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UBC Theses and Dissertations
Hydrologic controls of land sliding in Tsitika Basin, Vancouver Island Davidson, Scott Charles
Abstract
Landslides are common occurrences in steep mountainous terrain of the Pacific Northwest. Many resource industry activities occur in locations and at times when there is potential for instability to occur. Limiting the exposure of workers during periods of high risk is seen as one way of minimizing worker fatalities. In order to minimize the exposure of workers it is necessary to understand the linkages between rainfall epsiodes, groundwater fluctuations, and landslide events. An intensive groundwater and precipitation study was conducted in Russell Creek basin within the Tsitika River basin on Vancouver Island. This basin is the site of a Ministry of Forests study examining fine sediment contributions from logging and natural sediment sources. The results of this study show that slope instability can result from either high intensity rainfall or rain-on-snow meltwater production. Instability associated with high intensity rainfall occurs in rainstorms with approximately a two-year return period. Instability associated with rain-on-snow meltwater production can be associated with storms with return periods of less than a year. Thresholds for instability need to be refined to allow for the development of an effective shutdown system for forest harvesting operations. Measurement of groundwater response during storm events showed that there is rapid response of the groundwater system to precipitation inputs. Under high intensity rainfall, the response may be considered almost instantaneous. Modeling of the groundwater responses based on observed groundwater records showed that it is possible to closely model the response of the groundwater system. The key use of calibrated models for groundwater response is their ability to correctly predict the timing of groundwater peaks rather than estimation of the exact magnitude of the response.
Item Metadata
Title |
Hydrologic controls of land sliding in Tsitika Basin, Vancouver Island
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Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
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Date Issued |
1998
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Description |
Landslides are common occurrences in steep mountainous terrain of the Pacific
Northwest. Many resource industry activities occur in locations and at times when there
is potential for instability to occur. Limiting the exposure of workers during periods of
high risk is seen as one way of minimizing worker fatalities. In order to minimize the
exposure of workers it is necessary to understand the linkages between rainfall epsiodes,
groundwater fluctuations, and landslide events.
An intensive groundwater and precipitation study was conducted in Russell Creek
basin within the Tsitika River basin on Vancouver Island. This basin is the site of a
Ministry of Forests study examining fine sediment contributions from logging and natural
sediment sources.
The results of this study show that slope instability can result from either high
intensity rainfall or rain-on-snow meltwater production. Instability associated with high
intensity rainfall occurs in rainstorms with approximately a two-year return period.
Instability associated with rain-on-snow meltwater production can be associated with
storms with return periods of less than a year. Thresholds for instability need to be
refined to allow for the development of an effective shutdown system for forest
harvesting operations.
Measurement of groundwater response during storm events showed that there is
rapid response of the groundwater system to precipitation inputs. Under high intensity
rainfall, the response may be considered almost instantaneous. Modeling of the
groundwater responses based on observed groundwater records showed that it is possible
to closely model the response of the groundwater system. The key use of calibrated
models for groundwater response is their ability to correctly predict the timing of
groundwater peaks rather than estimation of the exact magnitude of the response.
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Extent |
9661349 bytes
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Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
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Language |
eng
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Date Available |
2009-05-22
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Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
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Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
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DOI |
10.14288/1.0088565
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URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
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Graduation Date |
1998-11
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Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
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Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
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Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.