Landslide faults and tectonic faults, analogs?: The Slumgullion earthflow, Colorado

Recent geophysical observations of landslide movement support the hypothesis that processes involved in landslide faulting are analogous to those that operate in crustal-scale faulting. Relative to crustal faulting studies, quantitative seismic, geodetic, and creep measurements of landslide deformation may be made in a very short time with readily available instrumentation and at relatively minimal expense. Our results indicate that the displacement of landslide material occurs along discrete faults exhibiting a combination of brittle failure, indicated by slide quakes and creep events, and as stable sliding observed as steady-state creep. Although slide quakes were observed, a more steady-state failure process of relieving accumulating strain is indicated.