Climate change effects on landslides along the southwest coast of British Columbia

Antecedent rainfall and short-term intense rainfall both contribute to the temporal occurrence of landslides in British Columbia. These two quantities can be extracted from the precipitation regimes simulated by climate models. This makes such models an attractive tool for use in the investigation of the effect of global warming on landslide frequencies.In order to provide some measure of the reliability of models used to address the landslide question, the present-day simulation of the antecedent precipitation and short-term rainfall using the daily data from the Canadian Centre for Climate Modelling and Analysis model (CGCM) is compared to observations along the south coast of British Columbia. This evaluation showed that the model was reasonably successful in simulating statistics of the antecedent rainfall but was less successful in simulating the short-term rainfall.The monthly mean precipitation data from an ensemble of 19 of the world's global climate models were available to study potential changes in landslide frequencies with global warming. Most of the models were used to produce simulations with three scenarios with different levels of prescribed greenhouse gas concentrations during the twenty-first century. The changes in the antecedent precipitation were computed from the resulting monthly and seasonal means. In order to deal with models' suspected difficulties in simulating the short-term precipitation and lack of daily data, a statistical procedure was used to relate the short-term precipitation to the monthly means.The qualitative model results agree reasonably well, and when averaged over all models and the three scenarios, the change in the antecedent precipitation is predicted to be about 10% and the change in the short-term precipitation about 6%. Because the antecedent precipitation and the short-term precipitation contribute to the occurrence of landslides, the results of this study support the prediction of increased landslide frequency along the British Columbia south coast during the twenty-first century.     

Landslide events on the West Coast, South Island, 1867–2002

Abstract: A new landslide event inventory based on a literature search has been compiled for the West Coast of New Zealand. Rainfall has been identified as the most frequent reported landslide generating mechanism by far, followed by other/unknown means, then earthquakes. Small‐magnitude, high‐frequency, rainfall‐induced events have historically caused the most damage to property and infrastructure, with many of the region's highways and settlements being repeatedly affected by landslides. Since 1874, landslides have caused at least 36 fatalities in the region. More historical research is needed to fill chronological and geographical gaps in the record, and to complement scientific research. Such information is useful for hazard planning purposes.     

1876~1878年西北地区中西部干旱事件研究

从清代后期西北地区的历史文献中整理出1876~1878年气候信息和农业信息,即少雨或干旱等事件、蝗虫事件、歉收和饥荒事件。资料来源包括清代中央和新疆地方的档案,新疆、甘肃和宁夏的地方志,重要人物的文集等。结果显示1876~1878年西北地区中西部出现干旱及相关事件。将以上事件绘制成图,发现这些事件分布在甘肃、宁夏和新疆东部,最西可达新疆天山北麓中部。整体上,事件以1877年为范围最广、最为严重。在此次干旱事件中,西北地区中西部的经济社会受到的影响有限,只在部分县域出现粮食歉收和饥荒,未发生同期华北地区普遍存在的“奇荒”。     

The Record of an Extreme Flood in the Sediments of Montane Lillooet Lake, British Columbia: Implications for Paleoenvironmental Assessment

Severe rainfall in mid October, 2003 produced the largest floods in almost a century of record on rivers in the Cordillera of southwestern British Columbia. Sediment deposited in Lillooet Lake as a result of this event is clearly distinguished by stratigraphy, colour, texture, magnetic properties, and organic content. Each of these physical properties is related to the lacustrine processes, especially turbid underflow, that distributed the sediment through the lake. The flood, which lasted less than a week, delivered 8–12 times the amount of sediment that accumulates in most entire years in the deepest, central parts of the lake. Recognition of events of this type in the stratigraphic record offers a means of assessing the changing nature of extreme hydroclimatic events, and their relation to more ubiquitous, lower-energy processes.     

Determining landslide susceptibility in Central Taiwan from rainfall and six site factors using the analytical hierarchy process method

This work provides a landslide susceptibility assessment model for rainfall-induced landslides in Central Taiwan based on the analytical hierarchy process method. The model considers rainfall and six site factors, including slope, geology, vegetation, soil moisture, road development and historical landslides. The rainfall factor consists of 10-day antecedent rainfall and total rainfall during a rainfall event. Landslide susceptibility values are calculated for both before and after the beginning of a rainfall event. The 175 landslide cases with detailed field surveys are used to determine a landslide-susceptibility threshold value of 9.0. When a landslide susceptibility assessment value exceeds the threshold value, slope failure is likely to occur. Three zones with different landslide susceptibility levels (below, slightly above, and far above the threshold) are identified. The 9149 landslides caused by Typhoon Toraji in Central Taiwan are utilized to validate the study's result. Approximately, 0.2%, 0.4% and 15.3% of the typhoon-caused landslides are located in the three landslide susceptibility zones, respectively. Three villages with 6.6%, 0.4% and 4.9% of the landslides respectively are used to validate the accuracy of the landslide susceptibility map and analyze the main causes of landslides. The landslide susceptibility assessment model can be used to evaluate susceptibility relative to accumulated rainfall, and is useful as an early warning and landslide monitoring tool.     

Central‐Auckland rainfall, 1853–2020: Sites histories and implications for developing a long‐term rainfall record

Previous work related to central‐Auckland site Albert Park showed that sparse site histories for inner‐city weather stations can be usefully supplemented by mining searchable online historical archives (Papers Past, DigitalNZ), at least as far back as 1909. Assessment of potential is extended here back to 1853, within the context of developing a long‐term rainfall record for Auckland. Although late 19th century sources are thinner and of poorer quality, much useful information could be gleaned about the locations and exposures of early sites. Hypothesised implications for the rainfall record suggest that all early site data need to be adjusted upwards.     

Landslide triggering scenarios in homogeneous geological contexts: The area surrounding Acri (Calabria, Italy)

The paper describes a methodology to detect landslide triggering scenarios in geological homogeneous areas and for some specific landslide categories. In these scenarios, the rainfall–landslide relationship as well as the pluviometric load conditions influencing slope instability have to be investigated.The methodology is applied to an area located in northern Calabria (Italy) and affected by widespread and different slope instability phenomena. Outcropped, fractured, and deeply weathered crystalline rock masses, determining geologic homogeneous conditions, are present. In the same area, suitable and homogeneous climatic features have also been found.According to the methodology adopted, the hydrologic analysis of rainfall time-series is initially carried out notwithstanding historical data concerning landslide mobilization, but using simple models to determine critical pluviometric scenarios for the three landslide categories: shallow, medium-deep, and deep. Landslide-triggering scenarios individualized according to this procedure are less significant as compared to the landslide mobilization detected in the study area by means of historical research and ascribed to the three landslide categories according to geomorphologic analysis.Subsequently, the possible landslide triggering scenarios are outlined by carefully investigating the hydrologic analysis limited to the periods identified according to the historical data.In the study area and approximately for all the areas characterized by the outcrop of fractured and deeply weathered crystalline rocks, significant triggering scenarios can be outlined. In particular, shallow landslide triggers could be activated by rainfall events with intensities exceeding 90 mm/day and/or with amounts exceeding 160 mm. As for medium-deep and deep landslides, triggering mechanisms are more complicated; and effective rainfall contribution must be taken into account compared to groundwater storage. Moreover, a more complex link between deep landslides and precipitation is confirmed.The results obtained to date highlight the potential of this methodology, which enables us to define and progressively improve the knowledge framework by means of a work sequence integrating different disciplinary tools and results.     

Landslide scar/soil erodibility mapping using Landsat TM/ETM+ bands 7 and 3 Normalised Difference Index: A case study of central region of Kenya

Landsat series multispectral remote sensing imagery has gained increasing attention in providing solutions to environmental problems such as land degradation which exacerbate soil erosion and landslide disasters in the case of rainfall events. Multispectral data has facilitated the mapping of soils, land-cover and structural geology, all of which are factors affecting landslide occurrence. The main aim of this research was to develop a methodology to visualize and map past landslides as well as identify land degradation effects through soil erosion and land-use using remote sensing techniques in the central region of Kenya. The study area has rugged terrain and rainfall has been the main source of landslide trigger. The methodology comprised visualizing landslide scars using a False Colour Composite (FCC) and mapping soil erodibility using FCC components applying expert based classification. The components of the FCC were: the first independent component (IC1), Principal Component (PC) with most geological information, and a Normalised Difference Index (NDI) involving Landsat TM/ETM+ band 7 and 3.The FCC components formed the inputs for knowledge-based classification with the following 13 classes: runoff, extreme erosions, other erosions, landslide areas, highly erodible, stable, exposed volcanic rocks, agriculture, green forest, new forest regrowth areas, clear, turbid and salty water. Validation of the mapped landslide areas with field GPS locations of landslide affected areas showed that 66% of the points coincided well with landslide areas mapped in the year 2000. The classification maps showed landslide areas on the steep ridge faces, other erosions in agricultural areas, highly erodible zones being already weathered rocks, while runoff were mainly fluvial deposits. Thus, landuse and rainfall processes play a major role in inducing landslides in the study area.     

A hydroclimatic threshold for landslide initiation on the North Shore Mountains of Vancouver, British Columbia

Landslides triggered by rainfall are the cause of thousands of deaths worldwide every year. One possible approach to limit the socioeconomic consequences of such events is the development of climatic thresholds for landslide initiation. In this paper, we propose a method that incorporates antecedent rainfall and streamflow data to develop a landslide initiation threshold for the North Shore Mountains of Vancouver, British Columbia. Hydroclimatic data were gathered for 18 storms that triggered landslides and 18 storms that did not. Discriminant function analysis separated the landslide-triggering storms from those storms that did not trigger landslides and selected the most meaningful variables that allow this separation. Discriminant functions were also developed for the landslide-triggering and nonlandslide-triggering storms. The difference of the discriminant scores, ΔCS, for both groups is a measure of landslide susceptibility during a storm. The variables identified that optimize the separation of the two storm groups are 4-week rainfall prior to a significant storm, 6-h rainfall during a storm, and the number of hours 1 m³/s discharge was exceeded at Mackay Creek during a storm. Three thresholds were identified. The Landslide Warning Threshold (LWT) is reached when ΔCS is −1. The Conditional Landslide Initiation Threshold (CTL_I) is reached when ΔCS is zero, and it implies that landslides are likely if 4 mm/h rainfall intensity is exceeded at which point the Imminent Landslide Initiation Threshold (ITL_I) is reached. The LWT allows time for the issuance of a landslide advisory and to move personnel out of hazardous areas. The methodology proposed in this paper can be transferred to other regions worldwide where type and quality of data are appropriate for this type of analysis.     

基于历史文献的华南地区气候变化研究进展

总结和分析了利用历史文献代用资料重建具有代表性的华南气候序列（包括温度变化和降水/干湿变化序列）的状况,认为华南地区历史时期气候变化研究虽已取得丰硕成果,但存在时间分辨率较低、空间范围宽泛、数据的统一性和可靠性较差,以及缺乏气候变化的相关机制和气候变化周期研究等方面的问题,指出应进一步挖掘华南地区高分辨率气候代用资料（历史文献）,提升气候变化研究的时间分辨率和空间覆盖度、加强重建序列的可靠性、增加其周期性和趋势性分析等是解决该地区气候变化研究问题的有效途径。     

云南滑坡泥石流灾害的气象成因与监测

根据云南滑坡泥石流灾害资料，分析了其形成环境与分布特征，给出了典型降水滑坡泥石流灾害事件，研究了滑坡泥石流灾害与气象环境的关系。云南滑坡泥石流灾害主要出现在盛夏7～8月，主要影响天气系统有切变线、冷锋、西风槽、西南涡、孟加拉湾风暴、南海西行台风和两高辐合区。诱发滑坡泥石流灾害的前期降水类型有3种，即暴雨型，中～大雨型和连阴雨型。得出了云南滑坡泥石流发生的区域临界雨量指标，提出了滑坡泥石流灾害的气象监测预警方法。     

Probabilistic landslide risk analysis considering direct costs in the area north of Lisbon (Portugal)

The purpose of the present study is the analysis of landslide risk for roads and buildings in a small test site (20 km²) in the area north of Lisbon (Portugal). For this purpose, an evaluation is performed integrating into a GIS information obtained from multiple sources: (i) landslide hazard; (ii) elements at risk; and (iii) vulnerability. Landslide hazard is assessed on a probabilistic basis for three different types of slope movement (shallow translational slides, translational slides and rotational slides), based on some assumptions such as: (i) the likelihood of future landslide occurrence can be measured through statistical relationships between past landslide distribution and specified spatial data sets considered as landslide predisposing factors; and (ii) the rainfall combination (amount–duration) responsible for past slope instability within the test site will produce the same effects (i.e. same type of landslides and similar total affected area), each time they occur in the future. When the return period of rainfall triggering events is known, different scenarios can be modelled, each one ascribed to a specific return period. Therefore, landslide hazard is quantitatively assessed on a raster basis, and is expressed as the probability for each pixel (25 m²) to be affected by a future landslide, considering a rainfall triggering scenario with a specific return period. Elements at risk within the test site include 2561 buildings and roads amounting to 169 km. Values attributed to elements at risk were defined considering reconstruction costs, following the guidelines of the Portuguese Insurance Institute. Vulnerability is considered as the degree of loss to a given element resulting from the occurrence of a landslide of a given magnitude. Vulnerability depends not only on structural properties of exposed elements, but also on the type of process, and its magnitude; i.e., vulnerability cannot be defined in absolute terms, but only with respect to a specific process (e.g. vulnerability to shallow translational slides). Therefore, vulnerability was classified for the three landslide groups considered on hazard assessment, taking into account: (i) landslide magnitude (mean depth, volume, velocity); (ii) damage levels produced by past landslide events in the study area; and (iii) literature. Finally, a landslide risk analysis considering direct costs was made in an automatic way crossing the following three layers: (i) Probabilistic hazard map for a landslide type Z, considering a particular rainfall triggering scenario whose return period is known; (ii) Vulnerability map (values from 0 to 1) of the exposed elements to landslide type Z; and (iii) Value map of the exposed elements, considering reconstruction costs.     

On the spatial relationship between landslides and causative factors on Lantau Island, Hong Kong

This paper presents a statistical approach to study the spatial relationship between landslides and their causative factors at the regional level. The approach is based on digital databases, and incorporates such methods as statistics, spatial pattern analysis, and interactive mapping. Firstly, the authors propose an object-oriented conceptual model for describing a landslide event, and a combined database of landslides and environmental factors is constructed by integrating the various databases within such a conceptual framework. The statistical histogram, spatial overlay, and dynamic mapping methods are linked together to interactively evaluate the spatial pattern of the relationship between landslides and their causative factors. A case study of an extreme event in 1993 on Lantau Island indicates that rainfall intensity and the migration of the center of the rainstorm greatly influence the occurrence of landslides on Lantau Island. A regional difference in the relationship between landslides and topography is identified. Most of the landslides in the middle and western parts of the island occurred on slopes with slope angles of 25–35°, while in the eastern part, the corresponding range is 30–35°. Overlaying landslide data with land cover reveals that a large number of landslides occurred in the bareland and shrub-covered area, and in the transition zones between different vegetation types. The proposed approach can be used not only to analyze the general characteristics of such a relationship, but also to depict its spatial distribution and variation, thereby providing a sound basis for regional landslide prediction.     

A high-resolution sedimentary archive from landslide-dammed Lake Mengda,north-eastern Tibetan Plateau

Lacustrine sediments have been widely used to investigate past climatic and environmental changes on millennial to seasonal time scales. Sedimentary archives of lakes in mountainous regions may also record non-climatic events such as earthquakes. We argue herein that a set of 64 annual laminae couplets reconciles a stratigraphically inconsistent accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) ¹⁴C chronology in a ~4-m-long sediment core from Lake Mengda, in the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau. The laminations suggest the lake was formed by a large landslide, triggered by the 1927 Gulang earthquake (M = 8.0). The lake sediment sequence can be separated into three units based on lithologic, sedimentary, and isotopic characteristics. Starting from the bottom of the sequence, these are: (1) unweathered, coarse, sandy valley-floor deposits or landslide debris that pre-date the lake, (2) landslide-induced, fine-grained soil or reworked landslide debris with a high organic content, and (3) lacustrine sediments with low organic content and laminations. These annual laminations provide a high-resolution record of anthropogenic and environmental changes during the twentieth century, recording enhanced sediment input associated with two phases of construction activities. The high mean sedimentation rates of up to 4.8 mm year^?1 underscore the potential for reconstructing such distinct sediment pulses in remote, forested, and seemingly undisturbed mountain catchments.     

Relationships between rainfall and landsliding in the Middle Hills,Nepal

Many studies have documented major landslide events in mountain areas following heavy rainfall amounts. In the Himalaya, landslides occur during every monsoon period, but the role of rainfall in triggering these failures is not clear. This paper reports the results of a three-year study (1991-1993) into landsliding in the Likhu Khola drainage basin, Middle Hills, Nepal. Considerable annual variability in numbers, types and sizes of landslides was noted. Some of this variability can be explained by fluctuations in rainfall amounts and intensities, but many landslides were explained more easily by other controlling factors. In situations where slopes are extensively terraced for agriculture, with some terraces being intensely irrigated and others not, relationships between landsliding and rainfall amounts are complex and no simple explanations can be made.     

广东省滑坡活动的时间分布规律研究

系统分析了近20年来广东省的滑坡活动特征。结果表明,广东省滑坡活动的时间分布规律主要受降水变化和人类工程活动的制约;滑坡活动呈现与暴雨过程及工程建设活动相关的同发性和滞后性、日内活动的夜发性、继承老滑坡活动的重复性、突发性和隐蔽性等特征。从区域性滑坡活动的时间分布规律看,具有明显的不稳定周期性和随机性,降雨作用是影响滑坡活动年际时间分布规律的主要因素;从滑坡年内活动的时间分布特征看,具有明显的季节性,集中在每年6-9月的雨季发生;从日内发生的具体时间看,以傍晚及夜间发生居多。研究滑坡活动的时间分布规律,对滑坡预警预报工作有重要的科学意义。     

Optical dating of aeolian dynamism on the West African Sahelian margin

The Sahelian Margin of West Africa is widely recognised as an area of recent environmental catastrophe and human suffering arising from food shortage and land degradation associated with prolonged drought. The propensity of this region to suffer drought has been related, using environmental data collected during the period of instrumental records, to a combination of low mean annual rainfall levels and a high degree of rainfall variability which relates to sea surface temperature anomalies in the adjacent tropical Atlantic Ocean. Despite the significant environmental and human consequences of such droughts, there is a paucity of long-term environmental data for the West African Sahel. Aeolian dune reactivations in this area are a potentially highly useful environmental archive of past periods of extended drought conditions, which may have resulted in localised or widespread dune reactivation. Here we describe the initial results from an ongoing programme of research, which seeks to develop a detailed record of past dune reactivations in Mali. We find evidence for repeated Holocene dune reactivation events and a significant number of reactivations, which commenced at the time of onset of the last major drought cycle in the early 1970s. We obtain ages as young as 20–30 years for some significant dune units (thickness up to 1 m) and describe the results of experiments which test the performance of our dating exercise. We specifically test for the significance of preheat temperature on single aliquot regeneration (SAR) equivalent dose determinations and recycling ratios; neither are found vary significantly as a function of preheating. Optical dating of sand sized quartz could provide a useful tool for palaeogeographical mapping of ancient and historical dune reactivations in this region and elsewhere.     

Aspects of landslide activity in the Mercantour Massif and the French Riviera, southeastern France

Landslides pose serious hazards in the Mercantour Massif and the French Riviera in southeastern France. The context for landslide development is a particularly favourable one, both in terms of the geomorphic and structural setting of this Alpine region, and of the climatic, hydrologic and seismic factors that trigger such failures. High mountain relief and steep slopes constitute a very favourable setting for failures affecting massive basement rocks and a very heterogeneous sedimentary cover whose resistance has been weakened by weathering, tectonic stresses, and cambering due to gravity. Among trigger factors, the important appears to be the precipitation regime. Rainfalls are commonly concentrated into short high-intensity downpours or into bursts of sustained falls over periods of several days, leading to soil saturation and lubrication of potential failure planes. Snowmelt also contributes to these lubrication processes. Earthquakes affecting this region are also a potentially important landslide trigger. However, while a lot of work has been done on the relationship between extreme climatic events and landslide activity, much less is known of the trigger effects of earthquakes.Both the background factors that promote landslide development and the factors that trigger such failures are discussed within a time frame of landslide development. Progressive changes in soil strength due to weathering, rock cambering and shattering processes lead to long-term reduction in resistance. Superimposed on these progressive changes are episodic triggerings related to rainfall and snowmelt episodes or earthquakes. Landslides may occur as shallow, low-volume “one-time” events or may be part of a progressive long-term failure. The former generally affect unconsolidated or clay-rich sedimentary rocks, especially on the coastal hillslopes of the French Riviera. A notable exception of a major, voluminous “one-time” event was the submarine landslide of the Var Delta in 1979. This landslide, like numerous other smaller subaerial landslides onland, was largely a result of human activities. This landslide occurred following extensive modification of the Var Delta and, notably, reclamation of the steep, fine-grained delta front. Deforestation, quarrying, urbanisation and road network developments are various ways in which human activity has destabilized the coastal hillslopes, favouring the development of numerous shallow landslides following each episode of heavy rainfall.Progressive landslides on the upper hillslopes of the Mercantour Massif have developed over long time spans (order of 10¹ to 10⁵ yrs) and have involved more complex interactions between lithological controls, slope characteristics and trigger factors. The Collelongue and Bois de Malbosc landslides have evolved into now stable failures buttressed by resistant migmatitic diorites or amphibolites. The more voluminous and well monitored Clapière landslide is a relatively simple rotational landslide of the toe-failure type. This active landslide poses a serious to inhabitants and infrastructure in the Tinée Valley. The importance of continued field monitoring, modelling and mapping of landslides and their hazards is emphasised.     

2011年浙江梅雨期2次强对流天气对比分析

强对流天气是浙江省主要的灾害性天气之一.利用常规观测资料,Micaps、多普勒雷达等资料,对浙江省2011年梅雨期2次强对流过程进行对比分析,结果表明：6月9日强对流,主要表现为冰雹和雷雨大风;6月18日强对流,主要表现为短时强降水.天气形势上,前者为西风槽型,后者为大陆高压型,2次过程都对应一支西南急流,显然后者的强度更大.探空和对流指数上,前者上干下湿,不稳定条件和对流指数优于后者.雷达回波图上,前者中高层强回波悬垂,出现＂穹隆＂结构,强回波平均高度和垂直积分液态含水量明显高于后者,后者为回波结构致密,低质心高效率的强降水回波.     

利用树轮重建九房山滑坡活动年份

理解地貌过程以及认识过去灾害发生的频率,是自然灾害风险评价的重要任务。树木年轮由于其具有定年准确、连续性强、分辨率高和易于复本等特点,近年来被用到恢复过去灾害发生的时间。随着滑坡、泥石流等山地地质灾害性事件发生频率的增加,地质灾害风险管理和评价受到了越来越多的关注。在样品量足够的前提下,树木年轮方法可以精确地确定滑坡事件发生的年份。以甘肃南部武都区外纳乡的九房山滑坡为研究对象,利用树木年轮分析方法对该滑坡的灾害事件发生的时间进行了初步的研究。结果显示:1.树木年轮样品在1980—1982年,1984—1987年以及1991-1993年都出现了年轮宽度迅速减小或者迅速增加的现象。本研究将1980—1982年,1984—1987年以及1991—1993年定为滑坡活动年份,其中1992年和1993年的滑坡与当地记载的滑坡年份一致。强降水,地震影响以及不合理的灌溉活动都可能导致滑坡的复活,但降雨仍是导致九房山滑坡复活的重要因素。2.树木年轮样品中出现的偏心木和伪轮现象也是对滑坡灾害发生的佐证,说明受到滑坡灾害的影响,树木的生长环境发生了改变。