Schley Canyon stretches from Magnuson Way down to a beach between the Manette and Warren Avenue bridges. Along the way, it cuts through the Bremerton Gardens apartments, and borders both the Bremerton Ice Center and homes on Marlow Avenue. The water flowing through the canyon was once known as McDougal Creek, but has since been reclassified as simply drainage water. This waterflow varies significantly depending on the time of year, with the strongest flows being seen during winter months.
Schley Canyon has a history of mudslides. In December 2007, a sizable piece of Lower Wheaton Way was wiped out and fell into the canyon. It took about three years for the repairs to be completed. Then again in November of 2012, a wave of mud and debris surged down a bank, jumped a creek bed and lodged up against a city utility pump station. The canyon had since been evaluated by geologists, but there were no red flags that another mudslide was imminent.
Landslides occur when masses of rock, earth, or debris move down a slope. Debris flows, also known as mudslides, are a common type of fast-moving landslide that are particularly dangerous to life and property because they move quickly, destroy objects in their paths, and often strike without warning.
Landslides are caused by disturbances in the natural stability of a slope, which can result from natural erosion, heavy rains, droughts, wildfires, earthquakes, or human activity. Mudslides specifically develop when water rapidly accumulates in the ground and results in a surge of water-saturated rock, earth, and debris.
To log this Earthcache:
Please include in your log a picture of yourself or a personal item in front of the canyon from any available vantage point, and send me the answers to the following questions:
1. Why do you think that this area is prone to mudslides rather than rock falls, slumping, or other types of landslides?
2. What is the most likely cause of the mudslides that occur in this canyon?