When permafrost thaw reaches concentrations of ice underneath the surface, it may trigger local soil instability.
landslides
Posted inScience Updates
Satellites Support Disaster Response to Storm-Driven Landslides
Extreme precipitation can trigger deadly landslides. Satellite-based tools provide regional perspectives on landslide hazards, help assess risks in near-real time, and guide emergency responses.
Posted inNews
An Iceberg May Have Initiated a Submarine Landslide
A new study shows that icebergs may initiate submarine landslides when they collide with the seafloor.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
The Wildfire One-Two: First the Burn, Then the Landslides
Severe wildfires strip away plant cover and reduce the soil’s ability to hold water. A new study develops a model to better understand landslide risk following a burn.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Thickness and Strength of Slow-moving Landslides Revealed
Hundreds of slow-moving landslides’ deformation patterns were inverted to obtain their thickness and frictional strength, revealing that larger landslides are weaker and thinner than smaller ones.
Posted inNews
Landslides Mar the “Pearl of Africa”
Behind Uganda’s lavish beauty, climate change has taken its toll: Death, destroyed properties, and displaced communities increase as above-normal rainfall floods the country.
Posted inNews
Development and Climate Change Contribute to a Himalayan Tragedy
Infrastructure projects like roads and dams destabilize slopes and compound the effects of glacial floods and avalanches, scientists say.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
The Tumbling Boulders of Orientale Basin
Mapping boulder fields and boulder tracks highlights the seismic hazard still present on the Moon.
Posted inScience Updates
A New Era of Debris Flow Experiments in the Oregon Woods
What do a backhoe, expanding foam, half-ton concrete blocks, and a 100-meter-long hillslope slide have in common? All were part of reviving the U.S. Geological Survey’s experimental debris flow flume.
Posted inFeatures
A Slippery Slope: Could Climate Change Lead to More Landslides?
Scientists investigate whether warming temperatures and changing rainfall patterns could be triggering more landslides in mountainous areas.