Publications

Moeyersons, J. 1989. ‘A possible causal relationship between creep and sliding on Rwaza Hill, Southern Rwanda’. Stuart N. Lane (ed), EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS 14: 597-614. Chichester : Wiley Blackwell. ISSN: 0197-9337.  I.F. 3,6.

Article dans une revue scientifique / Article dans un périodique

Stability calculations on a strongly creeping 28° slope on Rwaza Hill in Southern Rwanda reveal an apparent contradiction: terracette formation within the kaolinitic soil mantle should only be possible during hydrological conditions of high phreatic surfaces, for which the entire soil mantle should already have slid down in a translational sliding movement. This apparent contradiction can only be explained if it is accepted that the soil shear resistance can fall temporarily below the residual soil shear strength. A creep experiment confirms the theoretical possibility of this hypothesis. Furthermore,theconfiguration oftheslidingsurfacesinthefield,consistinginfactoflenses ofcrumbledearth, showsclose affinities with the pattern of potential ruptures in a creeping soil as provided by rheological theory. These data strongly suggest that, on natural slopes, creep should be the ultimate soil mechanical resason for sudden failures.