RESUMEN
Some landslides move imperceptibly downslope, whereas others accelerate catastrophically. Experimental landslides triggered by rising pore water pressure moved at sharply contrasting rates due to small differences in initial porosity. Wet sandy soil with porosity of about 0.5 contracted during slope failure, partially liquefied, and accelerated within 1 second to speeds over 1 meter per second. The same soil with porosity of about 0.4 dilated during failure and slipped episodically at rates averaging 0.002 meter per second. Repeated slip episodes were induced by gradually rising pore water pressure and were arrested by pore dilation and attendant pore pressure decline.
RESUMEN
Results from two types of experiments show that intergranular pore pressures fluctuated dynamically during rapid, steady shear deformation of water-saturated granular materials. During some fluctuations, the pore water locally supported all normal and shear stresses, while grain-contact stresses transiently fell to zero. Fluctuations also propagated outward from the shear zone; this process modifies grain-contact stresses in adjacent areas and potentially instigates shear-zone growth.