USGS Science⌕ Search

Geology topics

R.W. Jibson

Publications and source records attributed to R.W. Jibson.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS1996

The Springdale, Utah, landslide: An extraordinary event

The most dramatic geologic effect of the M-5.7 St. George, Utah earthquake of 2 September 1992 was the triggering of the 14,000,000-m3 Springdale, Utah landslide. The roughly 10 m of landslide movement destroyed three houses, threatened several condominiums, disrupted utility lines, and temporarily closed the southwest entrance to Zion National Park. The seismic triggering of this landslide is puzzling because its distance from the earthquake epicenter, 44 km, is much greater than the farthest distance (18 km) at which similar landslides have been triggered in worldwide earthquakes of the same magnitude. Other Colorado Plateau earthquakes also have produced landslides far beyond worldwide distance limits, which suggests that regional variations in ground-shaking attenuation may require different landslide-triggering distance limits for different seismotectonic regions. Slope stability analysis and historical records of landslide movement suggest that the Springdale landslide was only slightly above limit-equilibrium conditions at the time of the earthquake. Dynamic stability analysis using Newmark's permanent-displacement method indicates coseismic landslide displacement of only 1-8 cm; this rather modest displacement probably induced enough deformation in the montmorillonitic clays along the failure surface to reduce shear strength and destabilize the slide, which continued to move for several hours after the earthquake.

Utah↗
USGS1994

Some observations of landslides triggered by the 29 April 1991 Racha earthquake, Republic of Georgia

On 29 April 1991 an M s 7.0 earthquake occurred in the Racha region of the Great Caucasus Mountains in north-central Republic of Georgia. The earthquake occurred on a thrust fault striking roughly east-west and dipping about 20° to 45° northward; focal depth was 17 ± 2 km. We observed no surface fault rupture, but the earthquake caused extensive structural damage to the many unreinforced stone buildings in the area, and at least 114 people were killed. Many landslides were triggered in a 2500-km 2 epicentral area, and they caused much of the structural damage and at least half the fatalities. We observed the following six types of landslides (in order of decreasing abundance): rock falls, debris slides, slumps, earth slides, rock block slides, and rock avalanches. The types of landslides triggered by the earthquake are controlled primarily by lithology and geologic structure. Enigmatic landslide processes associated with this earthquake include (1) delays of several days between earthquake shaking and significant landslide movement, probably caused by changes in groundwater conditions; (2) small co-seismic displacement of landslides active at the time of the earthquake, a possible result of viscoplastic damping of the seismic shaking; and (3) somewhat unusual failure geometries related to local topography and geologic structure.

Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America↗
USGS1994

Rates and processes of bluff recession along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Illinois

Examined bluffs along 30 km of the Lake Michigan shoreline from Wilmette to Waukegan, Illinois, to measure amounts and variation in retreat rates and to determine what factors control rates and processes of retreat. The predominant bluff-retreat process is shallow- to intermediate-depth translational landsliding triggered by heavy rainfall and wave erosion at the base of the bluff; rotational slumping and shallow creep and earth flow also are common. Using historical maps and airphotos, we measured amounts of bluff-top retreat at 300 locations. For two time periods, 1872-1937 and 1937-1987, rates of retreat vary from 10 to 75 cm/yr between discrete segments of bluffs (defined by lithology) and between time periods for a given bluff segment. The average retreat rates for the entire area, however, do not vary significantly between the two time periods and are approximately 20-25 cm/yr. Longterm average and short-term extreme lake levels and precipitation also do not vary significantly between the two periods, and thus local temporal variations in retreat rate cannot be attributed to these factors. Shore protection built to date may have altered the spatial distribution of retreat rates in the area but has had little overall effect on the average regional retreat rates. -from Authors

Journal of Great Lakes Research↗
USGS1993

Analysis of the seismic origin of landslides: Examples from the New Madrid seismic zone

By analyzing two landslides in the New Madrid seismic zone, we develop an approach for judging if a landslide or group of landslides of unknown origin was more likely to have formed as a result of earthquake shaking or in aseismic conditions. The two landslides analyzed are representative of two groups of land-slides that previous research on the geomorphology and regional distribution of landslides in this region indicates may have been triggered by the 1811-1812 New Madrid earthquakes. Slope-stability models of aseismic conditions show that neither landslide is likely to have formed aseismically even in unrealistically high ground-water conditions. Dynamic stability analysis using Newmark's method shows that both slides probably would have experienced large inertial displacements during earthquake shaking similar to that which occurred in 1811-1812; these displacements are large enough that catastrophic failure is highly probable. Thus, the stability analyses are consistent with other lines of evidence that these landslides formed as a result of strong earthquake shaking during the 1811-1812 earthquakes. Our analysis yields a general relationship between Newmark landslide displacement, earthquake shaking intensity, and the critical acceleration of a landslide. Using this relationship, we estimate the minimum shaking intensities required to trigger the types of landslides studied: an m b = 5.8 or M = 5.9 earthquake is the lower bound threshold at zero epicentral distance that could trigger catastrophic movement of typical block slides in the New Madrid seismic zone; for earth flows, m b = 5.4 or M = 5.3 is the threshold earthquake.

Geological Society of America Bulletin↗
USGS1992

Bluff recession rates along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Illinois

For two time periods, 1872-1937 and 1937-1987, rates of retreat vary from 10 to 75 cm/yr between discrete segments of bluffs (defined by lithology) and between time periods for a given bluff segment. The average retreat rates for the entire area, however, do not vary significantly between the two time periods and are approximately 20-25 cm/yr. The temporally constant regional retreat rates and the regular shape of the local shoreline indicate that a long-term uniform rate of retreat prevails and that local variations in rates balance out through time to produce long-term parallel (in map view) bluff retreat in the area.

Illinois↗
USGS1989

Statistical analysis of factors affecting landslide distribution in the new Madrid seismic zone, Tennessee and Kentucky

More than 220 large landslides along the bluffs bordering the Mississippi alluvial plain between Cairo, Ill., and Memphis, Tenn., are analyzed by discriminant analysis and multiple linear regression to determine the relative effects of slope height and steepness, stratigraphic variation, slope aspect, and proximity to the hypocenters of the 1811-12 New Madrid, Mo., earthquakes on the distribution of these landslides. Three types of landslides are analyzed: (1) old, coherent slumps and block slides, which have eroded and revegetated features and no active analogs in the area; (2) old earth flows, which are also eroded and revegetated; and (3) young rotational slumps, which are present only along near-river bluffs, and which are the only young, active landslides in the area. Discriminant analysis shows that only one characteristic differs significantly between bluffs with and without young rotational slumps: failed bluffs tend to have sand and clay at their base, which may render them more susceptible to fluvial erosion. Bluffs having old coherent slides are significantly higher, steeper, and closer to the hypocenters of the 1811-12 earthquakes than bluffs without these slides. Bluffs having old earth flows are likewise higher and closer to the earthquake hypocenters. Multiple regression analysis indicates that the distribution of young rotational slumps is affected most strongly by slope steepness: about one-third of the variation in the distribution is explained by variations in slope steepness. The distribution of old coherent slides and earth flows is affected most strongly by slope height, but the proximity to the hypocenters of the 1811-12 earthquakes also significantly affects the distribution. The results of the statistical analyses indicate that the only recently active landsliding in the area is along actively eroding river banks, where rotational slumps formed as bluffs are undercut by the river. The analyses further indicate that the old coherent slides and earth flows in the area are spatially related to the 1811-12 earthquake hypocenters and were thus probably triggered by those earthquakes. These results are consistent with findings of other recent investigations of landslides in the area that presented field, historical, and analytical evidence to demonstrate that old landslides in the area formed during the 1811-12 New Madrid earthquakes. Results of the multiple linear regression can also be used to approximate the relative susceptibility of the bluffs in the study area to seismically induced landsliding.

Kentucky, Tennessee↗
USGS1982

Geotechnical properties of ash deposits near Hilo, Hawaii

Two holes were hand augered and sampled in ash deposits near Hilo, Hawaii. Color, water content and sensitivity of the ash were measured in the field. The ash alternated between reddish brown and dark reddish brown in color and had water contents as high as 392%. A downhole vane shear device measured sensitivities as high as 6.9. A series of laboratory tests including grain size distribution, Atterberg limits, X-ray diffraction analysis, total carbon determination, vane shear, direct shear and triaxial tests were performed to determine the composition and geotechnical properties of the ash. The ash is very fine grained, highly plastic and composed mostly of gibbsite and amorphous material presumably allophane. The ash has a high angle of internal friction ranging from 40-43? and is classified as medium to very sensitive. A series of different ash layers was distinguished on the basis of plasticity and other geotechnical properties. Sensitivity may be due to a metastable fabric, cementation, leaching, high organic content, and thixotropy. The sensitivity of the volcanic ash deposits near Hilo is consistent with documented slope instability during earthquakes in Hawaii. The high angles of internal friction and cementation permit very steep slopes under static conditions. However, because of high sensitivity of the ash, these slopes are particularly susceptible to seismically-induced landsliding.

Open-File Report↗