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102nd Annual Meeting of the Cordilleran Section, GSA, 81st Annual Meeting of the Pacific Section, AAPG, and the Western Regional Meeting of the Alaska Section, SPE (8–10 May 2006)

Paper No. 16
Presentation Time: 8:00 AM-11:30 AM

LANDSLIDE ACTIVITY IN THE WEST HILLS OF PORTLAND, OREGON COMPARED TO RAINFALL AND SOIL MOISTURE DATA


THEULE, Joshua I., Geology, Portland State University, 7055 SW IVY Lane #2, Portland, OR 97225, jtheule@pdx.edu

The goal for the project in the West Hills of Portland, Oregon is to find relationships between rainfall, landslide occurrences, and soil moisture. Data are being collected and analyzed from a HOBOware logger and software (provided by the USGS). This logger measures the rainfall, air and soil temperature and pressure, and soil moisture at three horizons. Data will be monitored and recorded every 15 minutes from January 2006 to April 2006.

The West Hills of Portland have a similar geology, which consists of loess covering basalts, with the loess being an ML soil. The soil moisture readings are being taken in the A, Btj, and Bx horizons of the ML soil. What is expected is a positive correlation between the moisture of the A and Btj soils to the rainfall and landslide activity in the West Hills area. Further analysis may determine when slope failures occur during and after rainfall events, saturation rates and drainage rates, and effects of long extended rainfalls on the soils. Understanding the rate of response to rainfall in different levels of the soils in the area and comparing them to the landslide activity are other steps in assessing landslide hazards within the Portland Metro area.

Session No. 20--Booth# 16

GSA: Glacial Lakes, Landslides, Landforms, and Climate Change (Posters)
Tuesday, 9 May 2006: 8:00 AM-11:30 AM
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 38, No. 5, p.31
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