Four-dimensional surface motions of the Slumgullion landslide and quantification of hydrometeorological forcing

This is a Preprint and has not been peer reviewed. The published version of this Preprint is available: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16617-7. This is version 3 of this Preprint.

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Authors

Xie Hu, Roland Bürgmann, William H. Schulz, Eric Jameson Fielding 

Abstract

Landslides modify the natural landscape and cause fatalities and property damage worldwide. Quantifying landslide dynamics is challenging due to the stochastic nature of the environment. With its large area of ~1 km2 and perennial motions at ~10-20 mm per day, the Slumgullion landslide in Colorado, USA, represents an ideal natural laboratory to better understand landslide behavior. Here, we use hybrid remote sensing data and methods to recover the four-dimensional surface motions during 2011-2018. We refine the boundaries of an area of ~0.35 km2 below the crest of the prehistoric landslide. We construct a mechanical framework to quantify the rheology, subsurface channel geometry, mass flow rate, and spatiotemporally dependent pore-water pressure feedback through a joint analysis of displacement and hydrometeorological measurements from ground, air and space. Our study demonstrates the importance of remotely characterizing often inaccessible, dangerous slopes to better understand landslides and other quasi-static mass fluxes in natural and industrial environments, which will ultimately help reduce associated hazards.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.31223/osf.io/vpjb7

Subjects

Earth Sciences, Geomorphology, Geophysics and Seismology, Other Earth Sciences, Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Keywords

Dates

Published: 2019-12-09 22:00

Last Updated: 2020-06-03 18:35

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License

CC BY Attribution 4.0 International