Abstract: This dataset depicts landslide locations observed in 1990 for the island of Tutuila, American Samoa. The data was digitized from a mosaic of scanned paper maps produced in conjuction with a Landslide Mitigation Study for Tutuila Island by the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Soil Conservation Service (USDA/SCS) for the American Samoa Coastal Management Program, October 30, 1990.
Purpose: Landslides are a recurring problem in American Samoa. While those caused by natural slippage of soil are not uncommon, by far the majority of landslides on Tutuila are the result of slope failure associated with the excavation of foundation pads or access roads to such construction sites. In these cases, the cut slope or resulting fill failed due to a combination of factors related to: 1) soil type; 2) slope; 3) geology; 4) vegetation; and 5) amount of water contained in the soil mass. In compiling these maps, field observations of landslides that occured in 1989 and 1990 were collected and documented for use in determining landslide risk zones (also desplayed on maps supporting this 1990 study.)

Progress: Complete
Update Frequency: Unknown

Theme Keywords: ESRI standard theme codes are used for relating FGDC metadata to the corresponding ISO categories., geoscientificInformation, ErosionAndLandslides
Place Keywords: American Samoa, Tutuila

Access Constraints: none
Usage Constraints: This dataset of observed landslide occurances is not a comprehensive representation of all landslides on Tutuila, American Samoa but only a snapshot in times of those slides still observable in 1990.