Subterranean erosion in a crystalline schist landslide in Japan

By employing a complete observation system, the underground erosion in a typical large-scale crystalline schist landslide in Japan, the Zentoku landslide, was studied. It was found that the seasonal heavy rainfall is the main factor leading to the massive underground erosion. Two types of sediment discharge of the landslide were defined. Monitored data indicated that the movement of Zentoku landslide could be affected by the underground erosion following the concentrated heavy rainfall. The influence of the underground erosion on the movement of the landslide presents different features. For the sliding block of shallow and medium depth shear zones (5–20 m), the influence of the underground erosion is most outstanding, while it is negligible for the sliding block of thick soil and rock layers (>30 m). Finally, the rainfall thresholds for the Zentoku landslide, which concern the groundwater state, underground erosion and movement of sliding blocks, were provided to further establish the warning and evacuation system.