Previously hidden landslide processes revealed using distributed acoustic sensing with nanostrain-rate sensitivity

Susanne M. Ouellet (), Jan Dettmer, Matthew J. Lato, Steve Cole, D. Jean Hutchinson, Martin Karrenbach, Ben Dashwood, Jonathan E. Chambers and Roger Crickmore
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Susanne M. Ouellet: University of Calgary
Jan Dettmer: University of Calgary
Matthew J. Lato: BGC Engineering
Steve Cole: OptaSense
D. Jean Hutchinson: Queen’s University
Martin Karrenbach: Seismics Unusual Ltd
Ben Dashwood: British Geological Survey
Jonathan E. Chambers: British Geological Survey
Roger Crickmore: OptaSense

Nature Communications, 2024, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-13

Abstract: Abstract Landslides sometimes creep for decades before undergoing runaway acceleration and catastrophic failure. Observing and monitoring the evolution of strain in time and space is crucial to understand landslide processes, including the transition from slow to fast movement. However, the limited spatial or temporal resolution of existing landslide monitoring instrumentation limits the study of these processes. We employ distributed acoustic sensing strain data below 1 Hertz frequency during a three-day rainfall at the Hollin Hill landslide and quantify strain-rate changes at meter and sub-minute scales. We observe near-surface strain onset at the head scarp, strain acceleration at a developing rupture zone, retrogression towards the scarp, and flow-lobe activity. These processes with displacements of less than 0.5 mm are undetected using other methods. However, the millimeter processes over three days agree with previously observed seasonal landslide patterns. Here, we show landslide processes occurring with nanostrain-rate sensitivity at spatiotemporal resolution previously not possible.

Date: 2024
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-50604-6

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