Degree Name

MS (Master of Science)

Program

Geosciences

Date of Award

5-2024

Committee Chair or Co-Chairs

Arpita Nandi

Committee Members

Eileen Ernenwein, Andrew Joyner

Abstract

Landslides are mass movements that affect infrastructure across East Tennessee, causing problems for the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT). An assessment of conditions and locations of unstable slopes can aid TDOT in infrastructure management. Landslide susceptibility was evaluated for Anderson and Morgan counties, TN, off State Route 116 in the New River watershed. Susceptibility maps used a landslide inventory and six factors: elevation, slope, geology, distance from stream, rainfall, and curvature, input in forest-based classification and logistic regression models. Additionally, affected trees along these unstable slopes in Anderson and Morgan counties were cored to analyze mass movement impacts on tree rings. This research demonstrates the importance of causative factors used to model landslide susceptible areas and how trees rings can carry the signature of landslides. These two studies can help aid in mitigation practices for TDOT and potentially apply landslide susceptibility research to other parts of East Tennessee.

Document Type

Thesis - embargo

Copyright

Copyright by the authors.

Available for download on Sunday, June 15, 2025

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