Triggering Mechanisms of Slope Instability and their Relationship to Earthquakes and Tsunamis

— Submarine and shoreline slope failures that accompany large earthquakes and large tsunamis are triggered by several mechanisms. Triggering mechanisms range from direct effects, such as inertial forces from earthquake shaking, to indirect effects, such as rapid drawdown that occurs when an earthquake-generated tsunami first approaches a shoreline. Soil shear strength also plays an important role in earthquake-related slope failures. Earthquakes change the shear strength of the soil by inducing excess pore water pressures. These excess pore water pressures change with time after the earthquake, resulting in changes in shear strength and slope stability with time. This paper reviews earthquake-related triggering mechanisms for submarine and shoreline slope failures. The variation in shear strength with time following an earthquake is examined and it is shown that delayed slope failures after an earthquake can occur as a result of changes in earthquake-induced excess pore water pressures and shear strength with time.     

The importance of plant root characteristics in controlling concentrated flow erosion rates

While it has been demonstrated in numerous studies that the aboveground characteristics of the vegetation are of particular importance with respect to soil erosion control, this study argues the importance of separating the influence of vegetation on soil erosion rates into two parts: the impact of leaves and stems (aboveground biomass) and the influence of roots (belowground biomass). Although both plant parameters form inseparable constituents of the total plant organism, most studies attribute the impact of vegetation on soil erosion rates mainly to the characteristics of the aboveground biomass. This triggers the question whether the belowground biomass is of no or negligible importance with respect to soil erosion by concentrated flow. This study tried to answer this question by comparing cross‐sectional areas of concentrated flow channels (rills and ephemeral gullies) in the Belgian Loess Belt for different cereal and grass plant densities. The results of these measurements highlighted the fact that both an increase in shoot density as well as an increase in root density resulted in an exponential decrease of concentrated flow erosion rates. Since protection of the soil surface in the early plant growth stages is crucial with respect to the reduction of water erosion rates, increasing the plant root density in the topsoil could be a viable erosion control strategy. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Short‐term erosion rates from a 7Be inventory balance

Detailed soil erosion studies bene?t from the ability to quantify the magnitude of erosion over time scales appropriate to the process. An inventory balance for ⁷Be was used to calculate sediment erosion in a 30·73 m² plot during a series of runoff‐producing thunderstorms occurring over three days at the Deep Loess Research Station in Treynor, Iowa, USA. The inventory balance included determination of the pre‐ and post‐storm ⁷Be inventories in the soil, the atmospheric in?ux of ⁷Be during the event, and pro?les of the ⁷Be activity in the soil following the atmospheric deposition. The erosion calculated in the plot using the ⁷Be inventory balance was 0·058 g cm^?2, which is 23 per cent of the annual average erosion determined using ¹³⁷Cs inventories. The calculated erosion from the mass balance is similar to the 0·059 g cm^?2 of erosion estimated from the amount of sediment collected at the outlet of the 6 ha ?eld during the study period and the delivery ratio (0·64). The inventory balance of ⁷Be provides a new means for evaluating soil erosion over the time period most relevant to quantifying the prediction of erosion from runoff. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The design of post‐mining landscapes using geomorphic principles

Nature can provide analogues for post‐mining landscapes in terms of landscape stability and also in terms of the rehabilitated structure ‘blending in’ with the surrounding undisturbed landscape. In soil‐mantled landscapes, hillslopes typically have a characteristic pro?le that has a convex upper hillslope pro?le with a concave pro?le lower down the slope. In this paper hillslope characteristic form is derived using the area–slope relationship from pre‐mining topography at two sites in Western Australia. Using this relationship, concave hillslope pro?les are constructed and compared to linear hillslopes in terms of sediment loss using the SIBERIA erosion model. It is found that concave hillslopes can reduce sediment loss by up to ?ve times that of linear slopes. Concave slopes can therefore provide an alternative method for the construction of post‐mining landscapes. An understanding of landscape geomorphological properties and the use of erosion models can greatly assist in the design of post‐mining landscapes. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

New structural and petrologic data on Mesozoic schists in the Rhodope (Bulgaria): geodynamic implications

Structural analysis of low-grade rocks highlights the allochthonous character of Mesozoic schists in southeastern Rhodope, Bulgaria. The deformation can be related to the Late Jurassic–Early Cretaceous thrusting and Tertiary detachment faulting. Petrologic and geochemical data show a volcanic arc origin of the greenschists and basaltic rocks. These results are interpreted as representing an island arc-accretionary complex related to the southward subduction of the Meliata–Maliac Ocean under the supra-subduction back-arc Vardar ocean/island arc system. This arc-trench system collided with the Rhodope in Late Jurassic times. To cite this article: N.G. Bonev, G.M. Stampfli, C. R. Geoscience 335 (2003).     

The stability of a remediated bed in Hamilton Harbour,Lake Ontario,Canada

ABSTRACT In situ measurements of lakebed sediment erodibility were made on three sites in Hamilton Harbour, Lake Ontario, using the benthic flume Sea Carousel. Three methods of estimating the surface erosion threshold (τ_c(0)) from a Carousel time series were evaluated: the first method fits measures of bed strength to eroded depth (the failure envelope) and evaluates threshold as the surface intercept; the second method regresses mean erosion rate (E_m) with bed shear stress and solves for the floc erosion rate (E_f) to derive the threshold for E_m = E_f = 1 × 10^?5 kg m^?2 s^?1; the third method extrapolates a regression of suspended sediment concentration (S) and fluid transmitted bed shear stress (τ₀) to ambient concentrations. The first field site was undisturbed (C) and acted as a control; the second (W) was disturbed through ploughing and water injection as part of lakebed treatment, whereas the third site (OIP) was disturbed and injected with an oxidant used for remediation of contaminated sediment. The main objectives of this study were: (1) to evaluate the three different methods of deriving erosion threshold; (2) to compare the physical behaviour of lacustrine sediments with their marine estuarine counterparts; and (3) to examine the effects of ploughing and chemical treatment of contaminated sediment on bed stability. Five deployments of Sea Carousel were carried out at the control site. Mean erosion thresholds for the three methods were: τ_c(0) = 0·5 (±0·06), 0·27 (±0·01) and 0·34 (±0·03) Pa respectively. Method 1 overpredicted bed strength as it was insensitive to effects in the surface 1–2 mm, and the fit of the failure envelope was also highly subjective. Method 2 exhibited a wide scatter in the data (low correlation coefficients), and definition of the baseline erosion rate (E_f) is largely arbitrary in the literature. Method 3 yielded stable (high correlation coefficients), reproducible and objective results and is thus recommended for evaluation of the erosion threshold. The results of this method correlated well with sediment bulk density and followed the same trend as marine counterparts from widely varying sites. Mass settling rates, expressed as a decay constant, k, of S(t), were strongly related to the maximum turbidity at the onset of settling (S_max) and were also in continuity with marine counterparts. Thus, it appears that differences in salinity had little effect on mass settling rates in the examples presented, and that biological activity dominated any effects normally attributable to changes in salinity. Bedload transport of eroded aggregates (2–4 mm in diameter) took place by rolling below a mean tangential flow velocity (U_y) of 0·32 ms^?1 and by saltation at higher velocities. Mass transport as bedload was a maximum at U_y = 0·4 ms^?1, although bedload never exceeded 1% of the suspended load. The proportion of material moving as bedload was greatest at the onset of erosion but decreased as flow competence increased. Given the low bulk density and strength of the lakebed sediment, the presence of a bedload component is notable. Bedload transport over eroding cohesive substrates should be greater in estuaries, where both sediment density and strength are usually higher. Significant differences between the ploughed and control sites were apparent in both the erosion rate and the friction coefficient (φ), and suggest that bed recovery after disruption is rapid (< 24 h). τ_c(0) increased linearly with time after ploughing and recovered to the control mean value within 3 days. The friction coefficient was reduced to zero by ploughing (diagnostic of fluidization), but increased linearly with time, regaining control values within 6 days. No long‐term reduction in bed strength due to remediation was apparent.     

Determination of silica sand stiffness

Site investigation and evaluation of properties of soil or rock are important aspects of geotechnical design. Determination of the ground stiffness is one of the important parameters in geotechnical engineering. Since the measurement of shear modulus is very sensitive to soil disturbance, especially for sand, determination of the stiffness of soil in the field is more reliable than in laboratory tests on sampled specimens. Measurement of shear modulus is one of the most common applications of self-boring pressuremeter testing. As an in situ device, the pressuremeter provides a unique method for assessing directly the in situ shear modulus of a soil. This paper describes a laboratory study of silica sand stiffness, which varies with stress level and strain amplitude. The results show that the elastic shear modulus value is mainly dependent on the value of the mean effective stress and relative density.     

Engineering geology of loess and loess-like deposits: a commentary on the Russian literature

Loess and loess-like deposits were much studied in the Soviet Union, and are currently under investigation in Russia and surrounding countries. There is a vast literature in Russian, which touches on all aspects of loess science and technology. In particular, the studies of the origin of collapsibility are almost totally in Russian, and of course studies on the various regions of Russia and the countries of the Former Soviet Union FSU appear in Russian. This review looks at the literature in Russian and attempts to pick out key contributors, major topics and works and to identify the critical regions and zones of investigation. Because so many regions of the FSU had people living on loess ground, there is a vast literature on engineering geology and ground engineering topics, and this tends to dominate all the literature on loess in Russian. Following Russian practice, the fine-grained deposits under consideration are divided into loess and loess-like deposits. Three main topics are recognised across the whole spectrum of loess research: formation and distribution of loess deposits; stratigraphy, cyclicity and palaeoclimatology; and engineering topics, in particular hydrocollapse and subsidence, and we concentrate on the engineering geology topics. An attempt is made, based on the map of Abelev and Abelev [Abelev, Yu.M., Abelev, M.Yu., 1968. Fundamentals of design and construction on collapsible macroporous soils, 2nd ed. Stroiizdat, Moscow, 431 pp. (in Russian)] of collapsing loess deposits, to define seven loess regions within the geographical limits of the old USSR. The seven regions are those where geotechnical problems might be expected.     

Classification of artificial (man-made) ground

The legacy inherited from anthropogenic processes needs to be addressed in order to provide reliable and up-to-date ground information relevant to development and regeneration in the urban environment. The legacy includes voids as well as anthropogenic deposits (artificial ground). Their characteristics derive from former quarrying and mining activities industrial processes creating derelict ground, variably consolidated made ground, and contaminated groundwater and soils. All need to be systematically assessed to inform the planning process and provide the basis for engineering solutions. Site-specific investigation needs to be conducted on the back of good quality geoscientific data. This comes from ‘field’ survey, remotely sensed data interpretation, historical maps, soil geochemical sampling, and geotechnical investigation. Three-dimensional and, in the future, four dimensional, characterization of superficial deposits is required to reach an understanding of the potential spatial lithological variability of artificial ground and the geometry of important surfaces, i.e. the boundary conditions. The classification scheme for artificial ground outlined in this paper and adopted by the British Geological Survey, will help in achieving this understanding.     

Petrology, geochemistry and isotopic ages of eclogites from the Dulan UHPM Terrane, the North Qaidam, NW China

The Dulan eclogite–gneiss region is located in the eastern part of the North Qaidam eclogite belt, NW China. Widespread evidence demonstrates that this region is a typical ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic terrane. Eclogites occur as lenses or layers in both granitic and pelitic gneisses. Two distinguished sub-belts can be recognized and differ in mineralogy, petrology and geochemistry. The North Dulan Belt (NDB) has tholeiitic protoliths with high TiO₂ and lower Al₂O₃ and MgO contents. REE patterns and trace element contents resemble those of N-type and E-type MORB. In contrast, eclogites in the South Dulan Belt (SDB) are of island arc protoliths with low TiO₂, high Al₂O₃ and show LREE-enriched and HFSE-depleted patterns. Sm–Nd isotope analyses give isochron ages of 458–497 Ma for eclogite-facies metamorphism for the two sub-belts. The ages are similar to those of Yuka and Altun eclogites in the western extension of the North Qaidam-Altun eclogite belt. The Dulan UHP metamorphic terrane, together with several other recently recognized eclogite-bearing terrenes within the North Qaidam-Altun HP-UHP belt, constitute the key to the understanding of the tectonic evolution of the northern Tibetan Plateau. The entire UHP belt extends for more than 1000 km from the Dulan UHP terrane in the southeast to the Altun eclogite–gneiss terrane in the west. This super-belt marks an early Paleozoic continental collision zone between the Qaidam Massif and the Qilian Massif.