Geotechnical characteristics of residual soils in rainfall-triggered landslides in Rize, Turkey

2020-01-01
Üyetürk, Celal Emre
Huvaj Sarıhan, Nejan
Bayraktaroğlu, Hilmi
Huseyinpasaoglu, Mustafa
© 2019 Elsevier B.V.Every year, hundreds of landslides are triggered by rainfall in the city of Rize, northern Turkey, resulting in casualties and devastating social and economic consequences. Although these landslides have been observed every year, for a long time in Rize, there is limited data on characteristics of these soils in the literature. Characterizing these soils is of paramount importance for numerical modeling of the landslide mechanisms, for stabilization works, for landslide susceptibility mapping and for establishing rainfall intensity-duration thresholds. This study seeks to investigate the properties of residual soils decomposed from volcanic rocks that are involved in rainfall-triggered, shallow (< 5 m thick) and rapid landslides of the flow type. Disturbed and undisturbed soil samples are taken from a total of 12 landslide sites to evaluate index properties, physical and mechanical properties and the mineralogy. Also, in-situ unit weights are determined on undisturbed samples, and portable hand vane tests are conducted to evaluate the in-situ undrained shear strength. Investigations reveal that soils at the shear surfaces, at the main and side scarps, and within the landslide mass are similar materials, i.e. there is no material difference above and below the shear surface. Results indicate that these materials are relatively loose, medium-stiff, mostly fine-grained soils (low and high plasticity silts and high plasticity organic soils), with liquid limits in the range of 35–87%, with some organic content (1.8–12.1% by dry mass) and have relatively low pH (3.5–5.3). As for the mechanical properties, a total of 72 direct shear tests are conducted on undisturbed samples (which sometimes included a plant root or a stone) in the normal stress range of 10–65 kPa, in unsaturated and in saturated condition. The average internal friction angle is 36.3° (range 31.1–38.0°) in the saturated condition. The undrained shear strengths are 10 to 52 kPa and 42 to 103 kPa from unconfined compression tests and hand vane tests, respectively. The results of this study can be used for future research on rainfall triggered landslides.
Engineering Geology

Suggestions

Landslide susceptibility mapping: A comparison of logistic regression and neural networks methods in a medium scale study, Hendek region (Turkey)
Yesilnacar, E; Topal, Tamer (Elsevier BV, 2005-07-01)
Landslide susceptibility mapping is one of the most critical issues in Turkey. At present, geotechnical models appear to be useful only in areas of limited extent, because it is difficult to collect geotechnical data with appropriate resolution over larger regions. In addition, many of the physical variables that are necessary for running these models are not usually available, and their acquisition is often very costly. Conversely, statistical approaches are currently pursued to assess landslide hazard ove...
Probabilistic benefit-cost analysis for earthquake damage mitigation: Evaluating measures for apartment houses in Turkey
Smyth, AW; Altay, G; Deodatis, G; Erdik, M; Franco, G; Gulkan, P; Kunreuther, H; Lus, H; Mete, E; Seeber, N; Yuzugullu, O (SAGE Publications, 2004-02-01)
In the wake of the 1999 earthquake destruction in Turkey, the urgent need has arisen to evaluate the benefits of loss mitigation measures that could be undertaken to strengthen the existing housing stock. In this study, a benefit-cost analysis methodology is introduced for the comparative evaluation of several seismic retrofitting measures applied to a representative apartment building located in Istanbul. The analysis is performed probabilistically through the development of fragility curves of the structu...
Geotechnical rock-mass evaluation of the Anamur dam site, Turkey
Ozsan, A; Karpuz, Celal (Elsevier BV, 1996-03-01)
This paper describes a feasibility-level geotechnical evaluation carried out at Anamur dam site, in terms of stability analysis of dam foundation, excavation slopes and a diversion tunnel. The proposed Anamur dam will be built across the Anamur river on the Alanya metamorphic series which consists of phyllite, schist and slate units at the site. Geotechnical investigations included drilling for core, pumping tests, sampling for laboratory testing, and a detailed discontinuity survey.
Seismic Risk Assessment of Masonry Buildings in Istanbul for Effective Risk Mitigation
Erberik, Murat Altuğ (SAGE Publications, 2010-11-01)
Unreinforced and non-engineered masonry buildings are highly vulnerable to seismic hazard and constitute a significant percentage of earthquake losses, including both casualties and economic losses. This study presents an engineering application on seismic safety assessment of unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings in Istanbul, Turkey, a metropolitan city under very high seismic risk. Nearly 20,000 masonry buildings were examined through a two-stage assessment procedure in order to identify the addresses of t...
Tsunami hazard in the Eastern Mediterranean and its connected seas: Toward a Tsunami warning center in Turkey
MERAL ÖZEL, NURCAN; Ocal, Necmioglu; Cevdet, Yalciner Ahmet; Dogan, Kalafat; Mustafa, Erdik (Elsevier BV, 2011-04-01)
Tsunami mitigation, preparedness and early warning initiatives have begun at the global scale only after the tragic event of Sumatra in 2004. Turkey, as a country with a history of devastating earthquakes, has been also affected by tsunamis in its past. In this paper we present the Tsunami Hazard in the Eastern Mediterranean and its connected seas (Aegean, Marmara and Black Sea) by providing detailed information on historically and instrumentally recorded significant tsunamigenic events surrounding Turkey, ...
Citation Formats
C. E. Üyetürk, N. Huvaj Sarıhan, H. Bayraktaroğlu, and M. Huseyinpasaoglu, “Geotechnical characteristics of residual soils in rainfall-triggered landslides in Rize, Turkey,” Engineering Geology, pp. 0–0, 2020, Accessed: 00, 2020. [Online]. Available: https://hdl.handle.net/11511/57902.