Plastic and viscous shear displacements of a deep and very slow landslide in stiff clay formation

Abstract

Deep and superficial displacements have been measured since 2005 in a slow active landslide that has occurred in a stiff clay formation of the Italian Southern Apennines. Recently, new inclinometer casings have been installed to achieve further information on the displacement field. In this paper, standard inclinometer profiles and fixed-in-place probe data are analysed over time. New data confirm previous hypotheses on geometry and kinematics and add more information on the viscous component of displacements. The mechanism of movement, in most of the track, essentially corresponds to sliding localized on a shear surface, consistently with stress and strength distribution. However, locally, internal viscous deformations also occur, especially in the weathered and softened zones of the landslide, and contribute to the soil discharge continuity. Viscous displacements can be interpreted by a simplified rheological model based on the Bingham equation. The residual shear strength has been considered as the creep threshold value and the dynamic viscosity has been considered dependent on the stress level, on the basis of long term direct shear tests under controlled shear stresses which were carried out in laboratory.