Landslides or slope movements can be classified in many ways. There are many attributes
used as criteria for identification and classification including:
 | Rate of movement: This ranges from very slow creep
(millimetres/year) to extremely rapid (metres/second). |
| Type of material: Landslides are composed of bedrock, unconsolidated sediment
and/or organic debris. |
| Nature of movement: The moving debris can slide, slump, flow or fall. |
Common landslide types are:
|
 |
Slide: movement parallel to planes of weakness and occasionally
parallel to slope. |
 |
Creep: gradual movement of slope materials |
 |
Slump: complex movement of materials on a slope; includes
rotational slump. |
 |
Topple: the end-over-end motion of rock down a slope. |
 |
Fall: material free falls. |
 |
Flow: viscous to fluid-like motion of debris. |
 |
Torrent::a sporadic and sudden channelized discharge of water
and debris. |
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 |
Landslides in British Columbia was originally produced as
Information Circular 1993-7 by the BC Geological Survey Branch of the B.C. Ministry of
Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources in cooperation with the B.C. Ministry of Health, the B.C.
Ministry of Transportation and Highways, the B.C. Ministry of Environment, Lands and
Parks, the B.C. Ministry of Forests, the B.C. Provincial Emergency Program, and with the
assistance of the Geological Survey of Canada. |
Copies are available from:
Publications
Office
BC Geological Survey
Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources
P.O. Box 9333. Stn Prov Gov't
Victoria, B.C.
V8W 9N3
This page was updated:
March 08, 2006. |
