NEHRP Clearinghouse
- Title
- Rainfall and Seasonal Movement of the Weeks Creek Landslide, San Mateo County, California.
- File
- PB2007114052.pdf
- Author(s)
- Wieczorek, G. F.; Reid, M. E.; Jodicke, W.; Pearson, C.; Wilcox, G.
- Source
- January 2007, 73 p.
- Identifying Number(s)
- USGS-DS-276
- Abstract
- Many different types of landslide occur in the Santa Cruz Mountains of San Mateo County, Calif. (Brabb and Pampeyan, 1972); most slope movement is triggered by strong earthquakes, heavy rainfall, or shoreline erosion. In this area, shallow landslides of loose soil and rock, which may transform into debris flows, commonly occur during individual storms when rainfall exceeds a threshold of intensity and duration (Cannon and Ellen, 1985; Wieczorek and Sarmiento, 1988; Wilson and Wieczorek, 1995). In contrast, deeper rotational and translational slides (Varnes, 1978) typically begin to move only after days to weeks or months of heavy rain. Once started, they can continue to move for months during and after a heavy rainfall season, for example, the Scenic Drive landslide at La Honda, Calif. (Jayko and others, 1998; Wells and others, 2005, 2006). Although the rainfall characteristics triggering rapid, shallow landslides have been documented (Wieczorek, 1987; Cannon and Ellen, 1988), the rainfall conditions leading to repeated deeper-seated slope movements are less well known.
- Keywords
- Seasonal variations; Shores; Soils; Debris; California; Rain; Landslides; Erosion; San Mateo County (California); Storms; Slopes; Earthquakes