Landslide Distribution Assignment

Ame Alexandra Plant • 301024848 •Geog 318

Introduction

The area of focus is the New Plymouth District in Taranaki on the west coast
of New Zealand’s North Island. The New Plymouth district has two areas
which have distinctly different landforms. The western section of the region
is dominated by volcanic depositional landforms. Patuha, Pouakai and Mount
Taranaki (the volcanoes are named successively from the coast inland) are
composite volcanic cones and the broad flat expanse surrounding the
mountains is the Taranaki ring plain(). The ring plain extends to the western
fringes of the hill country which characterises the eastern region. The hill
country is a product of regional subduction followed by uplift over time which
has created a bedrock of marine tertiary sediments(). The underlying
geology with soil type, slope and regional tectonics are the internal controls
which influence the shape of the lands surface and the occurrence of mass
movement processes(). Vegetation cover and local climate are external
factors which also influence the occurrence of mass movement(). Mass
wasting represents one of the most active processes in modifying the
landscape in areas of significant relief(). The properties of the surface
between the object and the slope (e.g. friction) and the physical properties of
the sliding object itself all contribute to the potential for mass wasting. The
object is more likely to move if friction between the object and the slope is
reduced(). This essay is concerned with the interplay of these internal and
external factors and how they govern the distribution of landslides across the
study area.

How is the distribution of erosion types related to

soil type?

How are landslides distributed over the area?

The area is characterized by many different types of erosion (Figure 1), for this
essay we are only concerned with mass wasting processes. As the term mass
wasting refers to all downhill movements of weathered material() the erosion type
was categorized into four simple sub-types; debris avalanche, earth flow, earth slip,
and soil slip. Visually evident in Figure 1, the mass movement processes are not
equally dispersed across the study area, nor do the mass movement types occur in
equal proportions. The western study area has a smaller percentage (<10%) of its
area altered by mass movement, and those areas that are characterized by erosion
are dominated by the sub-types debris avalanche and soil slip.

In contrast the hill country of the eastern study area and its western fringes have a
dominant proportion of its area (>90%) affected by all of the sub-types of mass
movement processes. In both the western and eastern study areas the mass
movement processes are dominated by debris avalanche flows (40% of the hill
country and 70% of volcanic cones) and soil slip (40% of the hill country and 30% of
volcanic cones). The remainder of the hill country exhibits around ten percent earth
flow processes and less than five percent localized earth slip erosion. The Taranaki
ring plain has no erosion data, presumed to be because of the long term soil
accumulation within this area augmented by the addition of tephra periodically from
volcanic eruptions(). The spatial distributions of the mass movements indicate that
some areas of the New Plymouth region are more susceptible to certain erosion
types than others and therefore underlying factors must be responsible for the
observed arrangement.

How is this distribution connected to soil type?

The underlying substrate which has been detached from its original position and
moved downhill either as a debris avalanche, earth flow, earth slip, or as soil slip
also varies in spatial distribution (Figure 2). The area covered by different soil types
correlates closely with the locations of mass movement. Within the eastern study
area illustrated in Figure 2 the sandy loam on sandstone (blue) only occurs in the
top north east corner between the 140 and 160 isohyets of rainfall. This soil type
predominantly produces debris avalanches (Figure 1 and Figure 2). The other debris
avalanche locations between sites ten and six are mostly a by-product of a silt loam
on mudstone soil (orange) with a lesser occurrence upon silt loam on
mud/sandstone (green). Similarly soil slip processes occur in the area of silt loam on
mudstone and silt loam on mud/sandstone. Earth flow on the other hand correlates
mostly with areas of no data and loam on ash (pink) soil. The localized occurrence of
earth slip occurs only upon sand on ash (pale green). In the western area debris
avalanches show a relationship with the clay loam on basalt soil (dark yellow), and
the occurrence of soil slip is linked with sandy loam ash soils (pale yellow).

The range of soil types can be divided into two broad categories based upon their
dry density, those soils with a dry density of greater than one, and those with a
density less than one illustrated below in Table 1. Silt loam on mudstone, silt loam
on mud/sandstone and sandy loam on sandstone all have a density greater than
one and are derived from tertiary marine beds(). The remaining soil types all have a
density less than one and are volcanic soils, developed from the pyroclastic and
epiclastic deposits from the Taranaki volcanoes().

T ABLE 1: THIS TABLE ILLUSTRATES SOME OF THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF THE DIFFERENT SOIL TYPES . THE ROWS HAVE BEEN
COLOUR CODED TO CLOSELY MATCH THE EQUIVAL ENT SOIL TYPES ON THE SOIL MAP (P RESTON AND BOY S , 2006)
Dry Hydr.
Plastic Liquid Plasticity
Densit Sand Silt Clay Conductivit
Limit Limit Index
y y
t m-3 % % % cm s-1
6 2
Site 7 94.1 116.5 6.08E-
Loam on Ash 0.78 6.1 0.3 78.02 38.51
1 .66 6 2 06
7 3
5 2
Site Stony Clay Loam on 8 94.3 123.3 1.65E-
0.64 7.5 8.6 83.22 40.12
2 Basalt .17 1 4 04
4 0
6 2
Site 6 92.3 147.7 189.7 6.71E-
Sandy Loam on Ash 0.51 3.6 1.7 41.98
3 .89 0 4 2 04
9 2
6 2
Site 7 94.6 109.1 158.1 9.89E-
Sand on Ash 0.60 3.1 3.6 48.93
5 .88 4 8 1 05
2 4
3 3 2
Site Silt Loam on 96.7 103.9 9.25E-
0.83 9.5 3.0 4.2 71.19 32.78
7 Mudstone 8 7 04
6 1 2
1 6 2
Site Silt Loam on 105. 8.32E-
1.04 6.5 2.4 6.1 32.47 41.16 8.69
8 Mudstone 09 03
8 1 1
2 5 2
Site Silt Loam on 106. 4.43E-
1.21 1.0 8.0 7.5 34.62 44.97 10.35
9 Mudstone/Ash 65 04
1 5 8
6 3
Site Sandy Loam on 7 108. 9.81E-
1.55 2.5 8.4 28.21 40.08 11.87
10 Sandstone .12 09 06
3 4
5 2
Site Clay/Silt Loam on 7 90.2 111.2 242.5 1.65E-
0.60 9.2 3.7 131.27
11 Sandstone/Ash .29 0 5 1 06
1 0

The relative proportions of sand, silt, and clay vary between the mudstone derived
soils and the volcanic soils and are better illustrated in Figure 3. The mudstone
derived soils have a high percentage of silt (62.4, 58 and 62.5 respectively), a high
clay percentage (26, 27.6, and 38.4) and a low percentage of sand (16.5, 21 and 7).
In contrast the volcanic soils have a high percentage of sand (ranging from 57.5 to
66), a low silt percentage (20 to 28) and a low percentage of clay (6.8 to 8).

The different textures of the soils determine their permeability and water holding
capacity. The finer grained mudstone-derived soils have numerous micropores
which can retain more water than the coarser grained volcanic soils(). The higher
water holding capacity of the mudstone derived soils can restrict infiltration rates
and increase the likelihood of the soil becoming saturated. In contrast the volcanic
soils have fewer but larger macropores which permit water to pass through more
quickly having a rapid infiltration rate but a lower water holding capacity().
Therefore the more porous volcanic soils are less likely to become saturated with
the addition of water. In such non saturated soils the surface tension of the water
tends to draw particles together. This increases cohesion and reduces soil
movement. In a saturated soil the pore water pressure forces the particles apart,
reducing friction and causing soil movement(). In addition saturated soil is heavier
than unsaturated soil. This reduces the shear strength of the soil. With progressive
saturation the shear strength will be reduced until it is smaller than the shear stress
acting upon the soil resulting in the failure of the layer().

The mudstone derived soils have a very low plastic limit (32.5%, 34.6% and 28.2%
respectively) and low liquid limits (41.1%, 44.9% and 40). The volcanic soils have
much higher plastic limits (>71%) and liquid limits (>103%) as illustrated in Table 1.
The low plastic and liquid values for the mudstone derived soils indicate that these
soil types require little moisture before they begin to act plastically illustrated in
Figure 4 below. These soils also have very low plasticity index values (8.7%, 10.4%
and 11.8%) over a narrow range. The index values show that little additional
moisture is needed for a soil behaving plastically to begin to behave like a liquid.
The soils within this sub group will therefore change from a solid to a liquid with
little change in the water content. The volcanic soils have a high plastic limit
(ranging from 71.2% to 147.7%), a high liquid limit (103.9% to 242.5%) and have
high plasticity values (32.7% to 131%) over a broad range and therefore require
large quantities of water before they change from a solid to a semi solid and finally
a liquid. The plasticity index of the soils can be used to access the likelihood of a soil
to swell .Table 2 implies that the mudstone derived soils are less likely to swell
whereas the volcanic soils are more likely to have shrink and swell tendencies().

LIQUID PLASTICITY EXPANSIONAL

LIMIT INDEX POTENTIAL

<50 <25 LOW

50-60 25-35 MODERATE

>60 > 35 HIGH

Therefore mass movement processes are more likely to occur within the mudstone
derived soils due to their low porosity, low infiltration rates and low plastic and
liquid limits. The physical properties of these soils (in part) result in the high natural
erosion rates of the hill country. The resistivity of the volcanic soils to weathering
and erosion is a product of the soils high infiltration rates and high plastic and liquid
limits. The physical properties of these soils results in the relatively low natural
erosion rates of the Taranaki ring plain and the lower flanks of the volcanoes. Soil
type is not the only factor responsible for the arrangement of mass movement
processes. The debris avalanches atop the volcanoes and the earth slip and earth
flow processes occur on volcanic soils which are inferred to be the more resistant of
the two soil TABLE 2: ILLUSTRATES THE RANGE OF LIQUID AND
types. It is therefore likely that other factors PLASTICITY INDEX
VALUES AND THEIR EXPANSIONAL
(in addition to those assessed above) are having an influence
POTENTIAL upon the distribution
of landslides.

What is of greater importance for landslide

occurrence: internal controls or external factors?

Internal Controls on landslide occurrence

As the height of the land increases so to do the amounts of precipitation (rainfall

isohyets are present on all maps), cloud cover and wind, while temperature
decreases(). Aspect is of an important local
factor with north-facing slopes of the area
generally being warmer and drier than those
facing south(). The slope angle is another
important factor and is illustrated in Figure 5.
The slope angle affects the drainage and depth
of soils(). On gentler slopes water moves more
slowly through the soil. This increases the
likelihood of water logging and peat
formation(). Peat formation occurs on areas of
the Taranaki ring plain (visible at sites six and
four) which has a slope angle of zero to four
point eight degrees. The steeper the slopes are
the faster the rate of throughflow and surface
run-off which can accelerate mass movement.
Soils on steep slopes are likely to be thin,
poorly developed and dry(). The hill country of
the eastern study area has slopes which are
predominantly greater than twenty three
degrees and are characterised by the four
mass movement processes. Debris avalanches
occur on slopes with an angle between thirty
two and eighty seven. Soil slip occurs over
a much greater range of hill slope angles between fourteen
and eighty seven degrees. Earth slide processes occur on
relatively shallow slope angles of four to twenty three, and earth FIGURE 6: A
MAP ILLUSTRATING THE PRESENCE flow
processes occur between zero to fourteen degrees (Figure 5). FAULTING WITHIN
THE REGION() It is apparent that the debris avalanches are
constrained to areas of high slope angle whereas earth flow and slip are constrained
to low slope angles. On top of the Taranaki volcanoes debris avalanches occur over
a much wider range of slope angle and soil slip occurs over slope angles of four to
fourteen.

The slopes of the region are influenced by the endogenic processes of tectonics. The
area is experiencing continued uplift at a rate of around 0.3 m/ka(). Seismicity
influences the regions landslide locations as mass movement processes can be
triggered by earthquakes. The majority of mass movements are aligned parallel to
the major faults of the region(). The volcanic activity of Mt Taranaki has produceded
a miniumum of five major eruptions which have been caused by cone collapse().
The vast volume of material produced during such events is reflected in the
extensive low lying (0-4) ring plain.

External factors influencing landslide occurrence

The nature of the land cover

changes dramatically across the
study area as illustrated in Figure 6.
The eastern high lands and western
mountains are generally covered
by scrub and indigenous
vegetation. With increasing altitude the presence of indigenous forest subsides and
a greater percentage of the land is covered by scrub. Low lying areas of land are
covered dominantly by horticultural and pastoral vegetation. The type of land cover
has a weak correlation with the types and occurrence of landslides. The small cap of
debris avalanche material atop Patuha is covered by approximately fifty percent
indigenous forest and fifty percent scrub land. The debris avalanche material on top
of Pouakai closely correlates with the presence of scrub vegetation. The debris
avalanche on the north eastern flank of Mt Taranaki is also closely correlated
with scrub land cover. The soil slip on the other hand occurs in areas of
indigenous vegetation cover. Horticultural and pastoral land cover predominates
over the Taranki ring plain upon which there is no erosion (at this scale of analysis).

The hill country to the east is covered by around forty five percent indigenous
forest, forty percent horticultural and pastoral land, around ten percent scrub land
and five percent is covered by planted forests. Broadly speaking the debris
avalanches are correlated with indigenous forest cover (Figure 1 and Figure 6). The
arrangement of soil slip correlates with a combination of indigenous forest cover
and horticultural and pastoral land. Earth flow and earth slip occur in areas covered
by horticultural and pastoral land and scrub. The slip and flow mass movements
occur dominantly within land that is being used for horticultural and pastoral
purposes indicating that anthropogenic land use changes are affecting the
geomorphological processes of the area (further detail of which is beyond the scope
of this essay).

The areas in which landslides are dominantly occurring are covered in part by
indigenous forests. If land cover had a strong controlling effect upon the
FIGURE 7: FOREST COVER CAN INFLUENCES HILLSOPE STABILITY occurrence of landslides it
would be safe to assume hat
THROUGH HYDOLOGICAL (1) INTERCEPTION AND EVAPORATION, (the presence of indigenous
forest would reduce the 2) ATTENUATION OF DELIVERY, 3) INCREASED ROUGHNESS,
occurrence of mass movement processes (Figure 4) MACROPORE INFILTRATION, 5)
EVAPOTRANSPIRATION) AND 7).The canopy of a forest can intercept and hold AND
MECHANICAL (5) ROOT REINFORCEMENT-COHESION, 6) ROOT considerable volumes of water
from where it may be 7) WEIGHT, 8) TRANSMISSION OF SHEAR SURFACE 9) TURF MAT)
evaporated. The rainfall that does penetrate the PROCESSES ().
canopy has a decreased velocity reducing the intensity f
of the fall. The roots and stems of the forest also decrease the velocity of over land
flow by creating a rough ground surface which also promotes infiltration. Roots of
the forest can provide a tensile strength when they bind and anchor regolith to the
underlying strata and also act as buttress to down slope movement(). The
distribution of landslide events in this region contradicts the above, indicating that
the internal factors (mentioned previously) dominate over the external controlling
factor of vegetation. The addition of excess water will destabilise slopes by the
addition of weight, destruction of cohesion between grains and reduction in friction.
Water will generally enter a hillslope system through rainfall, the magnitude and
frequency of which will influence the distribution of landslides. The largest amount
of rainfall, with an isohyet of three hundred and twenty precipitates at the summit
of Mount Taranaki. The amount of precipitation decreases the further east from this
location. The hill country of the eastern study area experiences less than half of the
rainfall that falls on top of Mount Taranaki with isohyets between one hundred and
forty and one hundred and sixty. As the mudstone derived soils are less well drained
than the volcanic soils they are more susceptible to failure when saturated by a
period of rainfall.
The largest quantity of rainfall falls upon the more resistant volcanic soils and the
least amount of rainfall on top of the less resistant mudstone soils. Mass movement
processes are greatest in the eastern study area which experiences the least
amount of rainfall. As with vegetation cover it appears that the internal factors have
more control on the distribution of landslides than the five year return period of
rainfall.

Conclusion

The study area is divided into two halves, the eastern area which is hill country and
the western area which is a succession of volcanoes and their ring plain. Landslides
cover more than ninety percent of the hill country and only ten percent of the land
in the western area. The highly susceptible to erosion hill country is underlain by
mudstone derived soils. The more resistant western area on the other hand is
underlain by volcanic soils. These volcanic soils are more resistant to erosion due to
their texture which allows effective infiltration producing soils that are well drained.
In contrast the mudstone derived soils have high silt and clay percentages creating
numerous micropores that are quickly filled with a relatively small amount of water
making the soils more susceptible to mass movement than the volcanic soils. The
distribution of landslides also correlates with slope angel. Those slopes with an
angel greater than twenty three degrees are prone to hill slope failure in contrast to
the more gentle slopes which have limited erosion. High slope angels are
characterised by debris avalanche flows and low slope angles are typified by earth
slips and flows. The highest slopes around Mount Taranaki receive the highest
amount of precipitation and the hill country in the eastern study area receives the
least. The occurrence of landslides therefore is not strongly correlated with the
distribution of rainfall. The areas of high landslide occurrence are covered mainly by
horticultural and pastoral land and indigenous forest. The occurrence of mass
movement processes upon anthropogenically altered land (deforestation) is self
explanatory but the occurrence of landslides in areas covered by indigenous forest
indicates that internal factors have a greater control upon the underlying substrate.

To conclude the distribution of erosion types is related to the texture and structure
of the underlying soil. The mudstone derived soils are more likely to generate
landslides than the volcanic soils. Internal factors are of greater importance for the
distribution of landslides as the soil type and slope angel closely correlate with the
location and nature of landslides. In contrast the external factors of rainfall and
vegetation influence the location of landslides but are of lesser importance in
comparison with internal factors as illustrated in the Figure 8.
References

Andrew P. Sturman, N. J. (2006). The Weather and Climate of Australia and New
Zealand. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Autor, R. (2004). Principles of Soil Physics. New York: CRC.

Chesworth, W. (2007). Encyclopedia of Soil Science . New York: Springer.

Crozier, M. J. (1986). Landslides. Wellington: Croom Helm.

Eyles, G. (1985). The New Zealand Land Resource Inventory Erosion Classification
Water and Soil. Publication 85, Soil Conservation Centre . Palmerston North: Ministry
of Works and Development.

Funnell, R. (2004, 10 6). Objective 4: Eastern margin of the Taranaki Basin.

Retrieved 4 15, 2009, from The Taranaki Fault:
http://www.gns.cri.nz/research/depositionalarchitecture/eastern_margin.html

Holden, J. (2005). An introduction to physical geography and the environment .

London: Prentice Hall .

Jumikis, A. R. (1983). Rock mechanics. University of Michigan: Trans Tech

Publications.

K. I. Peverill, L. A. (1999). Soil analysis: An Interpretation Manual . Csiro Publishing .

Landcare Research NZ Ltd. (2003). Land Environments of New Zealand (LENZ).

Underlying Data Layers CD version 1.o .

Micron. (2001, 8 30). Slope Failure. Retrieved 4 14, 2009, from

www.kean.edu/~csmart/Observing/12.%20Slope%20failure%20and%20landslides.p
df

Neall, V. (2008, 5 17). Land use and land use cover. (M. U. Institute of Natural
Resources, Ed.) Retrieved 04 14, 2009, from Volcanic Soils:
www.eolss.net/ebooks/Sample%20Chapters/C19/E1-05-07-13.pdf

P.F.J. Newsome, P. W. (2000). Land Resource Information System Spatial Data Layers.
Landcare Research NZ Ltd . Palmerston North.

Phillips, J. D. (2007). Controls on sediment export from the Waipaoa River basin,
New Zealand. Basin Research , Volume 19 Issue 2, Pages 241 - 252.

Preston, N. &. (2006). Factors controlling landslide occurrence in New Plymouth

District, Taranaki: rainfall thresholds and regolith properties. Victoria University of
Wellington: Contract Report prepared for NIWA Ltd.

Preston, N. (2009, 3 9). GEOG 318 - Geomorphic Systems. Retrieved 3 12, 2009,
from Water, Vegetation and Slope Stability:
http://blackboard.vuw.ac.nz/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_id=_2_1&url=%2fweb
apps%2fblackboard%2fexecute%2flauncher%3ftype%3dCourse%26id%3d_37827_1
%26url%3d

Prothero, D. (2003). Sedimentary geology: an introduction to sedimentary rocks and

stratigraphy. New York: W.H. Freeman.

Smith, I. E. (1998). Late Cenozoic volcanism in New Zealand. Auckland: Royal

Society of New Zealand.
Taranaki Regional Council. (2002, 5 7). Regional Soil Plan for Taranaki. Retrieved 04
11, 2009, from Soil conservation issues in the Taranaki region:
www.trc.govt.nz/publications/regional+plans/soil+plan/Soilcon-issueone.pdf

Taylor, R. (2008, 11 12). The Geography of New Zealand. Retrieved 4 14, 2009, from
The Past and Present Of New Zealand With Its Prospects for the Future:
http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-TayPast-t1-body-d10-d1.html

Thornton, J. (2003). Field guide to New Zealand geology . Auckland: Reed books.

Tomlinson, A. (1980). The Frequency of High Intensity Rainfalls in New Zealand .

Part 1: Water and Soil Technical Publication 19. National Water and Soil
Conservation Organisation . Wellington.

Viles, H. A. (2002). The student's companion to geography (2nd ed.). Wiley-

Blackwell.

Waugh, D. (2000). Soils. In D. Waugh, Geography and Inergrated Approach (pp. 238-
263). London: Nelson Thornes.

Willett, S. D. (2006). Tectonics, climate, and landscape evolution . New York:

Geological Society of America.