The Geology of Pacific Northwest Streams, Lakes, & Deserts

Lab 6: Landslides and Slope Stability

Name:____________________________________________________Date:_________________

PartI.VectorAddition
Forcesareusuallyrepresentedbyvectors;graphicallywedrawtheseasarrows.Thelengthofthearrow
representstheamountofforce,andthewhilethedirectionofthearrowisthedirectionoftheforce.So
agravitationalforceisrepresentedbyanarrowdownward,andthelargerthearrowthelargerthemass
oftheobject.

Asmallmassobjecthasasmallerarrow.Inthiscasethearrowonthesecondobjectistwiceaslong
showingtheobjectistwiceasheavy.

Twovectorsareequaliftheyhavethesame
magnitudeanddirection,regardlessofwhether
theyhavethesamestartingpoints.

(A=B)

Vectorsareaddedgraphicallybyplacingtheinitial
pointofonevectoronthefinalpointoftheother.
Thisissometimesreferredtoasthe"TiptoTail"
method.

Noticethatyoucouldalsohavemovedthetailof
AtobeattheheadofBandstillgetthesame
result:

(A+B=C)

ThelengthofAplusthelengthofBdoesNOTequalthelengthofC.Vectorsarenotjustlengths,but
lengthsANDdirections!

 The Geology of Pacific Northwest Streams, Lakes, & Deserts

Lab 6: Landslides and Slope Stability
Justasyoucanaddvectors,youcandividethemintomultipleforces.Thisiscalledresolvingavector.
Intheaboveexample,youcandivideCintotwocomponentsAandB.

Whendealingwithlandslides,weareinterestedintheinterplay
betweentwoforces,friction(F),whichworksagainstobjects
movingdownslope,andthepullofgravitydownslope(Gd).To
findGdwemustresolvethegravitationalforce(G)intotwo
components,oneperpendiculartotheslope(Gp)andonedown
theslope(Gd).

.1.Whichofthefollowingvectorsareequal?

.2.DrawthevectorcreatedbyaddingvectorsAandB.

.3.WhatisthelengthofvectorA?WhatisthelengthofvectorB?WhatisthelengthofvectorC?(Usea
rulerandmeasureinmillimeters.)

.4.WhatvectormustbeaddedtovectorAtogetvectorC?Drawitin.Whatisitslength?

 The Geology of Pacific Northwest Streams, Lakes, & Deserts

Lab 6: Landslides and Slope Stability
.5.Markthefollowingdiagramsofhousesonslopesasstableunstableorjustabouttoslide.

.6.Onthefollowingdiagrams,resolvethegravitationalforce(G)intoadownslope(Gd)anda
perpendicular(Gp)force.Inthefirstexample,thedashedlinesshowthedirectionoftheGdandGp
forces.YoujustneedtodrawthetwovectorssothattheyadduptoG.Intheothers,youwillneedto
makesurethedirectionsandlengthsarecorrect.Pleaselabelthevectorsyoudraw.

.7.TheGvectorsinthepreviousexampleareallthesamelength,40mm.

Ifthehouseweighs40,000pounds,theneachmillimeteroflengthofthevectorinthisdiagramequals
howmanypounds?_____________

HowlongwouldtheGvectorbeifthehousewas60,000pounds?_____________

MeasureGdineachdiagraminproblem6.Howmanypoundsofforcearepullingthehousedownhillin
eachcase?

.8.Aboring(drilling)intothegroundexaminesthefrictionontheslopebelowthehouseandfindsthat
thefrictionisequalto21,000lbs.Drawthisforceintothepicturesabove,thenlabeleachfigureas
stable,unstable,orjustabouttoslide.

.9.Adeveloperbuysaplotoflandwitha25slope.Thefrictionintheslopeismeasuredat60,000
kilograms.Drawadiagramofthisandfigureoutwhatthemaximumweightahousecanbeonthis
property.(BONUS!Showhowyoucancalculatethisusingtrigonometryinsteadofgraphically.)stableor
justabouttoslide.

 The Geology of Pacific Northwest Streams, Lakes, & Deserts

Lab 6: Landslides and Slope Stability
PartII.FactorofSafety
A.AssessingSlopeStabilityUsingFactorofSafety

Engineeringgeologistsoftenusetherelationsbetweenshearstress(thecomponentofstressthat
operatesinthedownslopedirection,Fs)andshearstrength(thepropertiesthatresistshearstress,i.e.,
cohesion+normalstress(FN))tocarryoutaslopestabilityanalysis.Theratioofshearstrengthtoshear
stressiscalledthefactorofsafety.Wecanconsiderthisratioforthesimplifiedcaseofaplanarfailure
onaninfiniteslope
aspicturedbelow.
Whenthisratiois
greaterthan1,
shearstrengthis
greaterthanshear
stressandtheslope
isconsideredstable.
Whenthisratiois
closeto1,shearstrengthisnearlyequaltoshearstressandtheslopeisunstable.

Inthisexercise,youwillconsiderthedifferentvariablesthatgointocalculatingthefactorofsafety.You
willthenassesswhichvariablesarelikelytochangeovertherelativelyshorttimescaleofweekstoyears
andwhichvariablesareintrinsictotheslopeorthematerialmakinguptheslope.Theprimarygoalof
thisexercisewillthenbetocarryoutasensitivityanalysis.Thisanalysiswillallowyoutodetermine
whichvariablesmostaffectthefactorofsafety(andthusslopestability)whentheychange.

.1.Writeouttheequationforthefactorofsafetyanddefineallofthevariables.TheNumeratoristhe
shearstrengthandthedenominatoristheshearstress.

 The Geology of Pacific Northwest Streams, Lakes, & Deserts

Lab 6: Landslides and Slope Stability
.2.YouownageotechnicalengineeringfirmincentralCaliforniaandyourcompanyhasbeenhiredto
conductaslopestabilityanalysis.Considera10.0mthickmassofregolithsittingontopofabedrock
surfacewithaslopeof14degrees.Ahomeislocatedatthetopofthisslope(andsetbackfromthe
edgeonly20m).Uponaninitialvisit,youdeterminethattheregolithisunsaturated.Youalsoestimate
thefollowingadditionalparametersforthissite:

regolithcohesion=1100N/m2
regolithangleofinternalfriction=15
densityofregolith=2200kg/m3
(densityofwater=1000kg/m3)

.a.Calculatecurrentvaluesforshearstrengthandshearstressonthisslope.Showyourwork.

.b.WhatisthevaluefortheFactorofSafety?Wouldyouconsidertheslopecurrentlystable?Explain
youranswer.

.c.Whatadvicewouldyougivetothehomeownersregardingthesafetyoftheirhome?What
remediationcanyousuggestifanyisneeded?

 The Geology of Pacific Northwest Streams, Lakes, & Deserts

Lab 6: Landslides and Slope Stability
PartIII.AngleofRepose
Inthisactivityyouwillmeasurethemaximumslopeatwhichgrainsarestable(angleofrepose).Youwill
explorehowdifferentpropertiesofthesedimentinfluenceslopestabilityandleadtodifferentslope
failures(massmovements).

Materials:

Panortray
Sedimentsamples:drysand,dampsand,angulargravel,roundedgravel
protractor
smallscoop
containerofwater

Instructions(Readthesecarefullyoryouwillhavetoredoyourresponses!):

1. Slowlypourastreamofdrysandintothecenterofyourpanortray.Avoiddisturbingyourpile
andcarefullymeasurethemaximumangle,orsteepestslope,ofthedrysand.Thisslopeis
calledtheangleofrepose.Recordyouransweronthedatasheet(1).
2. Addafewgrains(apinch)ofdrysandtothetopofyourpileandseehowthegrainsmove.
Repeat,observingthemovementagain.Describethedownwardmovementofthedrysandon
thedatasheet(2).Notewhetherthesandgrainsmoveindividuallyorinlargegroups.
3. Putallyourdrysandbackintoitscontainer.Sweepyourtrayclean(usethegarbagecans).
4. Repeattheexperimentusingdampsand.Placeapileofdampsandinthecenterofyourpanor
tray.Youwillprobablyhavetoscoopthesandinsteadofpourit.Youcangentlypackthepile
together,butuseonlygentlepressure.Whatisthemaximumangleofthedampsand?(3)
5. Addapinchofthedampsandtothetopofthepileandseehowthegrainsmove.Repeat,
observingthemovementagain.Describethedownwardmovementofthedampsandonthe
datasheet(4).Notewhetherthegrainsmoveindividuallyorinlargegroups.
6. Withthecup,slowlypourwaterontothepileofdampsandandobservewhathappenstothe
sandpileasthesandbecomessaturated.Canthesaturatedsandmaintainitsangleofrepose?
(5).
7. Again,cleanupyourmessandanswerquestions(6)(9).
8. Slowlypourtheroundedgravelintothecenterofyourtrayorpan.Makesureyourpileislarge
enoughtogetthetrueangleofrepose!Carefullymeasuretheangleofrepose,without
disturbingthepile.Recordangle(10).Pourtheroundedgravelbackintothecontainer.
9. Repeattheexperimentusingtheangulargravelandrecordtheresults(11).Answerquestions
(12and13).

.1.Drysandangleofreposeis____________degrees.
.2.Drysandmovement:

 The Geology of Pacific Northwest Streams, Lakes, & Deserts

Lab 6: Landslides and Slope Stability
.3.Dampsandangleofreposeis___________degrees.
.4.Dampsandmovement:

.5.Canthesaturatedsandmaintainasteepangleofrepose?
.6.Whichsedimentconditiondryordamppermitssteeperslopeangles?
.7.Whichsedimentconditiondryordamplendsitselftothemostdramatic,quickest,andtherefore
mostdangerousstyleofslopefailure?
.8.Explainwhyyouthinkthedampsandcanmaintainahigherangleofreposethanthedrysand.

.9.Supposeahouseisbuiltonaslopemadeofsediment.Theslopeisslightlygreaterthantheangleof
repose.Isthishouseatriskfrommassmovement?

.10.Roundedgravelangleofreposeis_______degrees.
.11.Angulargravelangleofreposeis________degrees.
.12.Comparetheangleofreposeforthedrysandandthedrygravel.Whatimpactdoesgrainsizehave
ontheangleofrepose?

.13.Comparetheangleofreposefortheroundedgravelandtheangulargravel.Whatimpactdoesgrain
shapehaveontheangleofrepose?

Usetheresultsofyourexperimentsandthegraphsbelowtoanswerthefollowingquestions.

 The Geology of Pacific Northwest Streams, Lakes, & Deserts

Lab 6: Landslides and Slope Stability

Sourceofdata:CityofSeattle,1999.SeattleLandslideStudy

.14.IntheSeattlearea,whichfourmonthsexperiencethegreatestamountofrainfall?

.15.IntheSeattlearea,whichfourmonthsexperiencethehighestnumberoflandslides?

.16Thinkingabouttheresultsofyourexperiments(especiallyinStep6),explainwhythepeaklandslide
activityoccurslaterthanthepeakrainfallactivity.

 The Geology of Pacific Northwest Streams, Lakes, & Deserts

Lab 6: Landslides and Slope Stability
TheUSGShasrecentlydevelopedandtestedamodelthatestablishesaprecipitationthresholdforthe
PugetSoundAreaasitrelatestolandslides.Inthisarea,landslidestendtooccuriftheprecipitation
amountfora15dayperiodexceedsaspecifiedlevel,andthat15dayperiodisfollowedby3daysofrain
atcertainlevels.ThegraphbelowshowsthePrecipitationThresholdforAnticipatingtheOccurrenceof
Landslides.

Source:Chleborad,A.F.,(2003)PreliminaryEvaluationofaPrecipitationThresholdforAnticipatingtheOccurrenceofLandslides
intheSeattle,Washington,Area.U.S.GeologicSurveyOFR03463.http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2003/ofr03463/ofr030463.html

.17.Placeandlabelapointonthegraphforthefollowingdays

 The Geology of Pacific Northwest Streams, Lakes, & Deserts

Lab 6: Landslides and Slope Stability
.18.Explainwhythe15dayand3daycumulativeprecipitationwouldbecriticalindeterminingwhen
landslidesmightoccur.

.19.Whymightlandslidesnotoccurafterevenseveralinchesofrainin3daysiftheamountofrainin
thepreceding2weekshasbeenlow?

.20.Whywouldlandslidesnotoccureveniftherehadbeenalargeamountofrainintheprevious2
weeks,butlittleraininthelast3days?

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 The Geology of Pacific Northwest Streams, Lakes, & Deserts

Lab 6: Landslides and Slope Stability
Howtomeasuretheangleofrepose
Youcanmeasureheangleoneoftwoways,withaprotractororbyusingsimpletrigonometry.

Tomeasurewithaprotractor,carefullylineupthecenterpointoftheprotractorwiththeedgeofthe
pileanddeterminetheangle.

Aneasierwaytomeasuretheangleistousetrigonometry.Asyoucanseefromabove,thepileofsand
canbethoughtofas2righttriangles.Forarighttriangle,

TAN(A)=h/r,whereA=theangle,h=heightofsedimentpile,andr=radiusofsedimentpile

Tofindtheangle,youneedtotaketheinversetangentofbothsides.

A=TAN1(h/r)

FormostcalculatorsyouwillneedtofirstdividetheheightbytheradiusandthenpresstheTAN1
buttononyourcalculator.Ifthenumbercomesouttosomethingthatdoesntmakesense,makesure
yourcalculatorisindegreemode,notradianmode!

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