Exploring the diversity and scaling laws of landslides using small-scale laboratory experiments

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We have conducted laboratory experiments in which the ground water percolating into the wet sand triggers the landslides. We find that(1) landslides are triggered after the water percolates through the sand column,(2) as the groundwater level rises, the number of slides increases from 0 to 3, after which the whole sand column is pushed in the form of debris flow,(3) the time until the slide occurs agree well with the pressure diffusion time scale determined by the groundwater level. In addition we find that as the water percolates, the pressure at the bottom of the sand column decreases whereas that at the sides increases, prior to the landslide. This suggests that pressure measurements may be used to monitor the precursory stage of the landslides.