Richard M. Iverson (Former Employee)
Science and Products
My research career, including information about the debris flow experimental flume facility, is docuymented in this memoir.
Landslide disparities, flume discoveries, and Oso despair Landslide disparities, flume discoveries, and Oso despair
Landslide dynamics is the branch of science that seeks to understand the motion of landslides by applying Newton's laws. This memoir focusses on a 40‐year effort to understand motion of highly mobile—and highly lethal—landslides such as debris avalanches and debris flows. A major component of this work entailed development and operation of the U.S. Geological Survey debris flow flume, a...
Authors
Richard M. Iverson
Filter Total Items: 120
Book review of The Stability of Slopes, by E.N. Bromhead, Chapman and Hall, New York, 373. p. Book review of The Stability of Slopes, by E.N. Bromhead, Chapman and Hall, New York, 373. p.
No abstract available.
Authors
Richard M. Iverson
The physics of debris flows — A conceptual assessment The physics of debris flows — A conceptual assessment
Debris flows exhibit conspicuous dynamic interactions among their solid and fluid constituents. Key features of the interactions are neglected in traditional theories that treat debris flows as viscoplastic continua or as uniformly dispersed grain flows, but improved understanding of grain-grain and fluid-grain interactions has emerged from recent experimental and theoretical research...
Authors
Richard M. Iverson, Roger P. Denlinger
Rainfall, ground-water flow, and seasonal movement at Minor Creek landslide, northwestern California: Physical interpretation of empirical relations Rainfall, ground-water flow, and seasonal movement at Minor Creek landslide, northwestern California: Physical interpretation of empirical relations
Simple ground-water flow analyses can clarify complex empirical relations between rainfall and landslide motion. Here we present detailed data on rainfall, ground-water flow, and repetitive seasonal motion that occurred from 1982 to 1985 at Minor Creek landslide in northwestern California, and we interpret these data in the context of physically based theories. We find that landslide...
Authors
R.M. Iverson, J. J. Major
Groundwater Seepage Vectors and the Potential for Hillslope Failure and Debris Flow Mobilization Groundwater Seepage Vectors and the Potential for Hillslope Failure and Debris Flow Mobilization
Insight for understanding the effect of groundwater flow on the potential for hillslope failure and liquefaction is provided by a novel limit‐equilibrium analysis of infinite slopes with steady, uniform Darcian seepage of arbitrary magnitude and direction. Normalization of the limit‐equilibrium solution shows that three dimensionless parameters govern completely the Coulomb failure...
Authors
Richard M. Iverson, Jon J. Major
Unsteady, nonuniform landslide motion: 2. Linearized theory and the kinematics of transient response Unsteady, nonuniform landslide motion: 2. Linearized theory and the kinematics of transient response
Unsteady, nonuniform landslide motion is caused by temporal and spatial variations in driving and resisting forces. Common sources of these variations include stream undercutting of landslide toes, episodic headscarp slumping, and ground-water potentiometric fluctuations. A linear theory for the kinematics of unsteady, nonuniform landslide motion is developed here by analyzing the...
Authors
Richard M. Iverson
Unsteady, nonuniform landslide motion: 1. Theoretical dynamics and the steady datum state Unsteady, nonuniform landslide motion: 1. Theoretical dynamics and the steady datum state
Unsteady, nonuniform motion of persistently active landslides is a process of widespread importance. A general, three-dimensional theory aimed at elucidating this process is developed from physical principles and field measurements of landslide behavior. The theory employs a versatile constitutive model that represents landslides as deformable bodies composed of frictional, nonlinear...
Authors
Richard M. Iverson
Dynamics of slow landslides: a theory for time-dependent behavior Dynamics of slow landslides: a theory for time-dependent behavior
No abstract available.
Authors
Richard M. Iverson
Book review of Slope Instability, D. Brunsden and D.B. Prior, eds., Wiley, New York, 620 p. Book review of Slope Instability, D. Brunsden and D.B. Prior, eds., Wiley, New York, 620 p.
No abstract available.
Authors
Richard M. Iverson
Groundwater flow and mass-movement dynamics, [abs.] Groundwater flow and mass-movement dynamics, [abs.]
No abstract available.
Authors
R.M. Iverson
A constitutive equation for mass-movement behavior A constitutive equation for mass-movement behavior
A phenomenological constitutive equation can serve as a basis for modeling and classifying mass-movement processes. The equation is derived using the principles of continuum mechanics and several simplifying assumptions about mass-movement behavior. These assumptions represent idealizations of field behavior, but they appear highly justifiable in light of the geomorphological insight...
Authors
Richard M. Iverson
Non-USGS Publications**
Iverson, R.M., 1980, Processes of accelerated pluvial erosion on desert hillslopes modified by vehicular traffic: Earth Surface Processes, v. 5, no. 4, p. 369‑388.
Iverson, R.M., Hinckley, B.S., Webb, R.H., and Hallet, B., 1981, Physical effects of vehicular disturbances on arid landscapes: Science, v. 212, no. 4497, p. 915‑917.
Hinckley, B.S., Iverson, R.M., and Hallet, B., 1983, Accelerated water erosion in ORV‑use areas: Environmental Effects of Off-road Vehicles: Impacts and Management in Arid Regions, R.H. Webb and H.G. Wilshire, eds., Springer‑Verlag, New York, p. 81‑94.
Elvidge, C.D., and Iverson, R.M., 1983, Regeneration of desert pavement and desert varnish: Environmental Effects of Off-road Vehicles: Impacts and Management in Arid regions, R.H. Webb and H.G. Wilshire, eds., Springer‑Verlag, New York, p. 225‑241.
Iverson, R.M., 1983, Discussion of "A model for creeping flow in landslides" by W.Z. Savage and A.F. Chleborad: Bulletin of the Association of Engineering Geologists, v. 20, no. 4, p. 455‑459.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
My research career, including information about the debris flow experimental flume facility, is docuymented in this memoir.
Landslide disparities, flume discoveries, and Oso despair Landslide disparities, flume discoveries, and Oso despair
Landslide dynamics is the branch of science that seeks to understand the motion of landslides by applying Newton's laws. This memoir focusses on a 40‐year effort to understand motion of highly mobile—and highly lethal—landslides such as debris avalanches and debris flows. A major component of this work entailed development and operation of the U.S. Geological Survey debris flow flume, a...
Authors
Richard M. Iverson
Filter Total Items: 120
Book review of The Stability of Slopes, by E.N. Bromhead, Chapman and Hall, New York, 373. p. Book review of The Stability of Slopes, by E.N. Bromhead, Chapman and Hall, New York, 373. p.
No abstract available.
Authors
Richard M. Iverson
The physics of debris flows — A conceptual assessment The physics of debris flows — A conceptual assessment
Debris flows exhibit conspicuous dynamic interactions among their solid and fluid constituents. Key features of the interactions are neglected in traditional theories that treat debris flows as viscoplastic continua or as uniformly dispersed grain flows, but improved understanding of grain-grain and fluid-grain interactions has emerged from recent experimental and theoretical research...
Authors
Richard M. Iverson, Roger P. Denlinger
Rainfall, ground-water flow, and seasonal movement at Minor Creek landslide, northwestern California: Physical interpretation of empirical relations Rainfall, ground-water flow, and seasonal movement at Minor Creek landslide, northwestern California: Physical interpretation of empirical relations
Simple ground-water flow analyses can clarify complex empirical relations between rainfall and landslide motion. Here we present detailed data on rainfall, ground-water flow, and repetitive seasonal motion that occurred from 1982 to 1985 at Minor Creek landslide in northwestern California, and we interpret these data in the context of physically based theories. We find that landslide...
Authors
R.M. Iverson, J. J. Major
Groundwater Seepage Vectors and the Potential for Hillslope Failure and Debris Flow Mobilization Groundwater Seepage Vectors and the Potential for Hillslope Failure and Debris Flow Mobilization
Insight for understanding the effect of groundwater flow on the potential for hillslope failure and liquefaction is provided by a novel limit‐equilibrium analysis of infinite slopes with steady, uniform Darcian seepage of arbitrary magnitude and direction. Normalization of the limit‐equilibrium solution shows that three dimensionless parameters govern completely the Coulomb failure...
Authors
Richard M. Iverson, Jon J. Major
Unsteady, nonuniform landslide motion: 2. Linearized theory and the kinematics of transient response Unsteady, nonuniform landslide motion: 2. Linearized theory and the kinematics of transient response
Unsteady, nonuniform landslide motion is caused by temporal and spatial variations in driving and resisting forces. Common sources of these variations include stream undercutting of landslide toes, episodic headscarp slumping, and ground-water potentiometric fluctuations. A linear theory for the kinematics of unsteady, nonuniform landslide motion is developed here by analyzing the...
Authors
Richard M. Iverson
Unsteady, nonuniform landslide motion: 1. Theoretical dynamics and the steady datum state Unsteady, nonuniform landslide motion: 1. Theoretical dynamics and the steady datum state
Unsteady, nonuniform motion of persistently active landslides is a process of widespread importance. A general, three-dimensional theory aimed at elucidating this process is developed from physical principles and field measurements of landslide behavior. The theory employs a versatile constitutive model that represents landslides as deformable bodies composed of frictional, nonlinear...
Authors
Richard M. Iverson
Dynamics of slow landslides: a theory for time-dependent behavior Dynamics of slow landslides: a theory for time-dependent behavior
No abstract available.
Authors
Richard M. Iverson
Book review of Slope Instability, D. Brunsden and D.B. Prior, eds., Wiley, New York, 620 p. Book review of Slope Instability, D. Brunsden and D.B. Prior, eds., Wiley, New York, 620 p.
No abstract available.
Authors
Richard M. Iverson
Groundwater flow and mass-movement dynamics, [abs.] Groundwater flow and mass-movement dynamics, [abs.]
No abstract available.
Authors
R.M. Iverson
A constitutive equation for mass-movement behavior A constitutive equation for mass-movement behavior
A phenomenological constitutive equation can serve as a basis for modeling and classifying mass-movement processes. The equation is derived using the principles of continuum mechanics and several simplifying assumptions about mass-movement behavior. These assumptions represent idealizations of field behavior, but they appear highly justifiable in light of the geomorphological insight...
Authors
Richard M. Iverson
Non-USGS Publications**
Iverson, R.M., 1980, Processes of accelerated pluvial erosion on desert hillslopes modified by vehicular traffic: Earth Surface Processes, v. 5, no. 4, p. 369‑388.
Iverson, R.M., Hinckley, B.S., Webb, R.H., and Hallet, B., 1981, Physical effects of vehicular disturbances on arid landscapes: Science, v. 212, no. 4497, p. 915‑917.
Hinckley, B.S., Iverson, R.M., and Hallet, B., 1983, Accelerated water erosion in ORV‑use areas: Environmental Effects of Off-road Vehicles: Impacts and Management in Arid Regions, R.H. Webb and H.G. Wilshire, eds., Springer‑Verlag, New York, p. 81‑94.
Elvidge, C.D., and Iverson, R.M., 1983, Regeneration of desert pavement and desert varnish: Environmental Effects of Off-road Vehicles: Impacts and Management in Arid regions, R.H. Webb and H.G. Wilshire, eds., Springer‑Verlag, New York, p. 225‑241.
Iverson, R.M., 1983, Discussion of "A model for creeping flow in landslides" by W.Z. Savage and A.F. Chleborad: Bulletin of the Association of Engineering Geologists, v. 20, no. 4, p. 455‑459.
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.