Pacific Southwest

Title: Landslides and the weathering of granitic rocks

Author: Durgin, Philip B.

Date: 1977

Source: In: Landslides, Geological Society of America, Reviews in Engineering Geology 3: 127-131.

Description: Abstract - Granitic batholiths around the Pacific Ocean basin provide examples of landslide types that characterize progressive stages of weathering. The stages include (1) fresh rock, (2) corestones, (3) decomposed granitoid, and (4) saprolite. Fresh granitoid is subject to rockfalls, rockslides, and block glides. They are all controlled by factors related to jointing. Smooth surfaces of sheeted fresh granite encourage debris avalanches or debris slides in the overlying material. The corestone phase is characterized by unweathered granitic blocks or boulders within decomposed rock. Hazards at this stage are rockfall avalanches and rolling rocks.

Keywords: PSW4351, soil, granite, landslides, logging

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Citation

Durgin, Philip B.  1977.  Landslides and the weathering of granitic rocks.   In: Landslides, Geological Society of America, Reviews in Engineering Geology 3: 127-131..