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Copyright of Canadian Geotechnical Journal is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

A major mining slope failure occurred in July 2012 on the East wall of the LAB Chrysotile mine in Canada. The major consequence of this failure was the loss of the local highway (Road 112), the main commercial link between the region and the Northeast USA. LiDAR scanning and subsequent analyses were performed and enabled quantifying the geometry and kinematics of the failure area. Using this information, this paper presents the back analysis of the July 2012 failure. The analyses are performed using deterministic and probabilistic limit equilibrium analysis and finite-element shear strength reduction analysis modelling. The impact of pit water infilling on the slope stability is investigated. The impact of the mining activity in 2011 in the lower part of the slope is also investigated through a parametric analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A railroad crosses the coastal Gascons rockslide, in Quebec, Canada. This study improves the understanding of the rockslide's failure mechanism and post-failure behaviour responsible for the deformation in the railroad. The slide is an asymmetrical wedge failure of 410,000 m, in rocks made up of centimetre-scale beds of nodular calcilutite alternating with sandstones and limestone. The post-failure stage of the rockslide is characterised by continuous movement of blocks with speeds ranging from 6 to 110 mm/year. The main water table is just below the sliding surface, but precipitation and snowmelt can raise it above the sliding surface in the upper part of the slide. We propose a model for the rockslide, its failure mechanism, geometry and hydrogeology to provide a baseline for interpreting the near-real-time data collected since 2009. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: At least three major landslide events formed the submarine and subaerial Betsiamites (Québec, Canada) landslide complex and mobilized an estimated total volume of 2000million m3 (2km3). Linkage between offshore and onshore geophysical investigations with borehole data and in situ testing allows reconstruction of the architecture of the Betsiamites River delta area and leads to the identification of the main failure events. The submarine scar of the Betsiamites landslide complex may have resulted from a first failure, dated at about 9250cal BP, which mobilized a minimum volume of 200million m3. A second landslide dated at 7250cal BP mobilized a volume of 1300million m3 over an area of 54km2. The Betsiamites submarine landslide event dated at 7250cal BP left the largest scar yet identified on the St. Lawrence estuary seafloor. Furthermore, this paper demonstrates that the subaerial scar of the Betsiamites landslide complex is a result of the Colombier landslide event, which was initiated by the 1663 earthquake and involved four successive failure phases: one submarine and three subaerial. The February 5th 1663 earthquake triggered a submarine landslide event, which reached the shoreline, and led in a short period of time successively to two subaerial flowslides in sensitive clayey material and a subaerial lateral spread. The four failure phases mobilized a possible total volume of about 530million m3 over an area of 20km2. The Colombier landslide event is among the largest documented historic landslides in Canada. The presence of submarine scars left by the early Holocene events acted as predisposition factors for the development of the failure while the earthquake of 1663 was the main triggering factor of the first submarine failure. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Canadian Geotechnical Journal is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract: A complex submarine geomorphology was revealed from multibeam bathymetry and seismic reflection surveys conducted between 2001 and 2007 in the Lower St. Lawrence Estuary offshore Betsiamites River, Quebec, Canada. In this paper, we describe the submarine morpho-sedimentology of an area of ∼500 km2 with focus on the consequences of four mass movement events. The general morpho-sedimentology of the area and submarine features resulting from mass movement processes, channel erosion and gas seepage are described. A spatio-temporal sequence for the occurrence of the mass movements and a chronology for the failures are established. We propose dates for four of the observed mass movement deposits. A buried paraglacial debris flow deposit is dated as older than 9280 cal BP, whereas a major landslide scar characterized by two topographic depressions on the shelf and a sediment lobe in the Laurentian Channel were dated around 7250 cal BP. Morphological observations and sediment core analyses allow us to identify a least two different recent (i.e., less than 500 yr old) debris flow accumulations associated with two recent earthquakes: (1) the AD 1663 (M∼7) and (2) AD 1860 (M∼6) or AD 1870 (M∼6.5) earthquakes. In addition to a complex geomorphology influenced by mass movements, we have identified several regions on the shelf and on the Laurentian Channel with evidence of pockmarks, which could potentially influence submarine slope stability in the Estuary. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Copyright of Canadian Geotechnical Journal is the property of Canadian Science Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In 1996 a major flood occurred in the Saguenay region, Quebec, Canada, delivering several km3 of sediment to the Saguenay Fjord. Such sediments covered large areas of the, until then, largely contaminated fjord bottom, thus providing a natural capping layer. Recent swath bathymetry data have also shown that sediment landslides are widely present in the upper section of the Saguenay Fjord, and therefore, should a new event occur, it would probably expose the old contaminated sediments. Landslides in the Upper Saguenay Fjord are most probably due to earthquakes given its proximity to the Charlevoix seismic region and to that of the 1988 Saguenay earthquake. In consequence, this study tries to characterize the permanent ground deformations induced by different earthquake scenarios from which shallow sediment landslides could be triggered. The study follows a Newmark analysis in which, firstly, the seismic slope performance is assessed, secondly, the seismic hazard analyzed, and finally an evaluation of the seismic landslide hazard is made. The study is based on slope gradients obtained from EM1000 multibeam bathymetry data as well as water content and undrained shear strength measurements made in box and gravity cores. Ground motions integrating local site conditions were simulated using synthetic time histories. The study assumes the region of the 1988 Saguenay earthquake as the most likely source area for earthquakes capable of inducing large ground motions in the Upper Saguenay region. Accordingly, we have analyzed several shaking intensities to deduce that generalized sediment displacements will begin to occur when moment magnitudes exceed 6. Major displacements, failure, and subsequent landslides could occur only from earthquake moment magnitudes exceeding 6.75. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Champlain Sea clays of Eastern Canada are incised by numerous rivers. Their slopes have been modified by landslides: on the Chacoura River near Trois-Rivières (Quebec), several large landslide scars, more or less recent, are visible. The role of erosion (channel incision, lateral channel migration and erosion of slopes due to agricultural drainage) as a trigger of these landslides is important. The aim of this study is to understand how erosion and landslides are related to valley development. From a detailed analysis of aerial photographs and DEMs, a map of the phenomena has been drawn by identifying various elements such as landslides, limits of the slope, position of the channel, and the area covered by forest. It is shown that channel change and erosion are strongly linked to landslides by the fact that they change the bank morphology in an unstable way. A slide in itself is a natural way for the slope to achieve stability. But when it occurs in a stream, it creates a disturbance to the stream flow enhancing local erosion which may change the river path and generate more erosion downstream or upstream resulting in more slides. Cross-valley sections and a longitudinal profile show that landslides are a major factor of valley formation. It appears that the upper part of the Chacoura River valley is still unaffected by landslides and has V-shaped sections. The lower part has been subject to intense erosion and many landslide scars can be seen. This shows that the valley morphology is transient, and that future activity is more likely to occur in the upper part of the river. Therefore the identification of areas prone to erosion will help determine the possible location of future large landslides just like the ones that occurred in the lower part. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: High-resolution seismic profiles along with physical and sedimentological properties of sediment cores from the Saguenay (Eastern Canada) and Reloncavi (Chile) Fjords allowed the identification of several decimeter to meter-thick turbidites. In both fjords, the turbidites were associated with large magnitude historic and pre-historic earthquakes including the 1663AD (M>7) earthquake in the Saguenay Fjord, and the 1960 (M 9.5), 1837 (M~8) and 1575AD major Chilean subduction earthquakes in the Reloncavi Fjord. In addition, a sand layer with exoscopic characteristics typical of a tsunami deposit was observed immediately above the turbidite associated with the 1575AD earthquake in the Reloncavi Fjord and supports both the chronology and the large magnitude of that historic earthquake. In the Saguenay Fjord, the earthquake-triggered turbidites are sometimes underlying a hyperpycnite associated with the rapid breaching and draining of a natural dam formed by earthquake-triggered landslides. Similar hyperpycnal floods were also recorded in historical and continental geological archives for the 1960 and 1575AD Chilean subduction earthquakes, highlighting the risk of such flood events several weeks or months after main earthquake. In both fjords, as well as in other recently recognized earthquake-triggered turbidites, the decimeter-to meter-thick normally-graded turbidites are characterized by a homogeneous, but slightly fining upward tail. Finally, this paper also emphasizes the sensitivity of fjords to record historic and pre-historic seismicity. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]