Physically based modelling of shallow landslide sediment yield at a catchment scale

 A shallow landslide erosion and sediment yield component, applicable at the basin scale, has been incorporated into the physically based, spatially distributed, hydrological and sediment transport modelling system, SHETRAN. The component determines when and where landslides occur in a basin in response to time-varying rainfall and snowmelt, the volume of material eroded and released for onward transport, and the impact on basin sediment yield. Derived relationships are used to link the SHETRAN grid resolution (up to 1 km), at which the basin hydrology and final sediment yield is modelled, to a subgrid resolution (typically around 10–100 m) at which landslide occurrence and erosion is modelled. The subgrid discretization, landslide susceptibility and potential landslide impact are determined in advance using a geographic information system (GIS), with SHETRAN then providing information on temporal variation in the factors controlling landsliding. The ability to simulate landslide sediment yield is demonstrated by a hypothetical application based on a catchment in Scotland. Received: 30 October 1996 · Accepted: 25 June 1997     

The environmental impact of landslides on the population living on the eastern footslopes of the Aberdare ranges in Kenya: a case study of Maringa Village landslide

 Landslides are a recognized but poorly studied phenomena in the eastern footslopes of the Aberdare ranges in central Kenya. The Aberdare ranges traverse the Murang'a, Kiambu, Nyeri and Nyandarua districts of Kenya where fatal landslides have occurred in the past. A detailed study of a major landslide which occurred at Maringa village in Murang'a district on 30 April 1997, has been undertaken. The landslide buried three houses at the toe of a slope and killed all the 11 occupants in their sleep. It is shown that the geology and climate of the study area contribute to the prevalence of landslides not only in Murang'a but in all the andosol-covered areas throughout the eastern footslopes of Aberdare ranges. Rapid weathering of pyroclastic rocks in a warm and wet climate create a regolith which is generally weaker than the underlying better-cemented basalt and basaltic agglomerates. The landsliding occurred when the weathered pyroclastic regolith become saturated after a heavy rainstorm on high mechanically unstable slope which slid over the more stable basalts. Over-saturation of clay soils (andosol) which were also derived from weathering of pyroclastic rocks contributed to the slope failure. The results of the study show that besides fatalities and injuries, the landslide destroyed homes, plantations and roads. Received: 16 March 1998 · Accepted: 22 September 1998     

A homomorphic model for identifying abrupt abnormalities of landslide forerunners

A homomorphic model is presented for identifying the abnormalities of landslide forerunners from an observation time series. The model developed here is better than previous statistical models because it considers, in the evolution process of the landslide, material degradation or smoothing of the slip plane, groundwater level or pore water pressure fluctuations, and unexplained or random behavior. The identification of abnormalities is made in terms of the confidence interval [−qS, qS], where q is the confidence and S is the output error of the homomorphic model. The case study of the Saleshan landslide in Gansu, China, is presented to illustrate the capability and merit of the homomorphic model.     

Uncertainty of rainfall-induced landslides considering spatial variability of parameters

A cross-correlation analysis is conducted to determine the impacts of the heterogeneity of hydraulic conductivity K_s, soil cohesion c′ and soil friction angle (tan φ′) on the uncertainty of slope stability in time and space during rainfall. We find the relative importance of tan φ′ and c′ depends on the effective stress. While the sensitivity of the stability to the variability of K_s is small, the large coefficient of variation of K_s may exacerbate the variability of pore-water pressure. Therefore, characterizing the heterogeneity of hydraulic properties and pore-water distribution in the field is critical to the stability analysis.     

Basic theory of three-dimensional landslide modeling based on the logical model of geologic structure

Dynamic visualization of landslide cross-sections is important for understanding the structure and mechanism of landslide formation. Moreover, the modeling of geologic information plays an effective role in geo-hazard assessment and their mitigation. In this study, we developed the basic theory of a three-dimensional landslide modeling and applied it to the Nigawa landslide of the Hyogo Prefecture in central Japan. The construction of this model is based on the boundary surfaces of slump blocks and geologic units, and the hierarchical relationships between these surfaces. An application algorithm was validated and the model proved efficient in depicting the nature of landslides in the Nigawa area.     

Hydrogeological and geotechnical assessments of the Kadifekale landslide area, İzmir, Turkey

 The study area is located in the south of İzmir city centre in an area built without planning permission or any overall city plan. In this area, a number of mass movements occurred in the past and the region is still an active landslide field at present. The real sliding factor is geological structure, which is made up of hard volcanic rocks overlying soft Neogene clayey soils, and forms a typical structure prone to sliding. Unplanned human activities change the hydrogeological and geotechnical stabilities of the geological formations in a negative way. Rain and water leaking either directly from the mains or septic holes infiltrate into the ground and act as one of the factors in causing landslides. It is clearly shown that the irregular urbanization in and around Kadifekale is one of the factors contributing to the landslides in the area. To prevent the occurrence of landslides in the study area an effective surface and under ground drainage should be established. Rain and wastewater should be removed from the area by separate systems. Slopes should be reduced, water-loving trees should be planted and construction of high rise buildings should be avoided. Received: 12 December 1997 · Accepted: 4 April 2000     

Shallow landslide hazard assessment using a physically based model and digital elevation data

 A model for the analysis of topographic influence on shallow landslide initiation is applied to an experimental mountain basin where high-resolution digital elevation data are available: the Cordon catchment (5 km²) located in northern Italy. The model delineates those areas most prone to shallow landsliding due to surface topographic effects on hydrologic response. The model is composed of two parts: a steady-state model for shallow sub-surface runoff and an infinite-slope Coulomb failure model which assumes that the soil is cohesionless at failure. An inventory of landslide scars is used to document sites of instability and to provide a test of model performance by comparing observed landslide locations with model predictions. The model reproduces the observed distribution of landslide locations in a consistent way, although spatial variations in soil strength and transmissivity, which are not accounted for in the model, influence specific distribution of landslide areas within regions of similar topographic control. Received: 15 October 1996 · Accepted: 25 June 1997     

Geostatistical approach for identification of transmissivity structure at Dulliu area in Taiwan

 A thorough understanding of the characteristics of transmissivity makes groundwater deterministic models more accurate. These transmissivity data characteristics occasionally possess a complicated spatial variation over an investigated site. This study presents both geostatistical estimation and conditional simulation methods to generate spatial transmissivity maps. The measured transmissivity data from the Dulliu area in Yun-Lin county, Taiwan, is used as the case study. The spatial transmissivity maps are simulated by using sequential Gaussian simulation (SGS), and estimated by using natural log ordinary kriging and ordinary kriging. Estimation and simulation results indicate that SGS can reproduce the spatial structure of the investigated data. Furthermore, displaying a low spatial variability does not allow the ordinary kriging and natural log kriging estimates to fit the spatial structure and small-scale variation for the investigated data. The maps of kriging estimates are smoother than those of other simulations. A SGS with multiple realizations has significant advantages over ordinary kriging and even natural log kriging techniques at a site with a high variation in investigated data. These results are displayed in geographic information systems (GIS) as basic information for further groundwater study. Received: 27 August 1999 · Accepted: 22 February 2000     

Nitrogen isotope indicators of seasonal source variability to groundwater

 A nitrogen isotope study of soil water and groundwater in southern Indiana, USA, in 1991–1992 demonstrated considerable variations in nitrate degradation processes compared to an earlier investigation in 1986–1987. Although N-fertilizers were applied in May 1991, the δ¹⁵N values in soil water decreased in February 1992, indicating its delayed release into the system after substantial rainfall. The δ¹⁵N values of groundwater decreased from +12.3‰ in November 1991 to +11.3‰ in February 1992, and to +7.5‰ in March 1992. The increased residence time of nitrate in the soil resulted in increased denitrification, ammonia volatilization and plant uptake, and reduced threat to the groundwater quality. The 1986–1987 study in the area reported that excessive rainfall during the summer rapidly transported the nitrate to deeper horizons and drastically reduced volatilization and microbial reduction of nitrate, thus increasing the immediate threat to the groundwater quality in the area. The present study demonstrated that nitrogen isotopic signatures can be used to determine the effects of local soil type, rainfall, and land-use practices on the fate of nitrate in the subsurface. Received: 18 February 1997 · Accepted: 17 June 1997     

Spatio-temporal estimation of shallow landslide hazard triggered by rainfall using a three-dimensional model

A shallow landslide triggered by rainfall can be forecast in real-time by modeling the relationship between rainfall infiltration and decrease of slope stability. This paper describes a promising approach that combines an improved three-dimensional slope stability model with an approximate method based on the Green and Ampt model, to estimate the time–space distribution of shallow landslide hazards. Once a forecast of rainfall intensity and slope stability-related data, e.g., terrain and geology data, are acquired, this approach is shown to have the ability to estimate the variation of slope stability of a wide natural area during rainfall and to identify the location of potential failure surfaces. The effectiveness of the estimation procedures described has been tested by comparison with a one-dimensional method and by application to a landslide-prone area in Japan.     

论滑坡地质模型

在综合性滑坡分类体系基础上,把握滑坡活动各要素的地位与作用,遴选最能表征其活动特点的主要因素,作为建模的基本要素,形成滑坡基本地质模型体系;随着勘探阶段的不同,针对不同的应用目的,建立滑坡具体地质模型体系。滑坡地质模型的建立可为其分析、计算、评价与监测预报奠定模式基础,并有助于对滑坡活动的全面抽象掌握,最终提高滑坡工作的科学系统性和实用性。     

Size of a debris flow deposition: model experiment approach

 The prediction of the dangerous extent of a debris flow deposition is of vital importance, but difficult to achieve. Precise prediction of the depositional boundary of a debris flow event is impossible, but the size of a debris flow deposition could provide some estimates of the area, length, width, and thickness of a debris flow deposition. Based on in situ depositional experiments performed on a debris flow creek just after debris flows, a rule of thumb expressed by a group of equations containing the multiple-variate nonlinear functions is proposed in this paper. The interrelationships between the size and the causation also are discussed, and some empirical formulae to calculate the causative parameters for different regions are presented. Received: 24 April 1995 · Accepted: 21 June 1995     

Spatial variability of flow parameters in a stratified sand

The spatial variability in porosity, hydraulic conductivity, compressibility, and various grain size fractions is analyzed for several sets of samples from the Quadra Sand. This unit is a well-sorted, medium grained, horizontally stratified sand with relatively few silt or gravel interbeds. Both random and uniformly spaced sample plans are used. The heterogeneity of the flow parameters is characterized by frequency histograms and their estimated moments, by their sample autocorrelation functions, and the estimated power spectra. Emphasis is placed on the nature of the spatial dependence between neighboring values of the flow parameters. A nearest neighbor stochastic process model is fit to the data to consider its adequacy in describing the spatial dependence within the porosity and hydraulic conductivity sequences. Even though the Quadra Sand is relatively uniform, a fairly complex spatial structure is observed. A simple monotonically decaying autocorrelation function may not adequately represent the spatial continuity. Statistical anisotropy is observed in both the extent of the spatial autocorrelation and in its functional form. Results show the importance of scale in constructing a probability model to describe the spatial variability.     

Spatial risk analysis of Li-shan landslide in Taiwan

By coupling limit equilibrium analysis and Monte Carlo analysis with a geography information system (GIS), this study implements a method that can evaluate the risk (corresponding to probability of failure in this study) of landslide with consideration of spatial uncertainties. The GIS can adopt the three-dimensional information including surface topography, underground geomaterial distribution and groundwater level to determine slope profiles for analysis. Then the safety of defined slope can be evaluated by limit equilibrium analysis. In this study, the mechanical properties of geomaterial were considered as random variables instead of single values. The slope and groundwater profiles are also randomly adopted. Through a Monte Carlo sampling process, a distribution of safety factor and probability of failure can be determined. This probabilistic risk analysis approach was applied to Li-shan landslide in Central Taiwan.

Due to heavy rains, the sites near the highway 7A (mileage 73 k + 150) and the highway 8 (mileage 82 k) in the Li-shan Township began to subside in mid April 1990. Topography, geology, and groundwater condition of this area were first reviewed. Based on this review, together with field investigations and a series of limit equilibrium back analyses, a general hypothetic model was established to illustrate the failure mechanism of this landslide area. Then the developed probabilistic risk analysis model is applied to spatially evaluate the risk of this landslide area as well as the performance of the remediation treatment.     

Regionalization of rainfall thresholds: an aid to landslide hazard evaluation

 Rainfall, soil properties, and morphology are major factors controlling shallow landsliding. A series of meteorological events that triggered soil slips in northern Italy were studied to define rainfall thresholds and to evaluate a possible regionalization. Soil properties, triggering rainfall, and local lithological and morphometrical settings of different sites were used as input to an infiltration model. The approach allows the recognition of several triggering conditions in the Piedmont, Pre-Alpine and Alpine regions. This suggests the need for different rainfall thresholds with respect to those derived with other methods. Intensity versus rainfall duration relationships become particularly important when related to soil permeability and thickness, and demonstrate the role of antecedent precipitation. Events with exceptional water discharge from obstructed road culverts reveal the role played by anthropic structures in triggering such phenomena. Different approaches to slope stability analysis are shown, taking into account bedrock lithology, topography, seepage, and local saturation conditions. Received: 23 October 1997 · Accepted: 25 June 1997     

Landslide zoning in a part of the Garhwal Himalayas

 The Himalayas are undergoing constant rupturing in the thrust belt zone in the Garhwal Himalayas, due to which earthquake and mass movement activity is triggered. These processes of mass movement and landslides have been constantly modifying the landscape. Landslides are one of the indicators of the geomorphological modifications taking place in this active and fragile terrain. This work is aimed at providing another example of landslide susceptibility mapping based on geological and geomorphological attributes. The data collected from aerial photographs, topographic sheets and the image suggests that there is a correlation between the distribution of landslides and some of the geological and geomorphological factors, for example, the distance from an active fault, relative relief and slope. Parameters like factor of safety, altitude, relief, slope and the distance from the fault lineament have been included in the study. A rating system has been applied to the factors for arriving at a quantitative estimate of landslide susceptibility for each physiographic unit. Since terrain classification forms the foundation of this work, the entire study can be grouped into two sequential activities: (1) the terrain classification and (2) landslide susceptibility mapping. The result is the landslide susceptibility zoning map presented. The landslides have not been classified with respect to time and may represent the final result of the on-going geological, geomorphological and seismic activity since the Holocene period or late Pleistocene time when the glaciers retreated. The area chosen for the study lies between Badri gad and Barni gad in Yamuna valley region of the Garhwal Himalaya where a very large scale investment is in the pipe line for Hydroelectric power generation. Received: 12 August 1993 · Accepted: 13 January 1998     

Vertical variability of PCE sorption in the lacustrine clays of Mexico City

 A surficial clay aquitard extends through the urban area where Mexico City is located. It has been assumed to function as a protective layer to the underlying aquifer that provides 42 m³/s out of 63 m³/s of water used by 18 million inhabitants. To provide such protection, the aquitard must be impermeable to water flow and, ideally, have a significant capacity to sorb contaminants. The latter aspect was addressed, studying the vertical variability of sorption of perchloroethylene (PCE), a widely used organic compound considered to pose health risks in groundwater. Batch sorption tests were used and the clay-rich strata in the depth interval from 8 to 75 m were studied. The results suggest that sorption depends mainly on the fraction of organic carbon (f_oc) present in the clayey materials. The sorption data were fit to the linear and Freundlich models; many strata could be fit well by either model, while some strata were distinctly non-linear. The linear isotherms showed a mean value of 32.8 ml/g, and the Freundlich isotherm 96.6 ml/g, confirming that the clay-rich media have significant sorption capacity for PCE. From the environmental perspective the clay-rich materials are serving as protection to the groundwater system. Received: 2 November 1998 · Accepted: 15 February 1999     

The role of hydrogeology in solution-subsidence development and its environmental impacts; a case-study for Sazlıca (Niğde, Turkey)

Solution-subsidence and other types of collapse failures developed in the vicinity of Sazlıca have been a major source of environmental problems such as groundwater pollution, soil erosion, and foundation failures. Extensive pumping of water from the Lake Dipsiz during irrigation seasons creates landslide developments at the shores of the lake. Five stages of landslide development were observed in the unconsolidated soils around Lake Dipsiz. Bowl-shaped solution-subsidence features with depths from 1 to 3 m and diameters between 1 and 60 m were formed due to excess pumping, and recharge and discharge features of unconfined aquifer. The pumping activities must be controlled to prevent further environmental problems. Lake Dipsiz and other subsidence developments are the groundwater exposure areas highly vulnerable to contamination. The proposed remedies for overcoming the environmental problems are the establishment of conservation areas around such natural features; ceasing the removal of top soil, controlling the urbanization, and keeping the livestock farming away from the areas susceptible to pollution. Received: 2 June 1997 · Accepted: 16 January 1998     

Suitability of Hydrologic Evaluation of Landfill Performance (HELP) model of the US Environmental Protection Agency for the simulation of the water balance of landfill cover systems

 Cover systems are widely used to safeguard landfills and contaminated sites. The evaluation of the water balance is crucial for the design of landfill covers. The Hydrologic Evaluation of Landfill Performance (HELP) model of the US Environmental Protection Agency was developed for this purpose. This paper discusses some limitations of version 2 of this model and some operational difficulties for the use of this model in Germany, which has been developed for the United States. The model results are tested against field data of the water balance, measured on test fields on the Georgswerder landfill in Hamburg. Theoretically, HELP considers gravitational forces as driving forces of water flow only. Therefore capillary barriers cannot be simulated. Furthermore, the formation of and the flow through macropores are not considered, a main critical process that the diminishes the effectiveness of compacted soil liners. In the output comparison, the matching of measured and simulated data is quite good for lateral drainage, but failed for surface runoff and liner leakage through compacted soil liners. A further validation study is planned for HELP version 3 using a broader range of test field data. Received: 10 January 1995 · Accepted: 14 November 1995     

Application of a solute transport model under variable velocity conditions in a conduit flow aquifer: Olalde karst system, Basque Country, Spain

A model based on numerical solutions, which allows for solving the dispersion equation under variable recharge and velocity conditions, is developed to simulate solute transport in conduit flow aquifers during flow recession periods. As an example, the evolution of a tracer in the little known karst conduit that links the sinking stream of Oma valley to the Olalde spring is investigated in the karstic region of Santa Eufemia-Ereñozar (Basque Country, Spain). The model, with different hypothetical structures, allows for obtaining series of tracer breakthrough curves, which are fitted to experimental data using an optimization algorithm. These results, although they can be used to simulate the tracer evolution between the two points considered, do not allow for determining the internal structure and spatial disposition of contributions in the aquifer.