Honors 101 - Science and the Public Good
Course Syllabus	Course Schedule	Assignments	Department Home Page	Kusnick Home Page

Landslide Notes

1. What causes landslides?

• Increase in driving forces (weight of slope)
  • Adding water
  • Adding structures
• Decrease in resisting forces
  • decrease weight at bottom of slope
    • oversteepening
    • removing toe of slope
  • decrease friction
    • adding water lubricates and reduces rock strength

2. How do people help cause landslides?

• Road cuts create oversteepened slope
• Disturbing drainage patterns, or adding water to dry slopes
• Building on old landslides
• "Cut and fill" development
  • oversteepening
  • fill less compacted than slope, with slip plane between
  • adds weight - water and house

3. How are fires and landslides related?

• Bushes like greasewood and creosote have high oil content. When they burn, the oil penetrates the ground and makes it impermeable. Rain sheets off, causing debris flows