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Landslides (2014) 11:167194DOI 10.1007/s10346-013-0436-y Received: 22 April 2013Accepted: 23 September 2013Published online: 30 November 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Oldrich Hungr I Serge Leroueil I Luciano Picarelli
The Varnes classification of landslide types, an update
Abstract The goal of this article is to revise several aspects of the well-known classification of landslides, developed by Varnes (1978). The primary recommendation is to modify the definition of landslide-forming materials, to provide compatibility with accepted geotechnical and geological terminology of rocks and soils. Other, less important modifications of the classification system are suggested, resulting from recent developments of the landslide science. The modified Varnes classification of landslides has 32 landslide types, each of which is backed by a formal definition. The definitions should facilitate backward compatibility of the system as well as possible translation to other languages. Complex landslides are not included as a separate category type, but composite types can be constructed by the user of the classification by combining two or more type names, if advantageous.
Keywords Classification of landslides . Typology . Materials . Mechanisms . Engineering geology . Geotechnical engineering
IntroductionThe system of landslide classification devised by the late D.J. Varnes has become the most widely used system in the English language (Varnes 1954, 1978; Cruden and Varnes 1996). Its sustained popularity in North America and its variations in all other continents attest to its usefulness. The authors do not intend to propose an entirely new landslide classification system but aim to introduce modifications to the Varnes classification to reflect recent advances in understanding of landslide phenomena and the materials and mechanisms involved. The starting point of the modifications is the 1978 version of the classification (Varnes 1978), taking also into account concepts introduced by Cruden and Varnes (1996).
Type of material is one of the most important factors influencing the behavior of landslides. However, the threefold material division proposed by Varnes (1978), including rock, debris, and earth, is compatible neither with geological terminology of materials distinguished by origin, nor with geotechnical classifications based on mechanical properties (e.g., Morgenstern 1992; Leroueil et al. 1996). Thus, characterization of materials appears to be one aspect of Varnes classification that warrants updating. In addition to this important change, several other changes, related primarily to movement...