Procedure and results of seismic investigations into causes of landslides in permafrost rocks

Abstract

The article focuses on seismic monitoring of causes of landslides. Such studies are of great importance in open pit mining in permafrost rocks. Extensive mining-induced impact in combination with natural thawing of permafrost as a consequence of the planet warming may end in catastrophe. The authors describe a procedure for plotting velocity profiles of seismic waves along slopes in the presence of extremely contrast discontinuities conditioned by permafrost rocks. The presented approach enables studying slip surfaces of landslides and detecting potential failure zones where wave velocities are lower due to extensive jointing. The processed field data obtained in the area near Chagan-Uzun settlement in Kosh-Agach district of the Republic of Altai are reported.