Evaluation of the Causative Factors for Slope Failures in North Dakota
Abstract
A large number of landslides with damage to roads and utilities, destruction of property, and flood risks were encountered in North Dakota (ND). Using a correlation matrix, causative factors such as soil salinity, land cover, geology, average rainfall, and average snowfall were studied. With areas ranging from 103 to 6,977,692 m2, a total of 24,098 landslides were observed. Among these landslides, there were 1,497 large-scale landslides that had areas greater than 100,000 m2. When examining the influence of different parameters using a correlation matrix, more landslides were observed in the northern and western regions of North Dakota, which corresponded to areas with steep slope inclinations, absence of dissolved salt concentrations, and high groundwater tables. Similarly, the correlation matrix for large-scale landslides suggest that the steep slope, leaching of dissolved salts, presence of herbaceous vegetation, and/or presence of rainfall with wetlands was the likely causes for the occurrence of large-scale landslides.