Osaka Branch Office, Nippon Koei Co., Ltd., Osaka, Japan

For rocks of similar types and mineralogies the clay content of slip-surface materials can be directly related to the displacement and history of slide movement. This study indicates that the type of slip surface ranges from: (1) striation type (showing only striations on bedrock without clay), to (2) brecciated type (clayey breccia), (3) mylonite type (clay with breccia), and to (4) clay type (clay without breccia). If the slip surface occurs in tuff or tuffaceous materials and is subjected to increasing slide movement, the smectite content in the slip-surface clay increases, while the silicate mineral content decreases. Furthermore, the smectite content is observed to increase within the same landslide from the head to the toe portion of the landslide (direction of groundwater flow). The groundwater along the slip surface (above the impervious zone) contains an increased concentration of Ca⁺⁺ ions. As the concentration of HCO₃^? ions exceeds 40 mg/l, an environment is created that promotes the formation of smectite. This process indicates that there is an active ion exchange within the groundwater near the slip surface that forms smectite. Thus, the formation of smectite in the slip surface requires the presence of tuff and a sufficient concentration of HCO₃^? ions in the groundwater.

The study results presented here indicate that frictional resistance decreases as clay content increases. The reason for repeated movement of Japanese landslides in Tertiary tuffs or tuffaceous rocks at or in the immediate vicinity of the slip surface is attributed to: (1) an increase in clay materials along the slip surface as the slide movement is repeated and (2) the presence of groundwater that promotes the formation of smectite. As is commonly known, smectite is one of the clay minerals that has lowest frictional resistance.