Rate Assessment of Slope Soil Movement from Tree Trunk Distortion

The chapter presents the methods for determining the rate movement of the slope, which is based on an evaluation of a distortion of the tree trunk. The distortion develops during the growth period of the tree, and its conditions are trajectory and speed of material movement, which takes away the root system of a tree. The distortion of the tree trunk explains kinematics of the root system movement. The distortion curve is constructed from the results of measurements carried out on several horizontal levels of the tree trunk. The speed of movement of the slope is calculated from the age of the tree and the length of the path of movement of the tree, which is derived from the distortion curve of the tree trunk. The length of the track of tree movement is drawn from horizontal position of the gravity point of the curve corresponding with the longitudinal axis of the tree trunk. This method is documented in one example. The method is appropriate to quantify the movement of the latent long slope