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Landslides (2016) 13:10671081DOI 10.1007/s10346-015-0668-0 Received: 21 January 2015Accepted: 4 December 2015Published online: 30 December 2015 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
Andrea Wolter I Doug Stead I Brent C. Ward I John J. Clague I Monica Ghirotti
Engineering geomorphologicalcharacterisation of the Vajont Slide, Italy, and a new interpretation of the chronology and evolutionof the landslide
Abstract Although the 1963 Vajont Slide in Italy has been extensively studied for over 50 years, its regional geological and geo-morphological context has been neglected. In this paper, we use field observations and remote sensing data to elucidate the interaction between endogenic and exogenic processes that brought the north slope of Monte Toc to failure. We present the first detailed pre- and post-failure engineering geomorphology maps of the slide area. The maps delineate two main landslide blocks, several sub-blocks, compressional and extensional zones, and secondary failures in the deposit. The maps provide new insights into the kinematics, dynamics and evolution of the slide. Finally, we discuss the origin of Vajont Gorge and a prehistoric failure that occurred at the same location as the 1963 slide. We propose, as part of a newly developed multi-stage landscape evolution sequence, that the prehistoric failure was a deep-seated gravitational slope deformation (sackung) that initiated during deglaciation and continued to slowly move until the catastrophic failure in 1963. We argue that the gorge was created by these deep-seated slow movements.
Keywords Vajont Slide . Engineering geomorphology . Regional geomorphology . Endogenic processes . Exogenicprocesses . Sackung . Rock slope damage
IntroductionThe 1963 Vajont Slide, which resulted from catastrophic failure of the north slope of Monte Toc into Vajont Reservoir in northeast Italy (Fig. 1), is one of the best-studied landslides in the world, with over 200 publications addressing its geological, geotechnical and social aspects. The 250 million m3 rockslide generated a 50 million m3 displacement wave that flooded the town of Longarone and other villages, killing almost 2000 people. Over the past 50 years, researchers have investigated the structure, lithology, hydrogeology, kinematics, dynamics and impacts of the slide (for an overview, see Genevois and Ghirotti 2005; Superchi et al. 2010; and Paronuzzi and Bolla 2012).
Notwithstanding this remarkable research effort, only Giudici and Semenza (1960), Carloni and Mazzanti (1964a, b), Rossi and Semenza (1964, 1965),...