9 - Landslides

Summary

The term landslide refers to both a sudden movement of rocks, sediments, or other debris that is gravity-driven down a slope and the newly altered surface (sometimes called a landslide scar) (Cruden, 1991). We focus on the successional processes that occur on that surface. Landslide surfaces are notoriously heterogeneous, both within and among landslides, so succession is not always easy to categorize on the gradient from primary to secondary. Landslides can occur with or without human intervention. Here, we take a broad view of landslides as a type of erosion that includes downward movement of bedrock, regolith, and sediments. We do not include seres following snow or ice avalanches but do include debris avalanches.