CGRG Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology
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Author : Guthrie, R.H.; and Evans, S.G.
Date : 2005.
Title : The role of magnitude-frequency relations in regional landslide risk analysis.
Publication : Landslide Risk Management: Proceedings of the International Conference on Landslide Risk Management, Vancouver. Edited by: Hungr, O.; Fell, R.; Couture, R.; and Eberhardt, E. Leiden: A.A. Balkema.
Issue :
Page(s) : 375-380.
Abstract
Correct characterization of landslide magnitude and frequency is necessary to adequately resolve the hazard component of the risk equation. Recent work across several watersheds in coastal British Columbia has lead to new insights into magnitude-frequency relationships. These insights include probabilistic data that support the notion that landslides in coastal British Columbia tend to a larger size until limited by the landscape (valley bottoms, streams other landslides). Beyond about 10,000 m2, the probability of successively larger landslides decreases rapidly in a relation typically described as a power law. We elucidate the relative importance of reliable regional inventories, data robustness and resolution (in both space and time), and temporal variation including human activity and climate change. We argue that probabilistic regional hazard analysis is a logical outcome of magnitude frequency analysis and related to the sensitivity of the landscape to the hazard. To this end we have mapped the regional mass movement hazard for Vancouver Island and present the generalized probabilistic result across four major hazard zones.
Bibliography of Canadian Geomorphology