Mass loss from coronae and its effect upon stellar rotation

The acoustic energy-generation rate from the convective zone was calculated for various models. Results show that chromosphere and corona can be expected around stars with temperature lower than 8000K at the main sequence, and lower than 6500K at logg=2.When a star is rotating rapidly, mass loss from its corona is large, and can be an effective mechanism of braking the stellar rotation. If this mechanism is effective, we can explain the slow rotation of stars later than F2 to be the result of the loss of the angular momentum through a stellar wind that is effective in their main sequence phase. Stars with massM>1.5M lose mass through a stellar wind during their contraction phase. The mass-loss rate is larger than the solar value because of the larger energy input into the chromosphere-corona system and because of the smaller gravitational potential at the surface. T Tauri stars may be the observational counterparts for such stars. As the duration of contraction phase is very short (less than 10⁷ years), the braking mechanism works only in the presence of a strong magnetic field (Ap) or in the presence of a companion (Am).Presented at the Trieste Colloquium on Mass Loss from Stars, September 12–16, 1968.     

The Effect of Relative Density and Confining Stress on Shear Properties of Sands with Varying Grading

The research investigated the influence of grain size distribution on the shear behavior of sand specimen in loose, medium and dense states. The investigation aimed at understanding the extent or degree at which static shear strength of soil is affected by its density. A standard indicator (coefficient of uniformity) was used in constituting four (4) different sand specimens—narrowly graded (NAG), intermediately graded (ING), well graded (WG) and gap graded (GAG). Different normal stress values were applied during the testing program. The specimens were sheared using a ring shear apparatus until a residual value of shear stress was obtained. Result obtained from the analysis shows two remarkable stress paths. Medium dense to dense specimens show dilative stress path while loose (less dense) specimens show contractive stress path. At loose state, WG specimens show higher peak and residual shear strengths than poorly graded ones. Of importance was the fact that all the NAG specimens underwent complete liquefaction but WG specimens did not undergo complete liquefaction. This was interpreted as strong inter-particle contacts/forces binding the grains which enhanced high shear resistance. The research also showed that increase in relative density leads to higher shear strength, particle size distribution notwithstanding. Also, result of the analysis showed that WG specimens in medium-and dense states have higher peak but lower residual strength than ING and NAG specimens-this phenomenon was termed reverse behavior by the author(s). GAG specimens when sheared have the lowest peak and residual strength at any given value of relative density.     

Evolution of Shear-Zone Structure in Undrained Ring-Shear Tests

Undrained monotonic torque-controlled tests were conducted on fine-grained silica sand to study the shear-deformation process in granular materials by using a ring-shear apparatus. Shear-zone structures at various stages in the undrained shear tests were observed during a series of tests in which the experiments were terminated at different shear displacement. For undisturbed samples, the shear zone was only developed during the post-failure stage and its thickness increased with progressed shearing. First the shear surfaces had undulating and asymmetric structures; later they gradually became smooth and parallel to the shearing direction. During this process, pore water pressure was generated, and the effective friction angle decreased correspondingly. Generally, the shear zone could be divided into three parts: the compacted core, the adjacent zone above the core, and the adjacent zone below the core. Grain-size analysis on the sample from the shear zone revealed that grain crushing occurred during each stage and the extent of grain crushing differed for different shear stages. An interesting phenomenon occurred during the steady-state deformation where the coarse and fine particles within the shear zone segregated during motions and a parallel orientation structure developed. These results are helpful for understanding the mechanism of progressive failure in granular material as well as the rapid landslide with long runout study.     

Rainstorm-induced landslides at Kisawa village, Tokushima Prefecture, Japan, August 2004

Heavy rain fell on the Shikoku area during Typhoon Namtheun, setting a new record for daily rainfall in Japan of 1317 mm. The rain which peaked at 120 mm/h, triggered numerous landslides in the Nakagawa basin of Tokushima Prefecture, Japan on August 1, 2004. Among them, four large, rapid, long-runout landslides were triggered at Kisawa village. Two people were caught in one landslide and disappeared without trace, and there was much property damage. Ring-shear tests on samples from the landslides showed that shear resistance was greatly reduced by high pore-water pressure after shear failure was triggered by the increase in ground-water level during the rain.     

Downslope volume enlargement of a debris slide–debris flow in the 1999 Hiroshima, Japan, rainstorm

Following a heavy rainstorm on 29 June 1999, hundreds of slope failures occurred in granitic mountains in Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. Among these events, a highly mobile landslide (termed the Kameyama landslide in this paper), which occurred in Kameyama area of Hiroshima city, was the most catastrophic, and was investigated in detail. The displaced soil mass from the source area of this landslide traveled about 300 m and deposited a volume more than 10 times as great as that in the source area. The landslide originated in and traversed a valley-shaped concave slope covered by pre-existing colluvial debris deposits. In addition, a spring was visible in the source area and very shallow ground water was observed in an observation pit dug in the source area. Thus, it is inferred that the ground-water table rose quickly during the rainfall, and that this rise triggered the slope failure in the source area. Based on a field survey along the landslide cross section, a possible explanation for the mechanism of the landslide was obtained: the displaced soil mass from the source area impacted the debris deposit in the path of the landslide, thus triggering liquefaction failure of the saturated part of debris. The original landslide and the liquefied debris then moved downslope as a single mass. To examine this assumption, ring-shear tests were performed on samples taken from the source area. Undrained ring-shear tests on the saturated samples showed that the sample is highly liquefiable, and liquefaction failure could have been triggered in the debris deposits by a very small impact from the displaced soil mass of the initial failure. In addition, laboratory tests simulating the impacts on the debris deposits at natural water content, i.e., unsaturated (at the survey time, 2 days after the failure) showed that although shear failure could be caused by the assumed impact force, the displaced soils stopped after a few centimeters displacement, indicating that existence of a saturated zone in debris deposits is prerequisite for this kind of failure.     

Mechanism of two rapid and long-runout landslides in the 16 April 2016 Kumamoto earthquake using a ring-shear apparatus and computer simulation (LS-RAPID)

Around hundred landslides were triggered by the Kumamoto earthquakes in April 2016, causing fatalities and serious damage to properties in Minamiaso village, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan. The landslides included many rapid and long-runout landslides which were responsible for much of the damage. To understand the mechanism of these earthquake-triggered landslides, we carried out field investigations with an unmanned aerial vehicle to obtain DSM and took samples from two major landslides (Takanodai landslide and Aso-ohashi landslide) to measure parameters of the initiation and the motion of landslides. A series of ring-shear tests and computer simulations were conducted using a measured Kumamoto earthquake acceleration record from KNet station KMM005, 10 km west of Aso-ohashi landslide. The research results supported our assumed mechanism of sliding-surface liquefaction for the rapid and long-runout motion of these landslides.     

A complex earth slide–earth flow induction by the heavy rainfall in July 2006, Okaya City, Nagano Prefecture, Japan

A seasonal rain front (Baiu front) accompanied a long-term accumulation of precipitation propagated over the wide areas of the main island of Japan during 15–24 July 2006. In Okaya City, Nagano Prefecture, several flow-type landslides occurred in the early morning of 19 July 2006, claiming eight lives. Among these landslides, a most peculiar complex earth slide–earth flow occurred on a north gentle slope of the upstream portion of the Motosawagawa River. In the source area, volcanoclastic soils overlying tuffaceous rocks at about 4-m depth slid due to the prolonged precipitation that raised the water table level in the soil. Along with the travel path, the failed materials fluidized causing the liquefaction of the volcanoclastic soils underlain by volcanic black ash soils. The resulting flow spread over a wide area up to the final deposition. Constant volume box-shear tests on undisturbed volcanoclastic soil specimens taken from the source area showed effective normal stress tended to decrease during shearing. The ring shear tests on saturated disturbed specimens produced the large loss of shear resistance, which may explain the fluidized motion of the complex landslide.     

Participants in the Fourth World Landslide Forum and call for ICL members,supporters, and associates

The ANNEX to the 2017 Ljubljana Declaration on Landslide Risk Reduction described in the “Preface” section of this issue is the list of participants (by organizations) in the Fourth World Landslide Forum. In this article, emphasis is put on this list of organizations as they are expected to be the key components for the Fifth World Landslide Forum 2020 in Kyoto, Japan. The participants in the Fourth World Landslide Forum 2017 adopted the 2017 Ljubljana Declaration on Landslide Risk Reduction. They further endorsed the concept of the Kyoto 2020 Commitment for Global Promotion of Understanding and Reducing Landslide Disaster Risk. The commitment aims to establish a long-term, wider, and stronger network after WLF5 2020 among three membership categories, namely, the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) full members/supporters/associates, ICL-supporting organizations (UN and international global organizations) and ICL-supporting governments, and ISDR-ICL Sendai Partnerships 2015–2025. This article introduces three categories of ICL memberships and calls for participation.