A REVIEW OF METHODS USED TO INVESTIGATE STRUCTURAL CONTROL ON SLOPE INSTABILITY

Abstract

Many features and phenomena, such as slope morphology, climate, hydrogeological and hydrological conditions, and material strength, contribute to slope instability. One of the most important preconditioning factors, particularly in rock slopes, is structural control. Structural control includes any tectonic processes or features that may influence landslide initiation, movement, or termination, including in situ stress conditions, discontinuities, faults, folds, and foliation. Structures affect not only the failure geometry, such as headscarp shape, but also deposit volume, morphology, block size, damage, and emplacement behaviour. Structural features and processes thus influence all aspects of landslide behaviour, from the development of unstable conditions to deposition. Interestingly, mass movement studies can also highlight structures, and contribute to detailed mapping of previously unrecognised faults, folds, and other features. Methods such as regional lineament mapping, traditional fieldwork, photography and photogrammetry, LiDAR surveys, InSAR interpretation, and numerical modelling are used to analyse structural features and processes related to slope instability. This short paper presents an overview of these methods and highlight their applications in a case study. structural control,