January 10, 2011
World's Largest Landslide
Located in western Iran is the Saidmareh Landslide that has been identified as the world's largest landslide. Occurring about 10,000 years ago, the slide is the length about 9 miles wide, and with a surface area of 64 square miles. This occurred when about five cubic miles of lower Miocene and Eocene limestone detached. Even some of the material in the slide moved over a length of 9 miles.
Resulting from this slide blocked up the Karkheh river that eventually produced a large lake. This lake survived long enough that around 150 meters of sediment accumulated along the bottom, then the pressure from the lake breached the natural dam and produced a channel though it.
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