The Eureka River landslide and dam, Peace River Lowlands, Alberta

The Eureka River landslide of June 1990, at 50 Mm(3), is one of the largest historical landslides on the Interior Plains of Canada. It is one of seven large translational landslides to have occurred in the Peace River Lowlands within the last 65 years. Each landslide occurred in Quaternary sediments deposited within a preglacial valley. Each landslide formed a dam. The rupture surface of the Eureka River landslide in preglacial lacustrine sediment, 125 m below the Peace River Lowlands plains, extended beneath the river channel causing the channel to be elevated. The resulting landslide dam was over 20 m high, forming a lake exceeding 8 km in length. The river cut a new channel around the toe of the landslide, abandoning the prelandslide channel. As the new channel is free of armour, incision has been rapid. After 10 years, the dam now stands approximately 5 m high.