You are on page 1of 1

Crown The nearly undisturbed ground above main slope failure - When the failure occurs in such a way

scarp that the surface of sliding intersects the slope at or


Main scarp The steep natural ground formed above above its toe
the slide when it moved downhill. toe circle - if it passes through the toe of the slope
Minor scarp A secondary scarp created within the slope circle - if it passes above the toe of the slope.
main body of the slide as a result of secondary failures. base failure - When the failure occurs in such a way that
Body The displaced soil or rock. the surface of sliding passes at some distance below the
Flank The borders along the left and right sides of the toe of the slope
body where it meets the relatively undisturbed ground. Mass procedure - In this case, the mass of the soil above
Tension cracks Cracks that often appear in the crown. the surface of sliding is taken as a unit. This procedure is
They are roughly parallel to the top of the slope and are useful when the soil that forms the slope is assumed to
caused by tensile stresses in the ground. be homogeneous, although this is not the case in most
Spreads (lateral spreads) - are similar to transitional natural slopes.
slides, except that the blocks get separated and move Method of slices - In this procedure, the soil above the
apart as they also move outward. This mode of failure surface of sliding is divided into a number of vertical
reflects movement along a layer of very weak soil, and parallel slices. The stability of each slice is calculated
sometimes occurs during earthquakes when a zone of separately.
soil liquefies
-usually occur on gentle to
moderate slopes, and often terminate at a riverbank.
They can be very destructive because they often affect
large areas and move long distances. Spreads have been
responsible for failures of bridges and other important
structures
Flows - are downslope movements of the earth that
resemble the movement of a viscous fluid. They differ
from slides in that there are no well-defined blocks
moving along the shear surfaces
-often contain other objects, such as boulders
and logs that move with the fluidized earth. These are
called debris flows and can be very destructive
Debris flow - is a form of rapid mass movement in
which a combination of loose soil, rock, organic matter,
air, and water mobilize as a slurry that flows down
slope. Debris flows are commonly caused by intense
surface-water flow, due to heavy precipitation.
Debris avalanche - this is a variety of very rapid to
extremely rapid debris flow.
Earthflow - Earthflows have a characteristic hourglass
shape. The slope material liquefies and runs out,
forming a bowl or depression at the head.
Mudflow - is an earthflow consisting of material that is
wet enough to flow rapidly and that contains at least 50
percent sand-, silt-, and clay-sized particles. In some
instances, for example in many newspaper reports,
mudflows and debris flows are commonly referred to as
mud slides.
Creep - is the imperceptibly slow, steady, downward
movement of slope forming soil or rock. Movement is
caused by shear stress sufficient to produce permanent
deformation, but too small to produce shear failure.

You might also like