LANDSLIDES FROM MASSIVE ROCK SLOPE FAILURE AND ASSOCIATED PHENOMENA

Landslides from massive rock slope failure (MRSF) are a major geological hazard in many parts of the world. Hazard assessment is made difficult by a variety of complex initial failure processes and unpredictable post-failure behaviour, which includes transformation of movement mechanism, substantial changes in volume, and changes in the characteristics of the moving mass. Initial failure mechanisms are strongly influenced by geology and topography. Massive rock slope failure includes rockslides, rock avalanches, catastrophic spreads and rockfalls. Catastrophic debris flows can also be triggered by massive rock slope failure. Volcanoes are particularly prone to massive rock slope failure and can experience very large scale sector collapse or much smaller partial collapse. Both these types of failures may be transformed into lahars which can travel over 100 km from their source. MRSF deposits give insight into fragmentation and emplacement processes. Slow mountain slope deformation presents problems in interpretation of origin and movement mechanism. The identification of thresholds for the catastrophic failure of a slow moving rock slope is a key question in hazard assessment. Advances have been made in the analysis and modeling of initial failure and post-failure behaviour. However, these studies have been retrodictive in nature and their true predictive potential for hazard assessment remains uncertain yet promising.