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Surface displacement expression of progressive failure in a sensitive clay landslide observed with long-term UAV monitoring

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Abstract

River bank slopes incised into Champlain Sea Clay are particularly susceptible to highly retrogressive landslides such as flows and lateral spreads. The concept of progressive failure indicates that a growing failure surface requires some finite deformation prior to instability. However, given the brittleness exhibited by sensitive clays, it is currently unclear whether the pre-failure displacements are sufficiently large to exceed the detection limit of current surface displacement techniques prior to failure. A 5-year monitoring program using UAV-based photogrammetric and conventional total station surveying of a network of ground control markers on an 11 m high slope inclined at 3H:1 V was conducted to assess whether surface displacement measurements can serve as an indicator of potential expansion of a progressive failure surface. After initiation of the monitoring program in 2009, surface displacements indicated a slow accumulation of deformation towards the crest scarp leading up to retrogression events in the form of flow failures in 2012 and 2013. This data indicates that, for the case of episodically retrogressing landslides in the Champlain Sea Clay within the urban boundary of the City of Ottawa, sufficient pre-failure deformations exist to be measurable precursors to progressive failure.

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Data available from corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge the enthusiastic support of Eva Katic from the National Capital Commission to gain academic access to Greenbelt lands to monitor of the long-term behavior of sensitive clay landslides in the Green’s and Mud Creek watersheds.

Funding

Funding for this research was provided by ConeTec Investigations Ltd and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) under the Discovery Grant program awarded to W.A. Take.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada

    Michael J. Bentley, Jonathan M. Foster, Joshua J. Potvin & W. Andy Take

  2. Department of Geography and Planning, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada

    George Bevan

  3. ConeTec Investigations, Ltd., Burnaby, BC, Canada

    James Sharp & David J. Woeller

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  1. Michael J. Bentley
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  2. Jonathan M. Foster
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  3. Joshua J. Potvin
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  4. George Bevan
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  5. James Sharp
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  6. David J. Woeller
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  7. W. Andy Take
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Correspondence to W. Andy Take.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Bentley, M.J., Foster, J.M., Potvin, J.J. et al. Surface displacement expression of progressive failure in a sensitive clay landslide observed with long-term UAV monitoring. Landslides 20, 531–546 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-022-01995-4

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