Landslides in the Hunter Valley

Stephen Fityus

Landslide manifest in many different forms, largely dictated by geological conditions and geomorphic processes. The Hunter Valley lies at a confluence of different geological conditions, giving rise to particular styles of landslide in different parts.

The northern margin of the Narrabeen Group is prone to block sliding on a large scale, where deep valley incision forms high, subvertical cliffs of considerable height. The Newcastle Coal Measures, characterised by conglomerates and tuffs, has a history of block sliding in a smaller scale in urban areas. North of the Hunter Thrust, thick sandstone beds in the Southern New England Fold Belt sequences have produced some spectacular block slide failures resulting in unusual topographic features.

Tertiary basalts of the Merriwa Plateau, Liverpool Ranges and Barrington Plateau host diverse variety of slides in the topographically immature landscapes of the Great Dividing Range. This talk presents examples of these different types of slides, and explains how the different geological and geomorphic factors of the Hunter Valley combine to produce them.

About the speaker

Stephen Fityus Geotechnical Engineer and Engineering Geologist, Douglas Partners

Dr Stephen Fityus is a geotechnical engineer and engineering geologist with more than 35 years experience across a broad range of subject areas in both disciplines. The majority of his career has been spent teaching geotechnical engineering and engineering geology as a professor at the University of Newcastle, where he published more than 200 technical papers, on topics including reactive soils, unsaturated soils, shear strength in soils and rocks, rockfall phenomena, landslides, coal mine waste rock and mine subsidence. A substantial part of his career has also been spent as a consulting geologist and engineer, where most recently, he was a principal in Douglas Partners’ Newcastle office. He participated in the committees which formulates AS2870.2011 and AS1726.2017, and is currently contributing to a working group for the revision of the AGS Landslide Risk Management documents.

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