A pore-pressure diffusion model for estimating landslide-inducing rainfall

Journal of Geology
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Abstract

Many types of landslide movement are induced by large rainstorms, and empirical rainfall intensity/duration thresholds for initiating movement have been determined for various parts of the world. In this paper, I present a simple pressure diffusion model that provides a physically based hydrologic link between rainfall intensity/duration at the ground surface and destabilizing pore-water pressures at depth. The model approximates rainfall infiltration as a sinusoidally varying flux over time and uses physical parameters that can be determined independently. If destabilizing pore pressures can be estimated, then the model enables the development of a stability criterion defining destabilizing rainfall intensity/duration conditions. Using a comprehensive data set from an intensively monitored landslide, I demonstrate that the model is capable of distinguishing movement-inducing rainstorms.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title A pore-pressure diffusion model for estimating landslide-inducing rainfall
Series title Journal of Geology
DOI 10.1086/629714
Volume 102
Issue 6
Year Published 1994
Language English
Publisher University of Chicago Press
Description 9 p.
First page 709
Last page 717
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