Philosophers like to argue that nature takes revenge on people for being careless with themselves. Sometimes such phenomena as a landslide, mudflow, collapse, are declared acts of opposition to the planet of the unreasonable activity of mankind. Is it really? Why landslides happen? Let's understand objectively.
Definition
According to the views of Academician K. Zarub, a landslide is a process of a sharp displacement of rocks forming monolithic layers relative to each other. That is, under certain conditions, the coupling of various breeds is broken. Particles of each individual layer are more interconnected than with elements of another component of the monolith. Visually, this can be imagined as a pyramid of ordinary toy cubes. If they are placed on top of each other strictly vertically, then they stand without moving. When you begin to “change the conditions of the experiment,” for example, tilt the structure, it may collapse. Moreover, each individual cube symbolizes the earth's layer. Naturally, everything is much more complicated in nature, but this model allows us to understand that a landslide is a phenomenon of rock displacement.
Landslide causes
In general, this phenomenon can be triggered by both natural and artificial factors. Among the first, the action of groundwater is most often called. I must say that a landslide is not a widespread phenomenon. It cannot occur in any territory. A prerequisite is the presence of certain rocks in the earth's layers.
They are called weakly cemented, loose. Groundwater penetrates into them , provoking their movement in the direction of flow. In some cases, the formation may begin to “slide” relative to the denser layers. Also this phenomenon can be caused by an earthquake. Moreover, even a small excitement, not noticeable to humans, sometimes becomes a destabilizing factor in the inner world of the earth. Among the causes of artificial, man-made origin most often indicate the thoughtless economic activity of man. So, the construction of buildings in places where loose or loose rocks are located creates dangerous pressure on them. If the base under these unstable layers is inclined, then over time they naturally shift under the influence of external influences. It is also dangerous to build roads on heterogeneous slopes. It turns out that a landslide is not always a natural phenomenon. Unfortunately, it can be caused by simple stupidity and mismanagement of a person.
Classification
There are four types of landslides:
- block when whole layers are displaced;
- floats - rapid slipping of sediments relative to more dense soil;
- small blocks - shedding slopes in small pieces;
- squatting.
All types of landslides are still subdivided according to the speed of passage. Some will happen suddenly, abruptly, with devastating (and not so) consequences. But there are those that pass slowly, capturing vast territories, practically not manifesting themselves visually. In addition, landslides are separated by the time of manifestation. So, now scientists can study the consequences of those disasters that occurred many millennia ago.
Dangerous consequences of landslides
Scientists studying this phenomenon noted that it leads to various losses. So, according to their calculations, in the last century at least one hundred thousand people suffered from disasters caused by landslides. But that is not all. Often this phenomenon leads to noticeable loss of communications and facilities. Almost all buildings suffer: water and gas pipelines, roads and buildings for various purposes. Since ancient times, people began to protect their households from this sometimes terrible phenomenon. To do this, the slopes of mountains and ravines are strengthened, trees are planted that can strengthen soil layers with their root system. Scientists are developing more ambitious and modern methods to prevent the dangerous consequences of landslides.