Rate-weakening friction characterizes both slow sliding and catastrophic failure of landslides

Catastrophic landslides cause billions of dollars in damages and claim thousands of lives annually, whereas slow-moving landslides with negligible inertia dominate sediment transport on many weathered hillslopes. Surprisingly, both failure modes are displayed by nearby landslides (and individual landslides in different years) subjected to almost identical environmental conditions. Such observations have motivated the search for mechanisms that can cause slow-moving landslides to transition via runaway acceleration to catastrophic failure. A similarly diverse range of sliding behavior, including earthquakes and slow-slip events, occurs along tectonic faults. The authors' understanding of these phenomena has benefitted from mechanical treatments that rely upon key ingredients that are notably absent from previous landslide descriptions. Here, the authors describe landslide motion using a rate- and state-dependent frictional model that incorporates a nonlocal stress balance to account for the elastic response to gradients in slip. The authors' idealized, one-dimensional model reproduces both the displacement patterns observed in slow-moving landslides and the acceleration toward failure exhibited by catastrophic events. Catastrophic failure occurs only when the slip surface is characterized by rate-weakening friction and its lateral dimensions exceed a critical nucleation length h* that is shorter for higher effective stresses. However, landslides that are extensive enough to fall within this regime can nevertheless slide slowly for months or years before catastrophic failure. The authors' results suggest that the diversity of slip behavior observed during landslides can be described with a single model adapted from standard fault mechanics treatments.

• Record URL:
  https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607009113
• Record URL:
  http://www.pnas.org/content/113/37/10281.abstract
• Authors:
  • Handwerger, Alexander L
  • Rempel, Alan W
  • Skarbek, Rob M
  • Roering, Joshua J
  • Hilley, George E
• Publication Date: 2016-9-13

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Figures; References;
• Pagination: pp 10281-10286
• Serial:
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Volume: 113
  • Issue Number: 37
  • Publisher: National Academy of Sciences
  • EISSN: 1091-6490
  • Serial URL: http://www.pnas.org/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Effective stress; Friction; Landslides; Mathematical models; Pore water pressures; Slip (Fluid mechanics); Slope failure
• Uncontrolled Terms: Catastrophic failures; Slow motion
• Subject Areas: Geotechnology; Safety and Human Factors; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01615256
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Oct 28 2016 9:12AM