Turtle Mountain Field Laboratory, Alberta (NTS 82G): 2008 Data and Activity Summary

The Turtle Mountain Monitoring System is a near-real-time monitoring system that provides data from a series network of more than 80 geotechnical sensors on the South Peak of Turtle Mountain (site of the 1903 Frank Slide) in the Crowsnest Pass. Alberta Geological Survey (AGS) has the responsibility for the long -term monitoring, interpretation of data and notification to the Alberta Emergency Management Agency should significant movements occur.

This report has three main chapters. Information about the major changes to the physical sensor network of the monitoring system during 2008 is in Chapter 2. This includes a review of the main repair and maintenance activities, a summary of new installations and overall system performance and reliability.

Chapter 3 presents a detailed discussion of the interpretations of slope conditions and displacement behaviour from instrumentation results. As weather conditions affected some of the sensors, discussion focuses only on the sensors that have provided reliable annual data.

Chapter 4 focuses on results from recent studies. This includes a revised debris run out analysis and an update on the displacement trends seen on a series of 18 monitoring points as part of a periodic GPS system.