ABSTRACT
Landslides are of interest to geographers for three main reasons. First, by eroding, transporting and depositing soil and rock, they represent one of the important geomorphic processes involved in shaping the surface of the Earth. In unstable areas, they may displace up to 2000 m3/km2/year (Crozier 1989), severely depleting the soil resource and threatening the sustainability of primary production (Sidle et al. 1985). Although they are particularly common in tectonically active mountainous areas, and along river banks and coasts, they may also occur in other areas that have weak material or a susceptible geological structure.
