Landslides from massive rock slope failure : [proceedings of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Massive Rock Slope Failure - New Models for Hazard Assessment, Celano, Italy, 16-21 June 2002

This unique volume contains papers based on presentations and discussions at the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Massive Rock Slope Failure; New Models for Hazard Assessment held in Celano, Italy in June 2002. 32 papers by 64 engineers, geologists, and geomorphologists from 16 countries address the issue of landslides from massive rock slope failure and associated phenomena (landslide tsunamis and landslide dams). Authors include some of the world’s leading authorities on the subject. Amongst the thematic topics discussed are global frequency, impacts on society, analysis of initial rock slope failure, monitoring of rock slope movement, analysis and modeling of post-failure behaviour, volcanic landslides, and influences of massive rock slope failure on the geomorphological evolution of mountain regions. Regional contributions include reports on rockslides and rock avalanches in Norway, western Canada, the Andes of Argentina, the Karakoram Himalaya, the European Alps, the Appennines, and the mountains of Central Asia. Rockslides and rock avalanches in the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union are discussed in detail for the first time in an English-language book. These landslides include the 1911 Usoi rockslide, that dammed 75 km-long Lake Sarez, and the 1949 Khait rock avalanche that may have killed up to 28,000 people. Both landslides were earthquake-triggered and both are located in Tajikistan. An additional highlight is a detailed description and analysis of large-scale artificial rock avalanches triggered by underground nuclear explosions during the testing programme of the former Soviet Union. The volume is a contribution to defining the state-of-the-art in hazard assessment for massive rock slope failure and to global knowledge of the occurrence of landslides from massive rock slope failure in time and space. It is dedicated to the memory of noted Italian engineering geologist Professor Edoardo Semenza (1927-2002). Front Matter....Pages I-XV Front Matter....Pages I-XV LANDSLIDES FROM MASSIVE ROCK SLOPE FAILURE AND ASSOCIATED PHENOMENA....Pages 03-52 SINGLE-EVENT LANDSLIDES RESULTING FROM MASSIVE ROCK SLOPE FAILURE: CHARACTERISING THEIR FREQUENCY AND IMPACT ON SOCIETY....Pages 53-73 Front Matter....Pages I-XV ON THE INITIATION OF LARGE ROCKSLIDES: PERSPECTIVES FROM A NEW ANALYSIS OF THE VAIONT MOVEMENT RECORD....Pages 77-84 FROM CAUSE TO EFFECT: USING NUMERICAL MODELLING TO UNDERSTAND ROCK SLOPE INSTABILITY MECHANISMS....Pages 85-101 GRAVITATIONAL CREEP OF ROCK SLOPES AS PRE-COLLAPSE DEFORMATION AND SOME PROBLEMS IN ITS MODELLING....Pages 103-110 MODELS AVAILABLE TO UNDERSTAND FAILURE AND PRE-FAILURE BEHAVIOUR OF LARGE ROCK SLOPE MOVEMENTS: THE CASE OF LA CLAPIÈRE, SOUTHERN ALPS, FRANCE....Pages 111-127 NUMERICAL MODELLING OF ROCK SLOPES USING A TOTAL SLOPE FAILURE APPROACH....Pages 129-138 THE ROLE OF TOPOGRAPHIC AMPLIFICATION ON THE INITIATION OF ROCK SLOPES FAILURES DURING EARTHQUAKES....Pages 139-154 Front Matter....Pages I-XV APPLICATION OF GROUND-BASED RADAR INTERFEROMETRY TO MONITOR AN ACTIVE ROCKSLIDE AND IMPLICATIONS FOR EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT....Pages 157-173 MONITORING AND ASSESSING THE STATE OF ACTIVITY OF SLOPE INSTABILITIES BY THE PERMANENT SCATTERERS TECHNIQUE....Pages 175-194 Front Matter....Pages I-XV FORECASTING RUNOUT OF ROCK AND DEBRIS AVALANCHES....Pages 197-209 CONTINUUM NUMERICAL MODELLING OF FLOW-LIKE LANDSLIDES....Pages 211-232 ANALYSIS OF POST-FAILURE BEHAVIOUR....Pages 233-242 ROCK AVALANCHE OCCURRENCE, PROCESS AND MODELLING....Pages 243-266 MOBILITY OF ROCK AVALANCHES TRIGGERED BY UNDERGROUND NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS....Pages 267-284 INFERENCES FROM THE MORPHOLOGY AND INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF ROCKSLIDES AND ROCK AVALANCHES RAPID ROCK MASS FLOW WITH DYNAMIC FRAGMENTATION:....Pages 285-304 MORPHOLOGY AND INTERNAL STRUCTURE OF ROCKSLIDES AND ROCK AVALANCHES: GROUNDS AND CONSTRAINTS FOR THEIR MODELLING....Pages 305-326 Front Matter....Pages I-XV THE FLIMS ROCKSLIDE: HISTORY OF INTERPRETATION AND NEW INSIGHTS....Pages 329-356 ROCK AVALANCHE AND MOUNTAIN SLOPE DEFORMATION IN A CONVEX DIP-SLOPE: THE CASE OF THE MAIELLA MASSIF, CENTRAL ITALY....Pages 357-376 SLOW-MOVING DISINTEGRATING ROCKSLIDES ON MOUNTAIN SLOPES....Pages 377-393 Front Matter....Pages I-XV EDOARDO SEMENZA: THE IMPORTANCE OF GEOLOGICAL AND GEOMORPHOLOGICAL FACTORS IN THE IDENTIFICATION OF THE ANCIENT VAIONT LANDSLIDE....Pages 395-406 FAILURE MECHANISMS AND RUNOUT BEHAVIOUR OF THREE ROCK AVALANCHES IN THE NORTH-EASTERN ITALIAN ALPS....Pages 407-427 Front Matter....Pages I-XV LARGE MODERN COLLAPSES ON THE ACTIVE VOLCANOES OF KAMCHATKA: CAUSES AND MECHANISM OF FORMATION....Pages 431-444 ASSESSING MASSIVE FLANK COLLAPSE AT STRATOVOLCANOES USING 3-D SLOPE STABILITY ANALYSIS....Pages 445-458 CATASTROPHIC VOLCANIC LANDSLIDES: THE LA OROTAVA EVENTS ON TENERIFE, CANARY ISLANDS....Pages 459-472 Front Matter....Pages I-XV ROCK SLOPE FAILURES IN NORWEGIAN FJORD AREAS: EXAMPLES, SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION AND TEMPORAL PATTERN....Pages 475-496 OF COMPLEX INTERACTIONS OF LITHOLOGIC, STRUCTURAL AND TOPOGRAPHIC BOUNDARY CONDITIONS, CLIMATE CHANGE AND ACTIVE TECTONICS ROCK AVALANCHING IN THE NW ARGENTINE ANDES AS A RESULT....Pages 497-520 ROCK AVALANCHES WITH COMPLEX RUN OUT AND EMPLACEMENT, KARAKORAM HIMALAYA, INNER ASIA....Pages 521-550 DISSECTED ROCKSLIDE AND ROCK AVALANCHE DEPOSITS; TIEN SHAN, KYRGYZSTAN....Pages 551-570 Front Matter....Pages I-XV LANDSLIDE-DRIVEN EROSION AND TOPOGRAPHIC EVOLUTION OF ACTIVE MOUNTAIN BELTS....Pages 573-590 IMPACTS OF LANDSLIDE DAMS ON MOUNTAIN VALLEY MORPHOLOGY....Pages 591-616 Front Matter....Pages I-XV MASSIVE ROCK SLOPE FAILURE : PERSPECTIVES AND RETROSPECTIVES ON STATE-OF-THE-ART....Pages 619-662 Discusses the rockslides and rock avalanches in the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union. This work also includes a detailed description and analysis of large-scale artificial rock avalanches triggered by underground nuclear explosions during the testing programme of the former Soviet Union