Location
San Diego, California
Presentation Date
27 May 2010, 4:30 pm - 6:20 pm
Abstract
Himalayas offer a good opportunity to study landslides in hard terrains. The region is a well established seismic region of Asia where earthquakes are common occurrence. The on going plate motion and its collision with Asian plate is the main triggering factor for landslides, but there are geological factors that make the slopes susceptible for landslides to be triggered during rains. The Yatra routes of Char Dham the four pilgrimage centers where millions of Hindus go each year for salvation and heaven abode have to face road blocks each rainy season. The border road organization the pioneer organization looking after the roads and their maintenance is beset with so many difficulties and unforeseen geological surprises. The terrain is very rugged and inaccessible. The Himalayas are the highest mountain system on earth and the gravity plays a very important role in landslides. Debris from weak and fragile rocks that are highly fractured due to intense folding and faulting make this terrain very fragile, weak and susceptible to landslides. Therefore a need arose to identify such slopes that are susceptible to landslide hazards. Hierarchical classification of terrain makes the basis of classification of terrain in to slope categories and these basic maps called the facet maps form the foundation of database for hazard assessment. Factors like distance from fault, rock type, density, drainage and fracture density, relief and relative relief and geotechnical factors like dip-slope relationship are taken in ot account to arrive at a landslide hazard Zonation map. Example of such Zonation is presented. The work has a long term approach to landslides and not merely remedial measures in isolation. The identification of slopes vulnerable to slides is one of the main key outcome of the research that has been carried out for the last 20 years or more.
Department(s)
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering
Meeting Name
5th International Conference on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics
Publisher
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Document Version
Final Version
Rights
© 2010 Missouri University of Science and Technology, All rights reserved.
Creative Commons Licensing
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Document Type
Article - Conference proceedings
File Type
text
Language
English
Recommended Citation
Pachauri, A. K., "Landslide Hazard Mapping and Assessment in Himalayas" (2010). International Conferences on Recent Advances in Geotechnical Earthquake Engineering and Soil Dynamics. 22.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/icrageesd/05icrageesd/session04b/22
Included in
Landslide Hazard Mapping and Assessment in Himalayas
San Diego, California
Himalayas offer a good opportunity to study landslides in hard terrains. The region is a well established seismic region of Asia where earthquakes are common occurrence. The on going plate motion and its collision with Asian plate is the main triggering factor for landslides, but there are geological factors that make the slopes susceptible for landslides to be triggered during rains. The Yatra routes of Char Dham the four pilgrimage centers where millions of Hindus go each year for salvation and heaven abode have to face road blocks each rainy season. The border road organization the pioneer organization looking after the roads and their maintenance is beset with so many difficulties and unforeseen geological surprises. The terrain is very rugged and inaccessible. The Himalayas are the highest mountain system on earth and the gravity plays a very important role in landslides. Debris from weak and fragile rocks that are highly fractured due to intense folding and faulting make this terrain very fragile, weak and susceptible to landslides. Therefore a need arose to identify such slopes that are susceptible to landslide hazards. Hierarchical classification of terrain makes the basis of classification of terrain in to slope categories and these basic maps called the facet maps form the foundation of database for hazard assessment. Factors like distance from fault, rock type, density, drainage and fracture density, relief and relative relief and geotechnical factors like dip-slope relationship are taken in ot account to arrive at a landslide hazard Zonation map. Example of such Zonation is presented. The work has a long term approach to landslides and not merely remedial measures in isolation. The identification of slopes vulnerable to slides is one of the main key outcome of the research that has been carried out for the last 20 years or more.
