What is a potential outcome of water accumulation on a slope?

Water accumulation on a slope can lead to increased landslide risk due to several factors. When water saturates the soil, it can add significant weight to the slope, which might exceed the holding capacity of the material, making it more prone to failure. Additionally, water reduces the cohesion among soil particles and can create hydrostatic pressure within the slope, which ultimately contributes to instability.

As water seeps into the soil, it also fills pore spaces, leading to a decrease in the effective stress that binds the materials together, further increasing the likelihood of a landslide. The combination of these factors means that slopes, when saturated with water, become much more vulnerable to mass movement, highlighting the strong relationship between water accumulation and landslide potential in geophysical processes.