Investigation on soil-rock interface in bedding landslides

Bedding landslides are widely distributed in sediments with inclined structures. Numerous field observations show that their movements mainly localize at the basal shear zone, particularly at the interface between the sliding mass and the bedrock. While they undergo creeping activities or accelerated runaway, the kinematics of bedding landslides are greatly regulated by the mechanical behaviour of soil-rock interfaces. For some areas with dramatic changes of the hydrological scenarios, the mechanical regimes of bedding landslides are coupled with the hydrological regimes, giving rise to considerable uncertainties in the landslide processes. Especially, these hydrological perturbations can alter the stress state within the basal shear zone, resulting in sudden or delayed pulses of acceleration, or long periods of sustained and steady displacement rates, or runaway rupture leading to a catastrophic collapse. However, the interplay of the basic physical mechanisms underlying these processes on the field scale of bedding landslides remains poorly understood. Therefore, a comprehensive investigation on soil-rock interface in bedding landslides is necessary to improve our understanding of the origin of catastrophic failure. In this project, the mechanical behaviour of soil-rock interface will be investigated by employing laboratory experiments and advancing a numerical model. The failure process of bedding landslides along soil-rock interfaces will be simulated based on support from both physical and numerical modelling. Further, robust numerical models will be developed for predicting bedding landslides and similar geohazards.