Figure 5. Map (drawn to scale) of a March 1997 landslide at Bunganuc Bluff, Brunswick. The main, contiguous slide mass extends about 70 feet from the base of the bluff, but several sizable blocks of clay, called "outrunners," were propelled well out onto the wet, slippery tidal flat. Grass and trees indicate that some blocks were at the top of the bluff before the slide. Bedding in the displaced blocks is tilted generally back toward the bluff, as illustrated by the map symbols. This backward tilt is typical of a rotational slump in which the slope failure occurs on curved planes behind the bluff face. The higher blocks move down on nearly vertical surfaces, and the weak clay at the base of the bluff is forced outward laterally onto the tidal flat. For a cross-section perspective, see Figure 6.

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Last updated on October 6, 2005

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