Quarterly Journal o f Engineering Geology, 32, 247-259. 0481-2085/99 $15.

00 1999 The Geological Society of London

Characteristics of some rainfall-induced landslides on natural slopes,
Lantau Island, Hong Kong
C. A. M. Franks
Geotechnical Engineering Office, Civil Engineering Department, 101 Princess Margaret Road, Homantin,
Kowloon, Hong Kong
Abstract
The north part of Lantau Island is undergoing rapid develop-
ment following construction of the new airport at Chek Lap
Kok. This development, primarily on reclaimed land, is adja-
cent to a range of steeply sloping hills that experience levels of
annual rain in excess of 2500 mm. Rainfall induced landslides
on this steeply sloping natural terrain are potential hazards to
developments down slope. Landslides on these natural slopes
resulting from two major rainstorms in 1992 and 1993 were
studied to determine their characteristics and define the geo-
morphological factors influencing their debris trails. These data
were compared with the aerial photographic record of landslide
scars within the same catchment over the period 1945-1995 to
determine the potential hazard from natural terrain landslides
to downslope development.
The limited data set indicates that channelized debris flows
which produce long debris trails pose the greatest hazard
potential to downslope development. Factors influencing debris
flow paths and deposition zones were assessed from a geo-
morphological study of the catchment to define criteria for
preliminary hazard zoning of downslope developments.
Keywords." case studies, erosion, geological hazards',
geomorphology, landslides
Introduction
In Oct ober 1989 the Hong Kong Gover nment
announced its i nt ent i on to const ruct a new i nt er nat i onal
ai rport at Chek Lap Kok. As part of the associated
i nfrast ruct ure devel opment , a new t own is bei ng bui l t at
Tung Chung, Lant au Isl and (Fig. 1). Part s of the
devel opment are adj acent to steep nat ur al slopes and
fut ure landslides on these slopes may be of consequence
in terms of the encr oachment of l andsl i de debris i nt o
areas of development.
A previ ous st udy ( Fr anks & Woods 1993) i ndi cat ed
t hat much of the area covered by Nor t h Lant au is
subject to hi gh to extreme geotechnical const rai nt s to
development. The Tung Chung area is no except i on as
most of the hillsides are steep (>30), the peaks are
amongst the hi ghest in the Terri t ory and the slopes are
covered wi t h colluvium, or soils derived from weat hered
bedrock. These soils are often prone to i nst abi l i t y dur i ng
or fol l owi ng periods of heavy rainfall. Fr anks & Woods
(1993) hi ghl i ght ed several areas where landslides from
nat ur al slopes were deemed to pose a significant
const r ai nt to downsl ope development.
Fol l owi ng heavy rai nfal l on 18 Jul y 1992 and 5
November 1993, wi despread l andsl i di ng occurred in
Nor t h Lant au (Fig. 2). The largest of these rainfall-
i nduced landslides resulted in a channel i zed debris flow
in 1993 (Fig. 3). The t ot al vol ume of this channel i zed
debris flow was est i mat ed to be 2300 m 3 and the debris
compri sed col l uvi um and weat hered bedrock. The debris
trail had a t ot al l engt h of about 450 m f r om a scarp
el evat i on of about 180 m above sea level wi t h the final
debris deposi t i on fan formi ng on an 8 slope encroach-
ing ont o a site f or mat i on pl at f or m at a hei ght of 24 m
above sea level.
An assessment of the consequences of these pot ent i al
l andsl i de hazards to downsl ope devel opment requires
knowl edge of the failure mechani sm, pr obabi l i t y and
magni t ude of the l andsl i de (Soeters & VanWest en 1996;
Wu et al. 1996) and the resulting l engt h and pat h of
debris trail r un- out in rel at i on to downsl ope develop-
ment . Bot h emprical ( Mar k & Ellen 1995; Cor omi nas
1996) and quant i t at i ve (Sassa 1985; Hut chi nson 1986;
Hungr 1995) met hods for the predi ct i on of debris trail
run-out l engt h require a knowl edge of the l andsl i de
charact er such as debris t r anspor t mechani sm and debris
volume. These factors in t ur n are influenced by the
geomor phol ogy of the cat chment . Thi s st udy was car-
ried out to characterize landslides on nat ur al t errai n
resul t i ng from some recent rai nst orms and det ermi ne
those factors influencing debris trail run-out l engt h and
deposi t i on. The results of this st udy were used to formu-
late baseline criteria t hat can be used for prel i mi nary
hazar d zoni ng of t errai n wi t h similar geomorphol ogi cal
and hydrol ogi cal characteristics.
Study methodology
Aerial phot ogr aph i nt erpret at i on was used to det ermi ne
the spat i al and t emporal di st ri but i on of past landslides
as well as some limited geometric dat a (i.e. trail l engt h
and width) for those sites whi ch could not be accessed in
the field. However, aerial phot ogr aphs covering the
248 C. A. M. F RANKS
O
0o
~ S h a Chau
N
Hong Kong
International
Airport
Tung Chung Landslide g
Study Area ~ The Brothers
. . . .
, ~;
" a
Location of Some GEO and RO Automatic Raingauges [
, "~ ~ P e n g Cha~
Fig. 1. Location of the Tung Chung landslide study area.
I Scale 1:100 000
Fig. 2. Typical non-channelized debris flow landslides typical of those generated on the nat ural terrain above the Tung Chung
New Town Development as a result of the rainstorm of 5 November 1993.
RAI NFALL- I NDUCED LANDSLIDES 249
hydrological features were also visually assessed and
recorded. For ease of comparison each landslide trail
was divided into sections along which the slope angle
was approximately equal and the trail width generally
uniform. The predominant characteristic of the debris
t ransport or deposition along any section of the trail
was determined and the associated site specific factors
assessed.
The length of eight landslide trails (3% of the total
length of trails in the study) were significantly affected
by obstacles in the flow pat h leading to an abrupt
termination of the trail as the resulting rapi d drainage of
the debris flow promot ed deposition. These landslide
trails were discounted from the dat a analysis. The dat a
from each of the remaining forty-four landslides
were analysed to determine the range of typical geo-
metric and volume characteristics in relation to slope
angle, past activity, superficial geology, vegetation and
geomorphology.
Generalized geological description of the
study area
Fig. 3. Channelized debris flow landslide on natural terrain
above the Tung Chung New Town Development Area, Phase
1 resulting from the 5 November 1993.
study area were not available for all years from 1945 and
hence inferences relating specific rainstorms to landslide
occurences could not always be rigorously deter-
mined. Terrain classification mapping dat a from earlier
mapping at a scale of 1:5000 were also examined (Emery
& Hought on 1991).
Fifty-two landslide scars resulting from the intense
1992 and 1993 rainstorms were inspected in the field
during 1994. These were selected on the basis of field
accessibility from the more than 80 scars identified from
interpretation of aerial phot ographs covering this
period. The detailed description and statistical analysis
of the landslide characteristics are based on the dat a
obtained from the field inspections. The terminology
used to classify and describe the landslides in this study
is largely based on Cruden & Varnes (1996) and as
modified by King (1997).
During the fieldwork, observations were made of the
landslide type, scarp and trail morphology (including the
nature of the materials involved), hydrogeology and
vegetation. The steepness of the terrain was estimated
(with an accuracy of about -4-1 ) using a hand-held
clinometer. Evidence of past instability, erosion and
Bedrock geology
The bedrock in the area (Fig. 4) is dominated by
Mesozoic volcanic rocks (Langford et al. 1995) which
have been intruded by a dense swarm of younger
feldsparphyric rhyolite dykes. These dykes generally
trend in an ENE or NE direction. The volcanic rocks
consist mainly of fine and coarse ash tuff and lava which
are commonly banded. Nar r ow dykes of lamprophyre
and basalt are common within the feldsparphyric rhyo-
lite, although rare within the volcanics. Quartz veins are
common within all rock types.
Residual soils and saprolite
The bedrock in this area, as elsewhere in Hong Kong,
has been subject to weathering over a very long period of
time, and this process continues today. The typical depth
of saprolite across the study area is between 5 and 10 m,
with a thin covering (generally < 1.0 m) of residual soil.
However, there are a number of localities where the
weathering depth is much greater (Franks & Woods
1993) such as the slopes to the south of Tung Chung
where saprolite depths in the range 20 to 30 m are
indicated. The northwest facing slopes to the south of
Tai Po also appear to be deeply weathered at a number
of locations. This may be associated with the inferred
northeast-southwest trending fault that truncates the
250 C. A. M. FRANKS
817 500 N
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. ' . . /
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- - , ,
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, " , , j ; ,
1
L e g e n d
Tung Chung Development
Area Boundary
LandsLides with debris
trails longer than 150m
- - Geological boundary
. . . . Inferred fault
~ Feldsparphyric rhyolite
Tuff
g m Medium-grained granite
b Basalt
Q d Col l uvi um
~ a Terraced alluvium
Qa A l l u v i u m
Q b Beach deposit
m Meta sediments
rh Rhyol i t e lava
S c a l e
0 100 200 300 400 500m
I I I I I I
Fig. 4. Generalized geological map of the Study Area showing the Tung Chung Development Area boundary and locations of
landslides with debris trails longer than 150 m.
predominantly volcanic sequences to the south from the
feldsparphyric rhyolite outcrops along the coastline
(Campbell & Sewell 1998).
Col l uvi um
Much of the colluvium in the study area was deposited
from the late-Pleistocene through to the Holocene
(Langford et al. 1995). The extent of colluvium mapped
in the area is based largely on aerial photo interpretation
supplemented by limited field checking. Colluvium
occurs most commonly as relatively thin (<3 m thick)
ribbon-like deposits infilling drainage courses. However,
there are deposits which are considerably thicker and of
greater areal extent on some hillslopes in the study area.
The colluvium typically consists of cobbles and
boulders, of feldsparphyric rhyolite with some tuff, in a
matrix of mottled, reddish brown and yellowish brown
gravelly, sandy, slightly clayey silt. The cobbles and
boulders are typically subangular and moderately to
highly decomposed with a patina (halo of discolour-
ation) up to 50 mm thick. In si t u tests in pits excavated
into this material indicate in si t u bulk density of 2. 2-
2.3 Mg/m 3 for the overall deposit using the water
replacement method (Anon 1982a) and 1.7 Mg/ m 3 (with
in si t u moisture content in the range 10.7-16.6%) for the
sand and silt sized matrix materials using the sand
replacement method (Anon 1975). The mottled nature,
relative high density of the deposit and presence of a
patina (Irfan & Tang 1992) on the coarse materials
indicates that the colluvium is most likely of late
Pleistocene age (Anon 1982b). Isolated lobes of
colluvium of a younger age were also noted across this
region. These are characterized by a less dense structure
of the matrix and light yellowish brown colour.
RAINFALL-INDUCED LANDSLIDES 251
Hydrology and groundwater
The northwest facing slopes in the study area are drained
by numerous small streams most of which only flow
during or after heavy or prolonged rainfall. The hillsides
are often deeply gullied as a result of erosion caused by
ephemeral streams. The catchment boundaries reveal a
complex system of narrow, long catchments associated
with these gullies within a much larger pri mary catch-
ment defined by a hillcrest. Mean annual rainfall for the
catchment over the period 1961-1991 is in the range of
2000 to 2400 mm (Lam & Leung 1994). This is similar
to that experienced by most of the developed area of
Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and the New Territories
(excluding Ma On Shan central uplands and Sha Tin).
In general, piezometric records from previous site
investigations indicate that the regional groundwater
table lies either just within the slightly to moderately
weathered bedrock or within the overlying saprolite
(Franks & Woods 1993). The relative permeability of the
colluvium deposits when compared with underlying
saprolite allows for the development of transient
perched water tables at the interface during or following
periods of intense rainfall.
Factors influencing the distribution of
landslides in the study area
Previ ous r ai nst or ms
Aerial photo interpretation indicates a number of
periods during which significant numbers of new land-
slide scarps are visible in the study area. The earliest
photographs from 1945 reveal widespread relatively
fresh and also degraded landslide scars on a terrain with
thin vegetation cover. Exami nat i on of the photographs
between 1963 and 1973 reveals many new landslide scars
on the hills to the northeast and east of Tai Po.
Conversely, relatively few new landslide scars are
observed from photographs between 1979 and 1982. The
1993 photographs show most of the new scarps on the
hills to the south of Tai Po whilst the 1994 photographs
show new landslides to be widespread in the study area,
consistent with the expected consequences of the
intensity and duration of rainfall experienced during
5 November 1993 which was much heavier and longer
than that of 18 July 1992.
Although detailed rain gauge data are only available
for the study area from 1991, the following rainstorms
are considered to be likely trigger events for the wide-
spread landsliding observed from examination of the
subsequent aerial photographs:
14/15 June 1959 (24-hr rolling rainfall of 308.9 mm, 1
in 5 year event), recorded at raingauge R01 (see Fig. 1
for location of raingauge)
18/19 August 1972 (24-hr rolling rainfall of 186.8 mm,
1 in 1 year event, 2-day rainfall 446.4 mm 1 in 10 year
event), recorded at raingauge R01
18 July 1992 (24-hr rolling rainfall of 454 mm, 1 in 28
year event), recorded at raingauge N17 (see Fig. 1 for
location of raingauge)
5 November 1993 (24-hr rolling rainfall of 742 mm,
1 in 796 year event), recorded at raingauge N17
Although other major rainstorms have been recorded at
R01 over the period 1945 to 1995, they have been
discounted from further study due to the poor corre-
lation between rainfall at the R01 gauge and rainfall in
the study area and the lack of aerial photographic
evidence indicating widespread landsliding in the
Territory of Hong Kong.
Bedr ock geol ogy
The slopes where the underlying bedrock is mapped as
volcanic appear generally more susceptible to landslid-
ing than the slopes underlain by feldsparphyric rocks,
but this may be because the topographic relief is greater
where the bedrock is volcanic. Although Vandine (1985),
who studied debris flow landslides in British Columbia,
discounted underlying bedrock geology as a predispos-
ing factor, recent studies of natural terrain landslides in
Hong Kong have concluded that geology together with
slope angle are significant predisposing factors (Evans
e t al . 1997; Evans & Ki ng 1998).
Veget at i on
Anot her factor which may affect the susceptibility to
landsliding appears to be the presence or absence of
thick vegetation, but there is much conflicting evidence
in the literature concerning this (Johnson & Rodine
1984; Collinson & Anderson 1996). Irigaray e t al . (1996)
have stated that apparent correlations of landsliding
susceptibility with vegetation have to be considered with
care, as vegetation is very strongly interdependent on
factors such as geology and hydrology. Wi t hi n the study
area, the vast majority of landslides resulting from the
1992 and 1993 rainstorms occurred in terrain with low
scrub and grass.
Sur f ace dr ai nage
Studies in Canada (Vandine 1985) and California
(Reneau & Dietrich 1987) indicate that surface drainage
is an important factor controlling debris flow
susceptibility and this is confirmed within the present
252 C. A. M. FRANKS
Plan ~ Crown
- - ~ Main ScarPL Surface of Rupture
f ~ ~ Scarp ~ o o r i (Sour~ above)
Source, may be partly ~ (" ~ n ~
or fully mobilised [ ~ ~ . . . . -~
(- Intact Displaced ~ ~ i ' ~ /
[ Material ~ ~ [
] Di s a g g r e g a t e d ~ ~ ~, [ . . . .
J Displa~d Material ~ X ~ l ' r a . .
Debris I Lateral Deposit ~ X N /
/ < ' - " ' > /
# May contai n secti ons that are predomi nantl y erosi on,
deposition, or outwash in addition the trial may be
constrained ff channel widtlddepth ratio is < 5
Section
~~
arp
Intact Displaced ~ r a f l
Material
Fig. 5. Typical natural terrain landslide scar showing features common to landslides in the Tung Chung study area.
st udy where most landslides occur wi t hi n or adj acent to
significant drai nage lines or hollows.
Landslide characteristics in the study area
All the landslides had the following common features
(Fig. 5); a source area (defined by a surface of rupt ure
whi ch comprises the mai n scarp and the scarp floor), a
landslide trail downsl ope of the source (where debris
t r anspor t predomi nat es, al t hough erosi on and out wash
may also occur), and a deposi t i on fan (where the
maj or i t y of the debris is deposited).
In general, the trails resulting f r om the downsl ope
di spl acement of disaggregated displaced mat eri al were
complex, compri si ng a number of sections wi t hi n
which either deposi t i on or channel i zat i on of debris or
erosi on of the underl yi ng mat eri al s ( subst r at e) was the
pr edomi nant characteristic. Mi nor deposi t i on of debris
occurred al ong the lateral boundari es (as levees) of
many of the landslide trails, however deposi t i on of
most of the debris generally occurred at the end of the
trail. Exami nat i on of the charact er (matrix and com-
posi t i on) and form of the debris i ndi cat ed t hat at some
l ocat i ons secondary mobi l i zat i on of the previ ousl y
deposi t ed landslide debris resulted in furt her deposi t i on
downsl ope as an alluvial deposit. This is consi dered to
RAI NFALL- I NDUCED LANDSLIDES 253
Table 1. Geometry of landslide sources
Length of Main scarp Source Natural No. of Material
surface of width volume slope angle slides composition
rupture (m) (m) (m 3) () (as % of of source
(Range) Range (Range) (Range) all scarps) (as % of
no. of slides)
9 (5-25) 5-9 76 (13-400) 37 (28-80t) 39 (45%) Colluvium 70%
Residual Soil 30%
15 (8-25) 10-14 286 (50-650) 34 (28-50t) 29 (34%) Colluvium 50%
Residual Soil 50%
15 (10-30) 15-19 520 (150-1250) 36 (29-45t) 13 (15%) Colluvium 40%
Residual Soil 60%
20 (20) 20-24 400 (400) 40 (40) 1 ( 1%) Colluvium
18 (12-30) 25-30 450 (450-1500) 37 (38-40) 4 ( 5%) Colluvium (50%)
Weathered Rock (50%)
Notes: Average of range in bold.
tThe very steep slope angles are from scarps on the sides of steep drainage channels.
be the result of intense rainfall following the initial
failure.
The landslides can be recognized in terms of the
charact er and compl exi t y of t hei r associated landslide
trails as follows (Tables 2 and 3):
landslides whi ch have unconst r ai ned landslide trails
whi ch include non-channel i zed debris flows and debris
slides. Most of this group are debris flows wi t h the
pr edomi nant characteristic wi t hi n the complete trail
l engt h being deposi t i on.
landslides which have const rai ned landslide trails
whi ch are compl ex and include gully erosi on and
channel i zed debris flows (viz. debris t orrent s of Hungr
et al. 1984). These landslides oft en include erosion,
deposi t i on, out wash (secondary al l uvi at i on subse-
quent to initial debris deposi t i on) and channel i zat i on
wi t hi n different sections of the compl et e trail.
Landsl i de sour ces
Typi cal l y the landslides were i ni t i at ed from sources wi t h
shallow scarps (<1. 5 m) wi t hi n pr edomi nant l y residual
(and in some l ocat i ons saprolitic) soils, or colluvium.
The sources were generally hi gh up wi t hi n the cat chment
close to the cat chment divide on steep slopes (30-40).
The mai n scarp wi dt hs were typically small, in the range
of 5 to 30 m and wi t h source wi dt h to l engt h rat i os of 1
to 2 (Tabl e 1). Some 80% of the landslides had a source
vol ume of <400 m 3, the remai ni ng 20% had much larger
source volumes up to 1500 m 3. The vol ume of mat eri al
mobi l i zed f r om the source was typically in the range
of 100 and 400 m 3. Aeri al phot ogr aph i nt er pr et at i on
confi rmed t hat all of the larger (>400 m 3) landslides
occurred as a result of the 5 November 1993 rai nst orm.
The maj or i t y of the sources (64%) were first-time
slides as inferred f r om aerial phot ogr aph i nt erpret at i on.
Many of the mai n scarps (65%) show field evidence of
soil pi pi ng and this appears to be most preval ent wi t hi n
t hose mai n scarps formed in residual soil (84%) or
col l uvi um (55%). There is a st rong correl at i on between
mai n scarps formed in residual soils t hat have previ ousl y
been active and the presence of soil pipes. Exami nat i on
of t errai n classification dat a (Emery & Hought on 1991)
indicates t hat 68% of the sources are formed in t errai n
t hat has experienced previous i nst abi l i t y in terms of the
existence of relict scarps (44%) or colluvium.
Most of the surfaces of rupt ure were relatively free of
debris i ndi cat i ng t hat the debris was typically hi ghl y
mobi l e and flows freely downslope. However, at a small
number of the sources the displaced mat eri al remai ned
relatively i nt act above the surface of rupt ure f or mi ng a
landslide trail of more limited length. This mechani sm
has also been observed elsewhere (Turner 1996; Ellen &
Fl emi ng 1987). Tur ner has described this as a staged
process of a debris slide t r ansf or mi ng i nt o a debris flow.
These observed differences in mobi l i zat i on have been
at t ri but ed, by Ellen & Fl emi ng (1987), to differences in
the soil voi d rat i o between cont ract i ve and dilative soils.
Landsl i de t r ai l s
Tabl e 2 summarizes the observed characteristics (of
debris t r anspor t at i on and deposi t i on) for the trail
sections associated wi t h bot h unconst r ai ned and con-
strained landslides. The average l engt h of trail section
254 C. A. M. F RANKS
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RAI NFALL- I NDUCED LANDSLIDES 255
Table 3. Range of values for trail length and erosion volume for constrained and unconstrained landslides
Landslide model
Type
Typical main source volume<400 m 3 Typical main source volume>400 m 3
Trail No. of Erosion range No. of Erosion range
length landslides (m 3) Trail landslides (m 3)
(m) in study (average) length (m) in study (average)
Unconst rai ned trail
Debris slide (i) 2-10 2 0
Debris flow--predominantly (ii) 15-100 16 0-30
depositional (15)
Debris flow~deposition and (iii) 20-85 6 12-80
erosion (46)
Debris flow--deposition and (iv) 5-100 9 0-20
outwash (10)
Const rai ned trail
Gully erosion
Channelized debris flow--
includes deposition, erosion
and channelised flow
(v) 25-95 3 50-330
(190)
(vi) no occurrence 0 no occurrence
no occurrence 0 no occurrence
35-70 4 0-20
(10)
no occurrence 0 no occurrence
no occurrence 0 no occurrence
no occurrence 0 no occurrence
70450 4 90-860
(470)
where erosion predomi nat ed was 25 m with a range from
5 to 52 m. The average length of trail section where
deposition predomi nat ed was 28 m with a range from
2 to 100 m.
The width of deposition within the trail was generally
controlled by the topography, either leading to uncon-
strained or constrained deposition depending on the
absence of otherwise of drainage lines and hollows along
the trail. Typically the width of the trail averaged 9 m,
and ranged from 1 m to 30 m for unconstrained debris
flow, where the topographic controls are relatively sub-
tle. For channelized debris flows the width of the trail
was less than 8 m.
Table 3 summarizes the observed range of values for
run-out length for those landslides with unconstrained
and constrained trails in the study area. Deposition was
the predomi nant characteristic observed along the com-
plete length of many of the trails, especially from those
landslides with a small source vol ume<400 m 3 . The
run-out length of these landslide trails was typically in
the range of 15 to 100 m. Other trails, especially those
which had a larger source volume >400 m 3, were more
complex and comprised a number of sections that
included some or all of the following; erosion,
deposition, outwash, or channelized debris flow. The
run-out length of these trails was typically in the range
of 35 to 450 m.
Lau & Woods (1997) have examined the relationship
between the run-out lengths of the landslides in the
study area, as defined by the angle of reach met hod
(Corominas 1996), and landslide source volumes. The
relationship is shown in Fig. 6 and confirms that many
of the landslides fall within the bounds typical of debris
flows and translational slides. However, some have a
much shorter run-out length than would be predicted
using Corominas' met hod and this is considered to be
the result of local obstructions to downslope transport
due to gross morphological changes or obstructions
along the debris flow path.
Hazard zones for downslope development
The primary hazard zone for any downslope develop-
ment lies within the debris transport and deposition
areas as debris impact will result in injury, fatality or
economic losses. The landslide trail defines this zone and
extends from the landslide main scarp to the end of the
deposition fan. About 96% of all landslide trails associ-
ated with both unconstrained and constrained landslides
were found within slope classes that correspond to 15 to
40 and 71% were found on slopes within the range of
15 to 30 .
Debri s deposi t i on fan
Al t hough mi nor deposits of debris were formed along
many of the lateral boundaries of the landslide trails, in
the absence of any obstacles to the debris flow path,
much of the mobilized debris was transported downs-
lope until deposition occurred as the slope angle reduced
to some critical value. At this critical value of slope angle
(deposition point), a deposition fan of material started
to form in the trail. The limited data from the study area
indicates that a lower bound for deposition is 10
without channel confinement and 8 for channelized
debris flows landslides.
256 C. A. M. FRANKS
4O
30
20
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A, - ~
. . . . . L , * * . . . .
. . . . . . . . . . . .
~ Lower bound envel ope for 1992 & 1993 Tung Chung dat a sets.
Rockfal i s (Coromi nas, 1996).
. . . . . . Transl at i onal l andsl i des (Coromi nas, 1996).
. . . . Debri s fl ow l andsl i des (Coromi nas, 1996).
~ Eart hfl ows and mudfl ows (Coromi nas, 1996).
1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5
Log La nds l i de Sour c e Vo l u me ( m)
Fig. 6. The lower bound envelope of angle of reach for landslide source volumes in the Tung Chung study area (after Lau &
Woods 1997).
Hungr e t al . (1984) in his st udy of debris aval anches in
Canada, report ed a l i mi t i ng angle of 8 to 12 wi t h
channel confi nement and 10 to 14 in its absence, for the
deposi t i on poi nt . Fur t her mor e Hungr e t al . (1987) con-
cluded t hat the presence of channel confi nement is
crucial to the mai nt enance of flow for slopes less t han
18 and t hat a wi dt h to dept h rat i o of less t han 5 is
requi red for confi ned flow. Wi t hi n the Tung Chung
st udy area, channel wi dt h to dept h rat i os t ypi cal l y
ranged from 10 to less t han 3.
In general, most unconst r ai ned landslides formed
deposi t i on fans on slope angles in the range of 20 to 32 ,
t ypi cal l y wi t h more t han 30% of the mai n scarp vol ume
bei ng deposi t ed in the debris fan.
For channel i zed debris flows, erosi on al ong some
sections of the l andsl i de trail provi ded addi t i onal debris
to t hat from the ori gi nal mai n scarp. In some cases this
addi t i onal debris was est i mat ed to be close to 50% of the
ori gi nal scarp volume.
Preliminary hazard zoning
A prel i mi nary hazar d zoni ng for the st udy area was
developed based on slope angle classification and inden-
tification of drai nage gullies wi t h the pot ent i al for
channel i zi ng debris flows. Beari ng in mi nd the accuracy
of the field observat i ons the fol l owi ng four slope classes
have been adopt ed; <10 , 10 to 20 , 20 to 30 and >30 .
Fi gure 7 shows the hazar d zone map produced from a
digital t errai n model of the st udy area, t oget her wi t h
the identified drai nage gullies wi t h the pot ent i al for
channel i zi ng debris flows.
Most of the l andsl i de sources will ori gi nat e from the
>30 slope angle zone and t hose debris flows t hat are
unconfi ned will t ypi cal l y form debris fans on slope
angles in the range of 20 to 30 . However, a few uncon-
st rai ned debris flows wi t h a source vol ume greater t han
400 m 3 resulted in debris fan deposi t i on on lower slope
angles in the range of 10 to 20 . At those l ocat i ons where
drai nage gullies wi t h the pot ent i al for channel i zi ng
debris flows intersect slope classes < 10 t hen the forma-
t i on of a debris fan is likely, the di mensi ons of whi ch can
be est i mat ed by appl yi ng the appropri at e values for
deposi t i on in Tabl e 2 to a suitable source volume.
For example assumi ng a maxi mum source vol ume of
1500 m 3 and addi t i onal ent r ai nment of debris of say
2000 m 3 (assumi ng erosi on al ong the complete l engt h of
the l ongest drai nage line), this will give a maxi mum
likely channel i zed debris flow of 3500 m 3. I f 30% of this
combi ned vol ume deposits as a debris fan, t hen the
debris fan will be 70 m l ong f r om the deposi t i on poi nt ,
i f an average deposi t i on t hi ckness of 0. 7m and a
maxi mum 30 m wide debris fan is assumed.
RAI NFALL- I NDUCED LANDSLIDES 257
Sl ope angl e Hazard Zone Descri pt i on
< 10 Limit of debris fan deposition for potential channelised debris flows
10-20
20-30
Limit of debris fan deposition for potential non channelised debris
flows
> 3 0 Zone of most landslide sources
f J Main drainage The most likely flow path for potential channelised debris flows
gullies
Scal e
0 400m
I , I [
. ' . ' . ' . ' . ' . ' . ' . ' . ' . ' . ' . ' A
i : ! : i : ! : ! : ! : ! : ! : ! : ! : i : i t
on.
J
Fig. 7. Preliminary hazard zone map for the Tung Chung study area.
D i s c u s s i o n
The landslide characteristics from the 1992 and 1993
rainstorms have been compared with those landslide
characteristics that can be obtained from interpretation
of the available aerial phot ographs over the 50-year
period 1945 to 1995. This indicates that intense rain-
storms during this period in Hong Kong have resulted in
widespread landsliding in the study area.
The results of the study indicate t hat channelized
debris flows generally result in a greater magnitude of
mobilized debris with consequent longer debris run-out
t han non-channelized debris flows. Consequentially this
larger volume of debris will produce a greater deposition
fan area.
258 C. A. M. FRANKS
Review of all the aerial phot ogr aphi c evidence and
compar i son wi t h the field evidence of landslides gener-
ated duri ng the 1992 and 1993 rai nst orms indicates t hat
a channel i zed debris flow mobi l i zi ng about 2300 m 3 of
mat eri al , wi t h a debris r un- out (trail length) of 450 m is
likely to be the maxi mum debris flow landslide t hat has
occurred duri ng the last 50 years. However, based on the
average erosi on rate of about 3.7 m3/m (Table 2) estab-
lished for channel i zed debris flow in the study area the
pot ent i al for the ent r ai nment of addi t i onal debris of
about 2000 m 3 is a possibility for the longest drai nage
gullies.
For downsl ope devel opment s at the footslopes (i.e on
slopes less t han about 20 ) of nat ur al t errai n t hat is
drai ned by gullies wi t h steep slope gradients this type of
landslide is pot ent i al l y the most hazardous. However,
devel opment s on slope gradients greater t han about
20 will also be at risk to hazards resulting from
non-channel i zed debris flows.
The Tung Chung devel opment area is bounded to
the southwest by nat ur al t errai n wi t h slope gradients
generally greater t han 20 . However, a number of gullies
wi t h steep downsl ope gradi ent intersect this develop-
ment boundar y and provi de pot ent i al flow pat hs for
channel i zed debris flows.
This study has exami ned the characteristics of rain-
st orm i nduced landslides on nat ur al t errai n above the
Tung Chung New Town and defined those criteria
influencing the debris flow pat hs and deposi t i on areas
of these landslides and hence the zones of hazard
for downsl ope developments. These criteria are: the
maxi mum likely landslide source volume, whet her the
likely landslide trail is const rai ned or non-const rai ned,
and the downsl ope gradi ent al ong the likely debris trail.
Al t hough recent regional studies (Evans et al. 1997)
have concl uded t hat relative landslide susceptibility at
a part i cul ar l ocat i on is also influenced by bedr ock
geology, this coul d not be confi rmed in this st udy area
where most of the landslide sources were underl ai n by a
single rock type.
The assessed maxi mum likely channel i zed debris flow
and trial length is based on the assumpt i on t hat lands-
liding duri ng the previous 50-year peri od is an i ndi cat i on
of fut ure pot ent i al hazards in the cat chment . The possi-
bility of larger landslides occurring wi t hi n the cat chment
duri ng the next 50 to 100 years cannot be di scount ed on
the basis of the 50-year timescale exami ned using aerial
phot ogr aphi c i nt erpret at i on. However, detailed gr ound
i nvest i gat i on and t opogr aphi c survey al ong all drai nage
lines and hollows woul d be required to i mprove the
hazard definition.
Conclusions
Most of the rai nfal l -i nduced landslides t hat have
occurred on the nat ur al slopes above the Tung Chung
New Town Devel opment are unconst r ai ned wi t h debris
volumes generally less t han 400 m 3. These landslides
generat ed relatively short trails, generally less t han 50 m
in length, with deposi t i on on slope gradients >20 .
The largest magni t ude rai nfal l -i nduced landslides
were those t hat were const rai ned resulting in chan-
nelized debris flows. These are the events t hat produced
the longest trails and debris run-out s and hence are
pot ent i al l y the most hazar dous to downsl ope develop-
ments. Some rai nfal l i nduced channel i zed debris flow
landslides have occurred wi t h debris volumes >2000 m 3.
These landslides generat ed l ong trail lengths some of
which have reached the boundar y areas of the Tung
Chung New Town Devel opment .
Wi t hi n the limits of the accuracy of the field dat a,
baseline values for defining the zones of hazard for
downsl ope devel opment have been established as
follows:
Most landslide sources ori gi nat e from areas wi t h
slope angles greater t han 30 .
Typi cal l y unconst r ai ned landslides have a source vol-
ume of less t han 400 m 3 and are likely to f or m a debris
fan on slope angles less t han about 20 . A relatively
few unconst rai ned landslides have a source vol ume
greater t han 400 m 3 and are likely to f or m a debris fan
on more gentle slope angles havi ng a lower bound of
about 10 .
For const rai ned landslides, the source vol ume is typi-
cally greater t han 400 m 3 and the limit of debris fan
f or mat i on is likely to be on slope angles less t han 10 .
The trail lengths typically range from 5 to 100m
for unconst rai ned landslides and from 25 t o 450 m for
const rai ned landslides.
Acknowledgements. This paper is published with the permis-
sion of the Mr B. M. T. Lain, Director of Civil Engineering of
the Hong Kong Government.
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Received 23 June 1997; accepted 20 November 1998
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