LANDSLIDE CLASSIFICATION
OBJECTIVE: Participants will be able to categorize or classify types of landslides
CONTENTS:
A. Landslide Classification
1. Landslides are classified on the basis of different characteristics. There are various classification schemes which have been proposed. In general, schemes vary because of the purpose for classification.
2. Applying the terms from an accepted landslide classification facilitates communication and aids in developing valid generalizations about the occurrence of different classes of landslides.
3. Some researchers question the usefulness of classification, given the variation between individual failures or the lack of quantitative measures to define different types.
4. One of the most commonly used landslide classifications is Varnes (1978) which primarily uses the type of movement and nature of the material. Geometry, movement, and other characteristics are employed to further define discrete subcategories.
B. Field Evidence for Classification
1. Field classifying should always employ a standard classification scheme which is clearly identified. Varnes (1978) is widely applied for this purpose.
2. The type of material involved in the movement is the initial evidence needed.
3. The nature of the movement and the effect on the slide mass is also primary information needed in classification.
RECOMMENDED READINGS:
Coates, D. R., (1977) Landslide Perspectives, in Coates, D. R. (ed.), Landslides, Reviews in Engineering Geology, Vol. III, Geological Society of America, Boulder, Colorado, p. 3-28.
Hansen, M. J., (1984) Strategies for classification of landslides, in Brunsden, D. and D. B. Prior (eds.), Slope Instability , John Wiley & Sons, p. 1-25.
Nemcok, A., J. Pasek, J. Rybar, (1972) Classification of landslides and other mass movements, Rock Mechanics, Vol. 4, p. 71-78.
Varnes, D. J., (1978), Slope Movement Types and Processes, in Schuster, R. L.and R. J. Krizek (eds.), Landslides-Analysis and Control, Special Report 176, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., p. 12-33.