Landslides falling onto a shallow erodible substrate or water layer: An experimental and numerical approach

Landslides often collapse in areas covered by alluvial deposits forming an erodible layer. This erodible substrate may deform plastically under the intense shear stress of the landslide mass. In other cases, the collapse occurs onto a water basin or tidal flat, creating impulse water waves whilst the landslide may be lubricated by a water layer underneath. In either cases the presence of a medium underneath the landslide will change its dynamics introducing complex processes. While frictional, dry masses and taluses generally hamper the landslide motion. In this work, we present some experiments mimicking the collapse of a landslide onto shallow erodible or water layers. The landslide is simulated with a granular material (sand or gravel) flowing on an incline (35-66°) followed by a horizontal sector covered with a granular bed 1 to 2 cm thick or with a 0.5-1 cm of water. Monitoring evolution in time allows us to describe in detail the process of fluidization of the material at impact, the generation of impact waves, and the erosion process. Concerning impact on a sand layer, the apparent friction coefficient (H/L) is found to increase with the chute slope angle and with the thickness of the erodible layer, and to decrease with the volume. At low slope angles, the material accumulates backwards in a shock wave mode, while at larger slope angles (>45°) it accumulates by prograding forward. A granular avalanche falling from the slope is partially reflected at the sharp slope break where erosion occurs and then propagates initially as a wave partially eroding the superficial material. Folding and thrusting occur within the dense shear flow and the erodible layer. Experiments with a water layer show that the dynamics depends much on the permeability of the granular avalanche. FEM numerical simulations replicate and allow to describe and understand both the spreading and the erosion, and internal deformation recorded in the erodible layer. Experimental findings are compared with real rock avalanches, flowslides and snow avalanches characteristics and morphological features. A medium with low permeability may be lubricated by the presence of water, resulting in a front acceleration and a final double-ringed deposit.