QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION & HOMEWORK

Topic: Mass Wasting

Homework/discussion questions: Explain!

• Would you live on a slope? What level of risk from mass wasting is acceptable to you?
•  How would you know if the slope risk was assessed accurately?  What are the characteristics of a good slope risk assessment?
• What should be done by people and communities in areas prone to slope failure to prepare for the hazard and prevent catastrophe?

To get to those answers, your group should discuss the following questions as well as the homework question. (Note: These are NOT due as part of you homework, but you can and should use answers to these questions as part of your explanation.)

• What factors impact the stability of a slope?

1. In what ways are slope failures predictable?
2. To what other hazards are slope failures linked?
3. What are the potentially disastrous consequences of mass wasting?
4. In what ways has human activity made slope hazards catastrophic?
5. How can the hazardous consequences of mass wasting be minimized?

RESOURCES

Read:

• Text: Chapter 7
• Landslides Along the Illinois River Valley South and West of LaSalle and Peru, Illinois

Video:

The Science of Post-Wildfire Debris Flows
(video set to begin at 12:00)

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• Search Google of Yahoo News for "landslide"
  • add California or La Jolla to the search
  • search for information on landslide dams in China

• US Geological Survey
  • Landslides: http://landslides.usgs.gov/
  • Landslide Inventory Map
• NASA: https://gpm.nasa.gov/landslides/projects.html
• Grand Teton National Park Landslide Inventory Map
• The Landslide Blog (new home)
  • The (old) Landslide Blog (pre August 2023 archive)
• Centers for Disease Control: https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/landslides.html
• American Red Cross: Landslides
• National Geographic Society
  • Avalanches
  • natural disaster videos: check out "avalanches" and "landslides and more"
• Global Landslide Catalog:http://ojo-streamer.herokuapp.com/
• Dave's Landslide Blog