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

Abstract

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. Our understanding of these phenomena has benefitted from mechanical treatments that rely upon key ingredients that are notably absent from previous landslide descriptions. Here, we 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. Our 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 canmore » nevertheless slide slowly for months or years before catastrophic failure. In conclusion, our results suggest that the diversity of slip behavior observed during landslides can be described with a single model adapted from standard fault mechanics treatments.« less

Authors:

Handwerger, Alexander L. ^[1]; Rempel, Alan W. ^[1]; Skarbek, Rob M. ^[1]; Roering, Joshua J. ^[1]; Hilley, George E. ^[2]

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+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Department of Geological Sciences, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403,
2. Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305

Publication Date:

Mon Aug 29 00:00:00 EDT 2016

Research Org.:

Univ. of Oregon, Eugene, OR (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE

OSTI Identifier:

1312045

Alternate Identifier(s):

OSTI ID: 1469666

Grant/Contract Number:  

FE0013565

Resource Type:

Published Article

Journal Name:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Volume: 113 Journal Issue: 37; Journal ID: ISSN 0027-8424

Publisher:

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

58 GEOSCIENCES; landslides; slope failure; rate and state friction; pore-water pressure; effective stress