10 Geologic Hazards of the South-Central United States

Tuesday, 1 April 2008
8:00 AM - 11:00 AM

JONES LANDSLIDE, POTTSVILLE, ARKANSAS - TWO YEARS OF MONITORING

Paper number: 10-4
Program: THEME SESSIONS
Time: 9:00 AM – 9:20 AM

Authors

Abstract

The Jones landslide occurred after a major rain event in October 2004 following a period of drought on the site of a formerly reclaimed shale pit near Pottville, Arkansas at N35 15 11.70, W 93 01 27.91. This is in section 16, T7N, R19W, on the USGS Russellville East 7.5-minute topographic quadrangle, Pope County, Arkansas.

Monitoring of the landslide began June 3, 2005 and involved 5 site visits in 2005 and 1 site visit in 2007. Local rainfall was monitored from 4/28/05 to 3/24/06 from the Russellville airport reporting station ~2 miles from the site. Both GPS and digital images were used to establish change with time, particularly along the toe of the slide. Stakes were set along the toe and monitored as to their condition and attitude during visits.

The slide is not endangering any buildings or property of significance as it is simply moving downslope into a shallow depression left by the removal of shale from the original pit. Therefore, given permission from the property owner, it is expected to be usable for years to come for site visitation and educational purposes.

Conditions of the materials and mechanisms of mass movement for this locality will be discussed. Mapped changes with time will be shown graphically as well as surface features common to landslides in general.