Rate-weakening friction characterizes both slow sliding and catastrophic failure of landslides.
نویسندگان
چکیده
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 [Formula: see text] 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. 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.
منابع مشابه
Slider-Block Friction Model for Landslides: Implication for Prediction of Mountain Collapse
Accelerating displacements preceding some catastrophic landslides has been found empirically to follow a time-to-failure power law, corresponding to a finite-time singularity of the velocity v ∼ 1/(tc − t) [Voight, 1988]. Here, we provide a physical basis for this phenomenological law based on a slider-block model using a state and velocity dependent friction law established in the laboratory a...
متن کاملSlider-Block Friction Model for Landslides: Application to Vaiont and La Clapière Landslides
Accelerating displacements preceding some catastrophic landslides have been found empirically to follow a time-to-failure power law, corresponding to a finite-time singularity of the velocity v ∼ 1/(tc − t) [Voight, 1988]. Here, we provide a physical basis for this phenomenological law based on a slider-block model using a state and velocity dependent friction law established in the laboratory ...
متن کاملFrictional velocity-weakening in landslides on Earth and on other planetary bodies.
One of the ultimate goals in landslide hazard assessment is to predict maximum landslide extension and velocity. Despite much work, the physical processes governing energy dissipation during these natural granular flows remain uncertain. Field observations show that large landslides travel over unexpectedly long distances, suggesting low dissipation. Numerical simulations of landslides require ...
متن کاملTowards Landslide Predictions: Two Case Studies
In a previous work [1], we have proposed a simple physical model to explain the accelerating displacements preceding some catastrophic landslides, based on a slider-block model with a state and velocity dependent friction law. This model predicts two regimes of sliding, stable and unstable leading to a critical finite-time singularity. This model was calibrated quantitatively to the displacemen...
متن کاملFriction law and hysteresis in granular materials.
The macroscopic friction of particulate materials often weakens as the flow rate is increased, leading to potentially disastrous intermittent phenomena including earthquakes and landslides. We theoretically and numerically study this phenomenon in simple granular materials. We show that velocity weakening, corresponding to a nonmonotonic behavior in the friction law, [Formula: see text], is pre...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید
ثبت ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
دوره 113 37 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2016