Prediction of the water waves generated by a potential semisubmerged landslide in La Yesca reservoir,Mexico

This paper presents a study of the effects of a potential landslide in La Yesca Reservoir, Jalisco-Nayarit, Mexico. The main purpose of the paper is to predict the maximum wave amplitude, wave run-up, and dam overtopping. The landslide is formed by an unstable slope of more than 24 Mm³ that is partially submerged for the range of the reservoir operation levels. The dynamics of the sliding mass were obtained in detail considering that it moves over a pair of failure surfaces with the potential rupture of a third surface. The paper presents results of a physical model of the reservoir based on Froude similitude (scale 1:200). Impulse waves are produced with a solid wedge shape slide as it moves on rails. The movement was calibrated to reproduce the dynamics of the landslide. Also, numerical modelling of the event was performed with a 2D implicit model that solves the two-dimensional shallow water equations. In this case, the impulse waves were generated at each time increment with the variation of the ground elevation (obtained from the dynamics of the landslide) for the mesh points where the landslide passes. The results of both studies are similar.