About this Research Topic
Despite this, they are often evoked either in rock masses or earth slopes, the predisposing, preparatory and triggering contributions in controlling slope stability are often fragmentary accounted for or not mutually interconnected, since rare are the benchmark datasets that allow a systematic and mutual analysis of the direct and indirect causal relationships. For these reasons, the availability of massive monitoring data from real natural laboratories or experimental sites becomes crucial for depicting reliable future scenarios.
To better constrain the effects of time-dependent processes and of the variety of actions on geological contexts predisposed to landslides, the effect of rainfalls, thermal weathering caused by daily and seasonal, heating and cooling, weakening, and damage caused by freezing and thawing or wildfires and fatigue actions controlling the mechanical behavior of slopes have to be accounted for.
This Research Topic aims to improve the understanding of landslide processes and mutual cause-effect interactions among slope deformation and environmental forcings based on long-lasting time series analysis.
Quantitative evaluation of the impact of dynamic stressors including ordinary and heavy rainfalls, seismic actions, temperature fluctuations, anthropogenic factors on landslide dynamics and on future scenarios, becomes crucial in view of planning strategies and adaptation actions that both increase human safety and resilience facing a changing climate.
Submission of Datasets, methodological improvements and recent technological innovations based on geophysical approaches, laboratory characterization, field monitoring and quantitative modelling, are thus encouraged.
In this Research Topic, contributions of knowledge-gap-filling approaches resulting from different strategies and methodologies devoted to the understanding of slope dynamics, eventually achieved in natural field laboratories, experimental sites or analogue laboratory experiences are considered.
We welcome submissions of outstanding and original Research, Methods, Technical notes, Code articles and Brief Reports. The proposal of Review articles framing the Research Topic dedicated to hazard-oriented monitoring approaches will be analyzed and discussed.
Key themes include, but are not limited to:
- Monitoring of environmental and climatic forcings driving slope instabilities;
- Analysis of environmental preparatory and triggering factors controlling landslide activity;
- Numerical modelling of thermally and rainfall-induces failures in jointed rock mass and earth slopes;
- Laboratory investigations of fatigue and weathering of rocks and soils;
- Analogue modelling of slope stability in rocks and soils;
- Sensor solutions for real-time monitoring and time-to-failure prediction.
Keywords: Landslides, Slope Stability, Environmental Forcings, Weathering, Temperature Changes, Rainfalls, Climate Actions, Survey, Laboratory, Investigation, Monitoring, Modelling
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.