Time-lapse photography of an active coastal-bluff landslide, Mukilteo, Washington, August 2015 - May 2016

Dates

Publication Date: 2020-07-20
Start Date: 2015-08-19
End Date: 2016-05-25

Citation

Smith, J.B., Delius, I., Mirus, B.B, Baum, R.L., 2020, Time-lapse photography of an active coastal-bluff landslide, Mukilteo, Washington, August 2015 - May 2016: U.S Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/P99QOYL2.

Summary

A time-lapse camera was used to document periodic reactivation of a complex landslide on a steep coastal bluff in Mukilteo, Washington. This landslide is one of four monitoring sites initiated by the U.S Geological Survey to investigate hill-slope hydrology and landslide hazards affecting the railway corridor along the eastern shore of Puget Sound between the cities of Seattle and Everett (Mirus et al., 2016; Smith et al. 2017). The camera was installed in the crown of the landslide above the main scarp facing roughly North, with a field of view that includes the head of the landslide body and a minor scarp below. The attached file ‘CameraLocation.PNG’ provides an overview figure of the landslide and the camera’s location relative [...]

Summary

A time-lapse camera was used to document periodic reactivation of a complex landslide on a steep coastal bluff in Mukilteo, Washington. This landslide is one of four monitoring sites initiated by the U.S Geological Survey to investigate hill-slope hydrology and landslide hazards affecting the railway corridor along the eastern shore of Puget Sound between the cities of Seattle and Everett (Mirus et al., 2016; Smith et al. 2017). The camera was installed in the crown of the landslide above the main scarp facing roughly North, with a field of view that includes the head of the landslide body and a minor scarp below. The attached file ‘CameraLocation.PNG’ provides an overview figure of the landslide and the camera’s location relative to the different monitoring stations. It recorded imagery from August 19th, 2015 through May 25th, 2016. The time-lapse photos were taken three times daily (at 9 am, 12 pm, and 4 pm, PST) and stored onsite on a memory card; corresponding intervals between the photographs were 3 hours, 4 hours, and 17 hours (overnight). The time-lapse photos were compiled into a video and five periods of distinct ground movement were identified. Apparent slow and consistent slope-surface movements are recorded during these periods, but subsequent site visits suggest that these slow displacements indirectly triggered topples and debris-avalanche movements both up slope and down slope of the camera’s field of view. The approximate sizes of topples and debris avalanches were on the order of 10⁵ –10⁷cubic centimeters. The video captures slope movements during the time periods of December 8–9, 2015; January 21–30, 2016; and March 9–14, 2016. In addition, the video shows two seemingly “instantaneous” events during the nights of March 23 and March 26. Each of these periods of slope movement also correspond to observed rainfall events and associated subsurface hydrologic responses documented elsewhere (Mirus et al. 2017; Smith et al. 2017).

The time-lapse video can be found in the attached .mp4 file "mukilteo_timelapse_video.mp4"
The individual time-lapse photos can be downloaded from the attached zip file "mukilteo_timelapse_photos.zip." More detailed information about the camera and settings used can be found in the metadata file.

The following citations relate to reports that provide background information and are intended to accompany this data release.

Mirus, B. B., Smith, J. B., Stark, B., Lewis, Y., Michel, A., & Baum, R. L. (2016). Assessing landslide potential on coastal bluffs near Mukilteo, Washington—Geologic site characterization for hydrologic monitoring. (U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Rep., 2016-1082, 28). Reston, VA: U.S. Geological Survey. https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20161082

Smith, J. B., Baum, R. L., Mirus, B. B., Michel, A., & Stark, B. (2017). Results of hydrologic monitoring on landslide-prone coastal bluffs near Mukilteo, Washington (U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Rep., 2017–1095, 47 p.). Reston, VA: U.S. Geological Survey. https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20171095

Mirus, B. B., Smith, J. B., & Baum, R. L. (2017). Hydrologic impacts of landslide disturbances: implications for remobilization and hazard persistence. Water Resources Research, 53. https://doi.org/10.1002/2017WR020842

Contacts

Point of Contact :: Rex L Baum
Originator :: Joel B Smith, Inge Delius, Benjamin B Mirus, Rex L Baum
Metadata Contact :: Inge Delius
Publisher :: U.S. Geological Survey
Distributor :: U.S. Geological Survey - ScienceBase
USGS Mission Area :: Natural Hazards
SDC Data Owner :: Earthquake Hazards Program

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Time-lapse photography of an active coastal-bluff landslide, Mukilteo, Washington, August 2015 - May 2016.xml Original FGDC Metadata	View	13.51 KB	application/fgdc+xml
Mukilteo_timelapse_photos.zip		593.3 MB	application/zip
mukilteo-timelapse.mp4		148.37 MB	video/mp4
camera_location.PNG “A: Cross-sectional view of instrument cluster elevations at the Landslide Scar”		335.35 KB	image/png

Related External Resources

Type: Publication that references this resource

Mirus, B.B., Smith, J.B., Stark, Benjamin, Lewis, York, Michel, Abigail, and Baum, R.L., 2016, Assessing landslide potential on coastal bluffs near Mukilteo, Washington—Geologic site characterization for hydrologic monitoring: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2016–1082, 28 p.	https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20161082
Smith, J.B., Baum, R.L., Mirus, B.B., Michel, A.R., and Stark, B., 2017, Results of hydrologic monitoring on landslide-prone coastal bluffs near Mukilteo, Washington: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2017–1095, 48 p.	https://doi.org/10.3133/ofr20171095

Type: Browse Image

A: Cross-sectional view of instrument cluster elevations at the Landslide Scar (LS) monitoring sites. B: Plan view of the LS monitoring sites and camera location relative to sites	https://www.sciencebase.gov/catalog/file/get/5ef2388382ced62aaae3bbbe?f=__disk__8f%2F32%2F18%2F8f3218f3892dbcd99c6127a74223e8402ddaf69f&allowOpen=true

Purpose

The purpose of this dataset is to present the time-lapse images collected at an active coastal-bluff landslide in Mukilteo, Washington from August 2015-May 2016.

Time-lapse photography of an active coastal-bluff landslide, Mukilteo, Washington, August 2015 - May 2016

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