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The Cheam Slide : a study of the interrelationship of rock avalanches and seismicity

University of British Columbia

It is being increasingly realized that there exists an interrelationship between seismicity and rock slope failures. Possible chronological clustering of rock avalanches in the Fraser River corridor was investigated to determine if a common seismic trigger existed. It was determined that the events occurred throughout the Holocene indicating that either these slides were not seismically triggered or that seismic triggers were chronologically unrelated. Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquakes are believed to have occurred throughout the Holocene (Adams, 1989; Atwater, 1987; Hull, 1987). The ages of the earthquakes were compared to the ages of rock avalanches in the Fraser River corridor, but no distinct correlation could be made. The lack of distinct correlation between large rock avalanches in Fraser Corridor and paleoseismicity, and the absence of event clustering, indicated either seismicity was not a factor, or that these rock avalanches may not have been susceptible to seismic triggering. A stability study of Cheam Slide was performed to investigate the susceptibility of large rock avalanches to earthquake triggering. The results suggested that the seismic susceptibility of a slope is closely linked to the displacement the slope must undergo for failure to take place. A large critical displacement may render the slope relatively insensitive to seismic triggering, while a low critical displacement may result in high seismic susceptibility. A comparison was made between the effects of seismic and pore pressure related triggering. The results indicated that a high critical displacement slope, which is close to failure, may be more likely to fail by high pore pressures than by seismic loading. Low critical displacement slopes which are stable enough to surviving hydrodynamic loading may, because of their susceptibility to seismic triggering, pose the greatest hazard.

Text

2010-11-02

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/29721

Geological Sciences

University of British Columbia

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