Slope aspect, slope length and slope inclination controls of shallow soils vegetated by sclerophyllous heath—links to long-term landscape evolution

On upland Triassic sandstone slopes of the western Blue Mountains, nonswamp, sclerophyllous heath (shrub-dominated vegetation) on shallow soils is commonly found downslope and adjacent to sclerophyllous forest on deeper soils. Some consider heath—and thus shallow soils—as favouring west-facing slopes, which are expected to experience drier microclimates due to insolation, strong and desiccating winds, and severe summer fires. However, our analysis of extensive areas with heath on shallow soils, based on vegetation and topographic maps, and fieldwork of uplands with various degrees of dissection, suggests that aspect is a poor predictor of shallow soils. Rather, shallow soils and heath are found on short slopes and the lower segments of longer slopes with the latter significantly steeper than forested segments.The shallow–deep soil boundary, marked by contrasting modern vegetation structures, does not signify a catchment area threshold, and correspondingly, the vegetation patterns are not in balance with distributary catchment processes, as short slopes are mantled exclusively by shallow soils. Instead, the soil depth boundary represents the propagation of base-level lowering signals, which takes place not only by the headward retreat of knickpoints but also via increased lowering of slope segments adjacent to drainage lines. This leads to steep slopes immediately adjacent to canyons, narrow gorges, and small steep valleys, that are mantled by shallow, discontinuous soils undergoing rapid erosion. These steep slopes persist in the landscape for ≥ 10 My after upland stream rejuvenation until incision of more weatherable Permian sediments, underlying the Triassic cliff-forming sandstones, triggers rapid lateral expansion of gorges. Once shallowly mantled and steeper slopes adjacent to streams are consumed by gorge widening, slopes adjacent to wide gorge clifflines reflect former upland drainage patterns rather than the redirected flow to rapidly widening gorges. Hence, modern vegetation patterns reflect a significant phase of landform development, perhaps combined with enhanced erosion during the Last Glacial Period that is compounded by a humped soil production function on bedrock.     

The development of talus slopes around Lord Howe island and implications for the history of island planation

Lord Howe Island is a small eroded remnant of a Late Miocene shield volcano. A fringing coral reef dissipates wave energy along a portion of the shoreline, but the remainder of the coast is rugged with spectacular high basaltic sea cliffs. This paper investigates the evolution of talus slopes that occur beneath the loftiest cliffs, and places this analysis within the context of a longer history of island planation that has resulted in a wide truncated shelf around the island. During the Last Glacial, when the sea level was lower than at present, talus slopes accumulated around the extent of the island's cliffed coast because material eroded from cliffs by subaerial processes could not be removed by marine processes. The survival of these slopes during the Holocene has depended on a balance achieved between rates of subaerial and marine erosion. This balance is fundamentally influenced by cliff height, as cliffs higher than 200 m are plunging or veneered by talus slopes, whereas lower cliffs have erosional shore platforms. On comparison with published erosion rates from inland basalt scarps it appears that marine processes may account for over 90 per cent of the total cliff retreat that has occurred at Lord Howe Island, yet contemporary coastal morphology attests to the significance of subaerial processes in recent times. It is likely that marine cliffing was very rapid soon after volcanism ceased, but rates of erosion decreased through time as wave energy became increasingly attenuated across a widening planation surface, and as increasing cliff heights yielded greater quantities of talus that provided protection from rapid marine erosion.     

Surface hydrological processes of rock glaciated basins in the San Juan Mountains,Colorado

Glaciers in the western USA contribute summer meltwater to regional hydrological systems. In the San Juan Mountains of Colorado, where glaciers do not exist, rock glaciers serve that function during the summer runoff period. Most rock glaciers in Colorado are located on northern slopes in mountainous areas; however, some rock glaciers in southwest Colorado have different aspects. In this study, we asked how slope aspect and rising air temperatures influence the hydrological processes of streams sourced from rock glaciers in the San Juan Mountains. We focused on three adjacent basins, Yankee Boy basin, Blue Lakes basin, and Mill Creek basin, which share a common peak, Gilpin Peak. Using HOBO® U20-001–04 water-level loggers, streamflow data were collected in each of these basins, below each rock glacier. Air temperature significantly influenced stream discharge below the rock glacier. Discharge and air temperature patterns indicate a possible air temperature threshold during late summer when rock glacier melt increases at a greater rate. The results also suggest that the aspect of rock glacier basins influences stream discharge, but that temperature and precipitation are likely larger components of melt regimes.     

GEOMORPHIC AND STRATIGRAPHIC COMPLEXITY: HOLOCENE ALLUVIAL HISTORY OF UPPER WOLLOMBI BROOK, AUSTRALIA

Holocene and post‐European settlement alluvial histories of three nested drainage basins were reconstructed from detailed litho‐ and chronostratigraphy of cut and fill terraces and flood‐plains in the upper Wollombi Brook catchment. Fernances Creek (13.8 km²) valley fill consisted of intercalated thin mud sheets deposited in ephemeral swamps and thick sand sheets deposited by discontinuous channels. Dairy Arm (39.8 km²) valley fill was more complex, with inset alluvial fills in the upper basin and overlapping vertically stacked fills in the lower basin. However, correlative lithostrati‐graphic units were not found on all tributaries. Furthermore, basal radiocarbon dates on the last inset fill of four tributaries did not overlap, allowing for plus or minus twice the standard deviation of the reported ages. Wollombi Brook (341 km²) valley fill was also complex, with longitudinally discontinuous units, most of which were not found in the two tributaries. Upstream late Holocene channel incision was coeval with downstream chain of ponds because sediment generated by incision was stored in the intervening valley. Historical channel incision occurred between 1838 and 1867 on Fernances Creek at a locally steeper section of valley floor during the period of peak population and frequent floods immediately after a road crossing was constructed, but coincided with a catastrophic flood on Dairy Arm (June 1949) and on Wollombi Brook (1927). Lack of correlative litho‐ and chronostrati‐graphic units plus out‐of‐phase post‐European incision indicate that stratigraphic complexity is a function of geomorphic complexity due to the operation of geomorphic thresholds and complex response.     

Late quaternary alluvial history of Nowlands Creek,Hunter Valley,NSW

The valley‐fill sequence of Nowlands Creek, a 5.5 km² basin in the Central Lowlands of the Hunter Valley, is characterised by three inset river terraces whose sediments contain either Aboriginal or European artefacts. The highest and oldest terrace is characterised by a well‐developed yellow duplex soil with Aboriginal artefacts in the A horizon. Deposition of the bulk of the terrace sediments occurred before 11 400 yrs BP when Nowlands Creek was a low‐sinuosity, high‐energy, gravel‐bed stream. Texture contrast of the terrace soil is due partly to the superpositioning of Holocene sandy colluvium over Pleistocene fluviatile clay. The middle terrace is characterised by a deep minimal prairie soil containing Aboriginal artefacts. Deposition of the middle‐terrace sediments occurred mainly after 11 400 yrs BP when Nowlands Creek was a small‐capacity, mud‐bed channel with chains of ponds and well‐vegetated banks. The lowest terrace occupies a discontinuous trench incised into the middle terrace and was abandoned by incision between 1902 and 1938 due to open‐cut coal mining. All Aboriginal artefacts found so far are confined to Holocene sediments.     

Recurring natural fire hazards : a case study of the Blue Mountains,Wew South Wales,Australia

Many regions of the world have climatic and vegetation regimes conducive to wildfires which damage urban property, but south eastern Australia is foremost in terms of such hazards. The Blue Mountains Region near Sydney has experienced 25 fire seasons since 1875 in 11 of which damage occurred to urban property. On four occasions since 1951 a single fire run has destroyed more than 50 dwellings. While fire cycles themselves are unpredictable, degree of fuel accumulation, annual and monthly rainfall and daily weather charts can signal various degrees of hazard and need for protective action to well informed householders. Knowledge of fire history in fire-prone regions is essential not only for professional firefighters but for all households.     

Fine Resolution Palaeoecology Confirms Anthropogenic Impact During the Late Holocene in the Lower Hawkesbury Valley,NSW

This study reconstructs environmental conditions at Mill Creek, within the lower Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley, by the use of fine resolution palaeoecological studies of sediments. Archaeological surveys and historical accounts are used to investigate ecosystem response to known human activities. Research found that during prehistoric times (between 820 BP and the 1790s), the study area was well vegetated with dry sclerophyll communities on the valley sides, and a highly productive wetland community occupied the moist valley floor. Valley sides were generally stable, and little fire was evident in the landscape. Sediment was mainly deposited on the valley floor from the Hawkesbury-Nepean River during flood. After European settlement in the 1790s, sedimentation rates and charcoal preserved within sediments increased significantly, probably due to agricultural and clearing practices, both locally and upstream. Consequently, vegetation communities were altered. In 1967, the study area became part of Dharug National Park. Forestry and agricultural activities were excluded from the catchment, and the fire regime was reduced in frequency. Present-day vegetation communities appear to be becoming more like those that prevailed during prehistoric times. However, sedimentation rates remain elevated due to continued disturbance to the greater Hawkesbury River catchment. Recent poor water quality, coupled with a succession of floods on the Hawkesbury River, has increased wetland productivity levels, and their spatial extent, at Mill Creek.     

雅鲁藏布江大拐弯峡谷的地貌特征和成因

雅鲁藏布江下游作发夹形的奇特大拐弯,并构成深峻的峡谷。本文根据实地考察的资料,阐明大峡弯的地貌特征,并结合地质构造的分析,认为包括大峡弯在内的雅鲁藏布江是适应不同方向断裂构造发育的先成河。大峡弯不是河流的袭夺弯,雅鲁藏布江曾经由东向西流的看法是没有根据的。     

新疆夜雨和昼雨的空间分布和长期变化

用新疆98个气象站1960—2001年的昼夜降水量资料,分析了冷季（10月到翌年3月）和暖季（4—9月）昼夜降水频率和强度的差异和空间分布。结果表明：新疆暖季分别有两个频率≥55％的夜雨区和昼雨区。夜雨区分别位于西天山北坡和西昆仑山北坡;昼雨区位于阿尔泰山南坡和天山南坡等地。而到了冷季,暖季夜雨和昼雨的条状带相间的格局消失。除了海拔较高的西天山山区和海拔较低的塔里木盆地西部、吐善托盆地分别有小范围的夜雨区和昼雨区外,新疆其他地区的夜雨和昼雨的比例均在45％~55％之间,基本趋于平衡,夜雨和昼雨之差较暖季已明显减弱。对于暖季的大降水事件（一个夜间或白天降水>15 mm）,伊犁河谷、中东天山及天山北坡,昆仑山北坡60％以上发生在夜间,阿尔泰山和塔尔巴哈台南坡、天山东南部盆地地区60％以上发生在白天。另外,还对暖季夜雨区夏季降水的长期变化进行了分析,结果显示,这两个以夜间降水为主的区域,其夜间降水的增加率略大于白天,并不是很明显大于白天降水的增加率。     

Recent large-magnitude floods and their impact on valley-floor environments of northeastern Yellowstone

The Lamar River watershed of northeastern Yellowstone contains some of the most diverse and important habitat in the national park. Broad glacial valley floors feature grassland winter range for ungulates, riparian vegetation that provides food and cover for a variety of species, and alluvial channels that are requisite habitat for native fish. Rapid Neogene uplift and Quaternary climatic change have created a dynamic modern environment in which catastrophic processes exert a major influence on riverine–riparian ecosystems. Uplift and glacial erosion have generated high local relief and extensive cliffs of friable volcaniclastic bedrock. As a result, steep tributary basins produce voluminous runoff and sediment during intense precipitation and rapid snowmelt. Recent major floods on trunk streams deposited extensive overbank gravels that replaced loamy soils on flood plains and allowed conifers to colonize valley-floor meadows. Tree-ring dating identifies major floods in 1918, ca. 1873, and possibly ca. 1790. In 1996 and 1997, discharge during snowmelt runoff on Soda Butte Creek approached the 100-year flood estimated by regional techniques, with substantial local bank erosion and channel widening. Indirect estimates show that peak discharges in 1918 were approximately three times greater than in 1996, with similar duration and much greater flood plain impact. Nonetheless, 1918 peak discharge reconstructions fall well within the range of maximum recorded discharges in relation to basin area in the upper Yellowstone region. The 1873 and 1918 floods produced lasting impacts on the channel form and flood plain of Soda Butte Creek. Channels may still be locally enlarged from flood erosion, and net downcutting has occurred in some reaches, leaving the pre-1790 flood plain abandoned as a terrace. Gravelly overbank deposits raise flood-plain surfaces above levels of frequent inundation and are well drained, therefore flood-plain soils are drier. Noncohesive gravels also reduce bank stability and may have persistent effects on channel form. Overall, floods are part of a suite of catastrophic geomorphic processes that exert a very strong influence on landscape patterns and valley-floor ecosystems in northeastern Yellowstone.     

南京城郊灾害性重力地貌的初步研究

本文从灾害性重力地貌对经济建设造成的危害出发,论述研究城郊灾害性重力地貌的意义,南京近郊产生灾害性重力地貌的条件,阐明其主要表现为滑坡、崩塌和江岸坍塌,并提出了防治中的若干问题。     

乌鲁木齐城区一次极端东南大风的形成机制——重力波与超低空急流耦合

东南大风是乌鲁木齐城区独有的强灾害性天气,通过研究发现东南大风是天山峡谷特殊地形造成的大振幅重力波与超低空急流耦合触发的强下坡风暴。针对2012年3月30日乌鲁木齐城区出现的近10 a最强的一次东南大风天气过程,使用中尺度WRF模式进行数值模拟,分析模式输出的高时空分辨率产品发现：在气压梯度力作用下,气流从天山峡谷南端进入,一方面由于狭管效应在峡谷内300~400 m高度形成超低空急流;另一方面气流在进入峡谷过程中,因爬坡强迫抬升形成重力波。重力波在峡谷内与超低空急流发生耦合,在峡谷北端背风坡形成大曲率背风波,背风波的下沉运动引起动量下传,将超低空急流的能量输送到地面,形成水跃型下坡风暴即东南大风。在此过程中背风坡上空风向切变的临界层吸收上层波能量加强了超低空急流,对流层低层稳定层结对背风波的下沉运动起到加速作用。     

Evolution of undercut slopes on abandoned incised meanders in the Eastern Highland Rim of Tennessee, USA

Field surveys, location-for-time reasoning, and computer modeling were used to study the evolution of slopes on valley walls of abandoned bedrock meanders on the Eastern Highland Rim, Tennessee. Hillslopes on the undercut slopes of cutoff incised meanders were ordered as to relative age by the height of their meander floors above the modern stream level. The assumption is that the undercut slope is actively eroded by the stream until abandonment of the meander, at which time the slope begins to evolve to a different form. More-advanced stages of evolution occur on walls of higher meanders that were abandoned earlier. The most rapid change in this initial form is the elimination of a free face, which occurs soon after the meander is abandoned. In addition, the hillslopes associated with even the lowest (youngest) cutoff meanders show somewhat gentler overall gradients than the actively undercut slopes. Hillslopes associated with meanders 3 to about 20 m above modern stream level maintain straight segments with angles showing only a slight decrease from the 36–38° associated with the lowest cutoffs; overall angles decrease, however, as the straight segment becomes shorter. The oldest slopes, those on cutoffs 30 m or greater above modern stream level, have developed into convex–concave slopes with maximum slopes of 15°.A hillslope evolution model based on previously published algorithms was used to simulate the transition of actively undercut hillslopes into hillslopes on abandoned meanders. Hillslope modeling is particularly useful in this setting. If the valley incision rate is known, an age can be estimated for the cutoff and hence for the hillslope. Alternatively, if hillslope process rates are known, a model age obtained for the hillslope can be used to estimate an incision rate. Even where both incision rates and hillslope process rates are poorly constrained, as in the present setting, modeling allows assumptions about specific rates to be evaluated by determining their implications for other rates. For example, for three cutoff meanders along one stream, best-fit criteria were used to select process rates for the model. Model ages of hillslopes were then obtained and compared with those calculated from a valley-incision rate measured elsewhere in the same physiographic province. For two of the hillslopes, model ages were found to be much younger than those calculated from the incision rate. In order to make the two ages agree, unreasonably low process rates had to be used in the model, thus implying that the incision rate probably underestimates the actual incision rate in this valley.Experimentation with heights of initial profiles, again using best-fit criteria, suggests that since abandonment of the highest cutoff, the plateau has been downwasting at a rate about one-fourth that of the valley incision rate, a finding in agreement with published rates of chemical denudation in the area.     

Morphotectonics and incision of the Kaoping submarine canyon, SW Taiwan orogenic wedge

The Kaoping submarine canyon developed on the frontal orogenic wedge off SW Taiwan and is the largest one among others. The canyon begins at the mouth of the Kaoping River, crosses the narrow shelf and broad slope region, and finally merges into the northern Manila Trench for a distance of about 260 km. Using reflection seismic sections and bathymetric mapping this paper reveals the geomorphic characteristics of the Kaoping Canyon strongly related to structural and sedimentary processes. The combined morphometry statistics analysis, seismic interpretations of structures and examinations of detailed bathymetric charts indicate that regional canyon morphology is strongly linked to intrusions of mud diapirs in the upper reach of the canyon and thrust faulting in the middle and lower reaches which produce two prominent morphological breaks of the course of the Kaoping Canyon with two sharp bends. Although excavation of floor and enlargement of the Kaoping Canyon are mainly attributed to downslope erosion of seabed, incision of this canyon is also strongly complicated by mud diapiric intrusions (upper reach), westward thrust faults (middle reach), and regional base level tilting (lower reach). The resultant cross-sectional morphology along the Kaoping Canyon changes considerably, ranging from U-shaped, broad V-shaped, to irregular troughs. The Kaoping Canyon may be served as a variant of canyon model of active margins with a distinct morphology of two sharp bends along the canyon course associated with structure deformation.     

Tectonic controls on a large landslide complex: Williams Fork Mountains near Dillon, Colorado

An extensive ( 25 km²) landslide complex covers a large area on the west side of the Williams Fork Mountains in central Colorado. The complex is deeply weathered and incised, and in most places geomorphic evidence of sliding (breakaways, hummocky topography, transverse ridges, and lobate distal zones) are no longer visible, indicating that the main mass of the slide has long been inactive. However, localized Holocene reactivation of the landslide deposits is common above the timberline (at about 3300 m) and locally at lower elevations. Clasts within the complex, as long as several tens of meters, are entirely of crystalline basement (Proterozoic gneiss and granitic rocks) from the hanging wall of the Laramide (Late Cretaceous to Early Tertiary), west-directed Williams Range thrust, which forms the western structural boundary of the Colorado Front Range. Late Cretaceous shale and sandstone compose most footwall rocks. The crystalline hanging-wall rocks are pervasively fractured or shattered, and alteration to clay minerals is locally well developed. Sackung structures (trenches or small-scale grabens and upslope-facing scarps) are common near the rounded crest of the range, suggesting gravitational spreading of the fractured rocks and oversteepening of the mountain flanks. Late Tertiary and Quaternary incision of the Blue River Valley, just west of the Williams Fork Mountains, contributed to the oversteepening. Major landslide movement is suspected during periods of deglaciation when abundant meltwater increased pore-water pressure in bedrock fractures.A fault-flexure model for the development of the widespread fracturing and weakening of the Proterozoic basement proposes that the surface of the Williams Range thrust contains a concave-downward flexure, the axis of which coincides approximately with the contact in the footwall between Proterozoic basement and mostly Cretaceous rocks. Movement of brittle, hanging-wall rocks through the flexure during Laramide deformation pervasively fractured the hanging-wall rocks.     

A morphometric analysis of gullies scoured by post-fire progressively bulked debris flows in southwest Montana, USA

In the fall of 2001, an intense thunderstorm in southwest Montana triggered many debris flows in the burned area of Sleeping Child Creek. In most instances, the debris flows cut deep gullies into previously unchannelized colluvial hollows and deposited large volumes of sediment onto the valley floor. The presence of rill networks above the gullies as well as the absence of landslide features indicate that the gullies were scoured by progressively bulked debris flows, a process in which dilute surface runoff becomes increasingly more laden with sediment until it transforms into a debris flow. In this contribution, we present a morphometric analysis of six of the gullies to better understand this relatively understudied process. We find that the locations of the rill heads and gully heads conform to slope-area thresholds that are characteristic of erosion by overland flow. Our data also suggest that the volumes of the debris flows increase exponentially with normalized drainage area, thus lending support to an assumption used in a recently proposed debris flow incision law. Finally, the debris flow fans have been relatively unaltered since deposition, suggesting that the valley may be currently aggrading while the hillslopes are being denuded.     

The Response of Aboriginal Burning Practices to Population Levels and El Niño–Southern Oscillation Events during the mid- to late-Holocene: a case study from the Sydney Basin using charcoal and pollen analysis

Pollen and macroscopic charcoal have been analysed from a sedimentary sequence representing approximately 6100 years from a site within Wollemi National Park. This is located to the north-west of Sydney and forms a part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. The overall aim of the work was to examine the prehistoric interrelationships between vegetation, fire and human activity. There were relatively minor changes in the vegetation over the last ～6000 years, perhaps reflecting the climate- and fire-resilient nature of the sclerophyllous vegetation found on Hawkesbury Sandstone throughout the Sydney Basin. Casuarinaceae declined in the late Holocene, a trend that has been detected in numerous palaeoecological studies throughout south-eastern Australia. This decline was unrelated to fire, which has been a persistent feature at the site over the entire analysed sequence. The fire regime at the site changed from 5.7 ka, which is interpreted as reflecting the onset of increased climatic variability associated with El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. Another dramatic change in the fire regime occurred at 3 ka, which was coeval with archaeological changes in the region. It is possible that the change in fire activity from 3 ka represented an alteration to Aboriginal management strategies associated with an increasing population and/or the increased risk of conflagrations in an ENSO-dominated climate.     

Geomorphology and late Holocene climatic change in Northeastern Spain

During the late Holocene, accumulation and downcutting stages affected the slopes and infilled valleys in the semiarid areas in NE Spain. The presence of archaeological remains, charcoal and ashes within slope deposits and valley fills makes it possible to carry out accurate datings. In the case of infilled valleys, the different accumulations may be diachronous at a regional level. These diachronisms among different infilled valleys may be caused by both human activity and complex responses of the system. On the slopes, one can distinguish between two accumulation periods separated by an incision period. The older accumulation stage has a widespread distribution and developed from the Bronze Age to the Iberian–Roman Epoch. The following accumulation period was formed in the Post-Medieval period and is spatially more restricted. Because of the widespread synchronism shown by these accumulations, a climatic cause is put forward as the possible triggering factor for the accumulation–incision stages in the slopes. The datings obtained indicate that the first accumulation corresponds to the Iron Age Cold Epoch (900–300 years B.C.) and the second to the Little Ice Age. Between both accumulation periods, a downcutting stage took place (approximately from 300 B.C. to 1450 A.D.). This downcutting interval can be related to the warm stages of the Subatlantic Period, during which there was a relatively lower percentage of vegetation cover. Finally, the last incision period, which is still taking place, has affected previous accumulations.     

Longevity and progressive abandonment of the Rocky Flats surface, Front Range, Colorado

The post-orogenic evolution of the Laramide landscape of the western U.S. has been characterized by late Cenozoic channel incision of basins and their adjacent ranges. One means of constraining the incision history of basins is dating the remnants of gravel-capped surfaces above modern streams. Here, we focus on an extensive remnant of the Rocky Flats surface between Golden and Boulder, Colorado, and use in situ-produced ¹⁰Be and ²⁶Al concentrations in terrace alluvium to constrain the Quaternary history of this surface. Coal and Ralston Creeks, both tributaries of the South Platte River, abandoned the Rocky Flats surface and formed the Verdos and Slocum pediments, which are cut into Cretaceous bedrock between Rocky Flats and the modern stream elevations. Rocky Flats alluvium ranges widely in age, from > 2 Ma to  400 ka, with oldest ages to the east and younger ages closer to the mountain front. Numerical modeling of isotope concentration depth profiles suggests that individual sites have experienced multiple resurfacing events. Preliminary results indicate that Verdos and Slocum alluvium along Ralston Creek, which is slightly larger than Coal Creek, is several hundred thousand years old. Fluvial incision into these surfaces appears therefore to progress headward in response to downcutting of the South Platte River. The complex ages of these surfaces call into question any correlation of such surfaces based solely on their elevation above the modern channel.     

Factors influencing the formation of shallow landslides in the Boston Mountains of northwest Arkansas,USA

Slope failures cause billions of dollars of damage annually and put human lives at risk. This study employed field measurements and observations to provide the framework for laboratory simulations to investigate the effects of environmental characteristics on slope stability in the highly fractured bedrock region of the Boston Mountains, northwest Arkansas. Field measurements, to determine characteristics and possible controls of 10 shallow slope failures along an interstate highway, revealed that slope failures occurred within a relatively narrow range of slope angles (17–36°) and in loamy soils. Based on field observations, flume experiments were conducted to investigate the relationships between soil texture, slope angle, bedrock fractures, soil compaction, and slope instability. Time to failure differed (p < 0.05) among treatment combinations. Generally, slopes composed of loam were more stable than slopes composed of sand. Time to failure decreased more on slopes of 15–20° than on slopes of 20–25°. Flume slopes with sod cover never failed. This study provided a methodology for using field analyses of slope failures to guide laboratory experiments and demonstrated that complex interactions among environmental factors work to stabilize or compromise steep (>20°) slopes.