Schenectady County Landslides

During the Silurian period, approximately 420 million years ago the rock bed central New York sits on was formed. In comparison the soils in the area only date 12 to 14 thousand years back in comparison. This resulted because archeological evidence shows that the Tully Valley as we know it today used to be underwater 500-300million years ago (Baldauf, 2003). One effect of this is there are a lot of trapped salt minerals that built up over the years and lithified to become rock. During the last glacial event about 8,000 years ago Tully was cut into the “U” shaped valley we recognize today. After the warming event and the ice receded moraines and kames, glacial land forms became visible in the till left in the valley. The Tully was a lake for a while similar to the Finger Lakes running north to south (Baldauf, 2003). Contrarily to the Finger Lakes the Tully Valley sits higher above sea level and it eventually drained. Today only two main creeks are the only remaining water in the valley, Rainbow, and Rattle Snake which flow along the 1200ft incline.

There are six different types of water erosion: splash erosion, sheet erosion, rill erosion, gully erosion, valley or stream erosion, and bank erosion. Splash erosion is when raindrops hit soil and small soil particles are displaced. Sheet erosion is when raindrops remove soil in thin layers. During rill erosion, small concentrated flow paths are created. “These paths create a sediment source and delivery system for hillslope erosion. Areas where precipitation rates exceed soil infiltration rates are more prone to this type of erosion. During gully erosion, water flows in narrow channels during or after heavy rains or melting snow. The gullies can erode to considerable depths. Valley or stream erosion is created by water flowing alongside land. It extends downward, deepening a valley, and extending the valley into the hillside. This occurs more frequently

On April 29, 1903 the Frank Slide occurred at 4:10 am. It is said that the slide lasted as long as 90 seconds. The first spur entrapped the miners, while destroying the power plant, telegraph lines and the Canadian Pacific Railway line. The second spur which consisted of limestone rocks, traveled east which destroyed many farmhouses. The final spur consisted of mud in which also destroyed many homes. The Frank mine was temporarily opened after being repaired in May of 1903. It has since been permanently closed beginning in 1911.

Tiny dots of white against the plant-covered landscape (red in this image) are possible landslides, a common occurrence in mountainous terrain after large earthquakes. The Enriquillo-Plantain Garden fault zone runs along the two linear valleys at the top of the imageThe magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake occurred inland,

This escarpment is considered one of the natural wonders in Canada and a great place for a little family trip. This allows families to spend time together while exploring one of the oldest and the largest geological areas. There are several landforms to visit at Niagara Escarpment.Some of these include, limestone cracks, crevices and Lake Crawford, a rare and unique meromictic lake. A meromictic lake means that the lake has layers of water that do not intermix. This also means that whatever goes into the water stays down due to the lack of oxygen underwater in meromictic lakes. Due to this the lake is not used for water supply.The escarpment is also a great place to learn about its geological history and to see wildlife, landforms and orchids that are not seen anywhere else. Several landforms found here include dried out waterfalls, fossils, steep slopes, limestone and dolostone. Endemic species found in Niagara Escarpment include the Blue Jays, Turkey Vultures and Hooded warblers. Various orchids that can been seen are the Calypso Orchid , Ram's-head Lady-slipper and Alaska Rein Orchid. Its history dates back 430-450 millions years when the area was flooded with a shallow sea. Rivers and bodies of water would carry sand and take it to the ancient seas. They would also carry silt and clay creating sediment. At this time organic material rich with lime was accumulating. During the span of a million years,

water fractures within the earth. Causing certain areas of the land to have an earthquake effect

In the United States alone, landslides are estimated to cause 25 to 50 deaths and over one billion dollars in damage every year (Landslides 101). Landslides may be caused by natural factors or man-made events. Natural factors include over steepened slopes created through erosion caused by rivers, heavy rains or snowmelt saturation slopes and

The town of Putney is situated in the south eastern corner of Vermont, in the Connecticut River Valley. Although the town occupies just 26.8 square miles, the diversity of its soils is remarkable. The variation of Putney’s soils has led to a wide range of land uses depending on the soil type, and its position on the landscape. By exploring the factors that contributed to the formation of Putney’s soils, and by discussing the characteristics of those soils, this paper will explain the significance of the town’s land use.

The Taconic orogeny is evidenced in the Hudson Valley. This orogeny has formed by the convergence of the Laurentia and the Shelburne arc. The Taconic orogeny has led to the formation of sedimentary rocks that can be classified into autochthonous and allochthonous, whereas the Normanskill formation is autochthonous, and five distinctive thrust slices from the low Taconic sequence are allochthonous. Another feature is the Cortland Complex, which is a late Ordovician magmatic intrusion formed by norite, gabbro, hornblende norite, monzodiorite, diorite, hornblende pyroxenite, and peridotite. The sedimentary rocks in the Dutchess county and Westchester counties, New York, have suffered metamorphism due to convergence activities as well as magma

On March 22nd, 2014, one of the deadliest landslide disasters occurred in Northwest Washington. There was tragic loss of life and destruction of property. Debris covered approximately 40 homes and nearly a mile of State Rt. 530. It is commonly known as the “Oso Landslide” because of the location of this tragedy. On this day, Steelhead Haven, near Oso, WA would suffer the loss of 43 fatalities.

Next, geo-process is earthquakes. Earthquakes are caused when two transform plates are pushing past each other until one of the plates slip causing sudden movement under the surface. The sudden movement causes shaking on the earth above the fault. The shaking creates buildings to fall and for cracks to appear on the surface.  “The quake swallowed roads, twisted railway lines and left towns and cities

A hazard can best be defined as a 'situation that poses a level of threat to life, health, property or the environment.' The overall impact of earthquakes as a natural hazard varies greatly from one place and timeframe to another. As do the types of hazards, which are categorised into primary and secondary. Primary hazards are created by the direct seismic energy of an earthquake; this could include liquefaction, slope failure and tsunamis. These primary hazards can in turn trigger secondary hazards such as floods, fires, disease and destabilisation of infrastructure. A number of factors play a part in determining the severity

From here the whole valley could be seen and it was easily observed where the glaciers cut into the valley. The second site was a field across from the street from the mudboil. This site was underneath where the slide happened. It used to be farm land, but since the slide the soil has not been able to support anything but invasive species. Additionally, there are now standing pools of salt water in the field that were not there before. Walking through the field the high sulfur content can easily be smelled, which is a result of the slide. The valley face now has a steep grade that was left there after the loss of soil from the slide. The third site was the Onondaga Creek. The creek is extremely turbid due to a high amount of sediment carried by the water. This sediment is lacustrine material, mostly clay, and gets deposited further downstream. The fourth site was a view of the alluvial fan. This is a cone shaped fan that spreads out water and debris. It gives an idea of where the water and soil were forced to go during the slide. The final site was the mudboil and its connection to the Onondaga Creek. Walking into the mudboil there are recessional rings, which are evidence of material slipping and causing an increase in pressure. There is some moving water, but it is from a lateral source. The mudboil itself is formed by a vertical poll of water. The ground in the mudboil looks solid but is actually soft and unsupportive. If there was a need to release pressure there would have been a small eruption of water in the mudboil. The water coming out would contain sediments and drains towards the

Earthquake Hazards occur when there are adverse effects on human activities. This can include surface faulting, ground shaking and liquefaction. In this essay I will be discussing the factors that affect earthquakes, whether human such as population density, urbanisation and earthquake mitigation or physical such as liquefaction, magnitude, landslides and proximity to the focus.

     Although it is certain that violent Earth tremors in themselves are destructive, there are often other kinds of Earth movements that are triggered by earthquake shock waves. Thus, the violent shaking that accompanies many earthquakes often causes rockslides, snow avalanches, and landslides. In some areas these events are frequently more devastating than the Earth tremor itself.