1. Factors influencing the slope instability of the Mussoorie-Bhitarli area, Garhwal Himalaya.
- Author
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Luirei, Khayingshing, Mehta, Manish, Iqpal, Atif, Nazir, Safana, and Kothyari, Girish Ch.
- Subjects
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LANDSLIDES , *TECTONIC landforms , *SLOPE stability , *RAINFALL , *THRUST - Abstract
Himalaya is one of the youngest mountain systems with a fragile ecosystem due to continued collision tectonics. The endogenic and exogenic processes in the Himalaya have made landslide one of the critical surface processes continually sculpting the Himalaya. Constituting the hanging wall of the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT), the south-facing slope of the Mussoorie Syncline is prone to various slope movements. Several old and active landslides are taking place along the Dehradun-Bhitarli Chhoti-Mussoorie road section. The main causative factors for landslides are tectonics, slopes, and human interference. The highly sheared bedrocks and high numbers of joint sets in the bedrocks are the signatures of the successive phases of tectonic uplift along the MBT imprinted on the bedrocks. The intersecting joint sets developed in the bedrocks have formed wedges, and these wedges have facilitated the recurrence of several landslides. Wedge failure, sliding (bedrock and debris), and toppling are the primary types of failure mechanisms, of which wedge failure-induced landslides accounts for the maximum. The south-facing slopes are very steep and are also one of the contributing factors to the instability of the hill slope. Anthropogenic activities have further aggravated slope stability as the roads are constructed across steep slopes and highly sheared rocks. The onslaught of rains easily destabilizes the weak rocks during monsoon, where the region receives a good amount of rainfall. The landslides occur primarily during or right after monsoon when the slope-forming materials become saturated with water. Recent tectonic activity along the MBT is evident from tectonic landforms such are uplifted terraces, linear fault traces along the MBT, and triangular facet cones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2023
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