisms of rock blocks inferred from their displacements obtained from the monitoring were correlated with the results of modeling experiments carried out on the scaled slope model. The physical modeling revealed a possibility of toppling failure of rock blocks in the central area of the slope caused mainly by block interlocking, which was supported by the data from surface tilt meters installed additionally in the field. Furthermore, the possibility of the occurrence of forward and backward rock block rotations in the same sliding body at given conditions was supported by the physical modeling experiments.     

A distributed hydrological–geotechnical model using satellite-derived rainfall estimates for shallow landslide prediction system at a catchment scale

This paper describes the potential applicability of a hydrological–geotechnical modeling system using satellite-based rainfall estimates for a shallow landslide prediction system. The physically based distributed model has been developed by integrating a grid-based distributed kinematic wave rainfall-runoff model with an infinite slope stability approach. The model was forced by the satellite-based near real-time half-hourly CMORPH global rainfall product prepared by NOAA-CPC. The method combines the following two model outputs necessary for identifying where and when shallow landslides may potentially occur in the catchment: (1) the time-invariant spatial distribution of areas susceptible to slope instability map, for which the river catchment is divided into stability classes according to the critical relative soil saturation; this output is designed to portray the effect of quasi-static land surface variables and soil strength properties on slope instability and (2) a produced map linked with spatiotemporally varying hydrologic properties to provide a time-varying estimate of susceptibility to slope movement in response to rainfall. The proposed hydrological model predicts the dynamic of soil saturation in each grid element. The stored water in each grid element is then used for updating the relative soil saturation and analyzing the slope stability. A grid of slope is defined to be unstable when the relative soil saturation becomes higher than the critical level and is the basis for issuing a shallow landslide warning. The method was applied to past landslides in the upper Citarum River catchment (2,310 km²), Indonesia; the resulting time-invariant landslide susceptibility map shows good agreement with the spatial patterns of documented historical landslides (1985–2008). Application of the model to two recent shallow landslides shows that the model can successfully predict the effect of rainfall movement and intensity on the spatiotemporal dynamic of hydrological variables that trigger shallow landslides. Several hours before the landslides, the model predicted unstable conditions in some grids over and near the grids at which the actual shallow landslides occurred. Overall, the results demonstrate the potential applicability of the modeling system for shallow landslide disaster predictions and warnings.     

Prototyping an experimental early warning system for rainfall-induced landslides in Indonesia using satellite remote sensing and geospatial datasets

An early warning system has been developed to predict rainfall-induced shallow landslides over Java Island, Indonesia. The prototyped early warning system integrates three major components: (1) a susceptibility mapping and hotspot identification component based on a land surface geospatial database (topographical information, maps of soil properties, and local landslide inventory, etc.); (2) a satellite-based precipitation monitoring system () and a precipitation forecasting model (i.e., Weather Research Forecast); and (3) a physically based, rainfall-induced landslide prediction model SLIDE. The system utilizes the modified physical model to calculate a factor of safety that accounts for the contribution of rainfall infiltration and partial saturation to the shear strength of the soil in topographically complex terrains. In use, the land-surface “where” information will be integrated with the “when” rainfall triggers by the landslide prediction model to predict potential slope failures as a function of time and location. In this system, geomorphologic data are primarily based on 30-m Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data, digital elevation model (DEM), and 1-km soil maps. Precipitation forcing comes from both satellite-based, real-time National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM), and Weather Research Forecasting (WRF) model forecasts. The system’s prediction performance has been evaluated using a local landslide inventory, and results show that the system successfully predicted landslides in correspondence to the time of occurrence of the real landslide events. Integration of spatially distributed remote sensing precipitation products and in-situ datasets in this prototype system enables us to further develop a regional, early warning tool in the future for predicting rainfall-induced landslides in Indonesia.