Lecture 14 Questions: Weathering and Mass Movement

1. What is the difference between chemical and mechanical weathering. Give two examples of
each.
Mechanical weathering is a physical process breaking rocks into smaller particles,
while chemical weathering is a chemical transformation of rock into new compounds.
Eg. Mechanical weathering frost wedging, unloading, sheeting, biological activity
(root growth in cracks). Chemical weathering hydrolysis, dissolution, oxidation,
spheroidal weathering.
2. Which of the following scenarios would likely lead to fastest weathering?
a)
b)
c)
d)

Shallow vegetated slope around Peterborough, Ontario

Deforested steep slope in Amazon rainforest
Continuous permafrost on Axel Heiberg island (dry Arctic desert)
Prince Albert National Park in Saskatchewan

3. What are quickclays? Why are they highly susceptible to landslides?

Quickclays, known as Leda clays in North America, are clays deposited in glaciomarine environments. Because the salts have been leached out by freshwater
(hydrolysis), the stability of the clay decreases. In particular, disturbing of quickclays
with minor addition of water can lead to rapid drop in strength (internal cohesion) of
up to 30 times. This often leads to landslides.
4. Which of the following is not a factor that control the susceptibility to mass movement:
a) Amount of precipitation received by the area
b) Type of vegetation
c) Thickness of ozone layer above the location
d) Gradient
5. Arrange the mass movement types in order from fastest to slowest. Indicate the type of
material(s) associated with each movement.
a) Mudflow
b) Creep
c) Gelifluction
d) Avalanche
Avalanche (rock & debris), Mudflow (debris), gelifluction (debris), creep (rock & debris)
6. What are the Driving and Resisting Forces? Label the diagram including formulae for the
forces.
Driving force is a gravitational force acting on an object (eg. Soil/rock mass) in the
downward direction of the slope. Resisting force is a frictional force acting on an
object in the uphill direction of the slope. See lecture slides 24 to 28.

7. In the class demonstration we attempted to slide objects made of different materials down a
board. We raised one end of the board until the object began to slide and recorded this
height. There are two sides to the board: wood and sandpaper. The length of the board
used in the class demonstration was 79 cm. Below is the table of height measurements
made when different materials began to slide. Calculate the coefficient of friction for each of
the scenarios. Show how you derived the formula for fric. Does it matter that you do not
know the weights of the objects?
(Sidenote: Proper symbol for friction coefficient is ; however, this symbol is sometimes not
available in certain programs. In those cases, the letter is substituted for u. You could,
for example, see g/L written as ug/L or fric written as ufric or Ufric.)

Material

Height (cm)
Wood
Sandpaper
40
-

Foam
Plastic Phone

Coefficient of Friction
Wood
Sandpaper
0.59
-

13.5

66

0.17

1.5

Metal Case

56

0.09

1.01

Plastic Block

10

53

0.13

0.90

=
sin = cos
sin sin
=
=
cos cos

L=79cm
H from
table

D
sin=H/L

Once you calculate sin, you can either 1) figure out what is and calculate cos or
2) calculate the base of the triangle D and calculate cos = D/L or 3) realize that
sin/cos=tan=H/D

8. Youve been hired to help with snow removal in Boston this winter. The crews pile up the
snow on top of a hill that is 100 metres high and the slope is 300 metres long. The
coefficient of friction for snow on that hill is 0.4. Will the snow slide down the hill? What is the
maximum height of snow that can be placed on top of the hill before you cause a snow
slide?
1. Calculate the current angle of the hill. Sin=100/300=1/3 => =19.5
2. Tan=tan19.5=0.35 <0.4 so the snow will not slide downhill
3. Calculate the maximum angle of the hill before snow will start sliding down:
tan=0.4 => =21.8.
So, sin21.8=(hill height)/300
Hill height =sin21.8*300=111.4 m
Max snow height =111.4-100=11.4 m
9. You get to the hill in question 8 before Boston crews place any snow at the top and think
that this is an excellent tobogganing hill. Unfortunately, you have a crappy sled that has a
coefficient of friction of 0.45 with the snow. You weigh 50 kg. You get on the sled and .
Dont slide?! Why? With how much force would your friend have to continuously push you to
make you slide?
Fdriv= mgsin = 50kg*9.8m/s^2*sin19.5=163.6N
Fres=mgcos = 0.45*50kg*9.8m/s^2*cos=207.8N
Additional force required 207.8-163.6N=44.2N
10. Your company sends you to the Arctic to check on the conditions of a road built in a
permafrost region. You get to the site and see the following situation. A road is cut into a
side of a 35 degree hill with an embankment height of 5 metres. The top two meters of the
permafrost thaw during the summer. The coefficient of friction of thawed ground on frozen
ground is 0.80. In your professional opinion, is there a risk of a slide of thawed permafrost
onto the road?

road

5m

30 m
35 deg
While permafrost is frozen in the winter the tan=tan35=Height/30m
Height of the hill above road =tan35*30m=21m
If top two metres of permafrost thaw in the summer, the height will increase by 2m to 23m
Tan=23/30=0.767=>=37.4
Fdriv=mgsin=mg*sin37.4=0.61*mg

Fres=mgcos=0.8*mg*cos37.4=0.63*mg
Therefore Fres>Fdriv and thawed permafrost is not expected to slide.