On October 1st, 2009, an exceptionally intense and prolonged rainfall event, preceded by two similar storms on 16 and 23-24 September, triggered a large number of shallow landslides in the province of Messina (Sicily), causing human losses and extensive damages. In a follow-up study a detailed geomorphological survey was carried out as well as a LIDAR digital elevation model. In this paper we present an attempt at using such data to model and understand the mass wasting processes and their consequences in terms of slope morphometry changes in one of the affected watersheds, the Briga creek. Here, the event was characterized by a sudden triggering of many similar shallow soil failures, generating in turn a sediment flow that moved along the main directions of drainage with high velocities and modalities ranging from debris flow to mud flow. The main damages were registered at the channel junctions and at the watershed outlet, where the major mass concentration was reached. Starting from the landslide inventory mapping carried out a few days after the event, we performed an analisys of mobilized volumes, using a method that numerically compares the pre-event and the post-event DEMs. Afterwards, we generated a very accurate, morphology-based reconstruction of flow directions for the entire watershed, in order to understand which were the main avenues of mass flow over the area and where most of the mobilized sediment was deposited. Finally, combining the extensive data connected with landslide scars with a statistical model for the prediction of regolith thickness, we propose a distributed model of colluvium depth for the Briga watershed. The use of this dataset together with present-day topography as derived from LIDAR data allows for the definition of topographic and bedrock gradient maps which, in turn, constitute an important step towards the definition of the actual boundary conditions for slope stability analysis. We believe that this will be a fundamental component for the definition of the residual risk in the area

Sudden morphometric changes induced by diffuse mass wasting processes / Moretti S.; Casagli N.; Catani F.; Battistini A.; Raspini F.. - ELETTRONICO. - (2010), pp. NH11A-1109-NH11A-1109. (Intervento presentato al convegno American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010).

Sudden morphometric changes induced by diffuse mass wasting processes

MORETTI, SANDRO;CASAGLI, NICOLA;CATANI, FILIPPO;BATTISTINI, ALESSANDRO;RASPINI, FEDERICO
2010

Abstract

On October 1st, 2009, an exceptionally intense and prolonged rainfall event, preceded by two similar storms on 16 and 23-24 September, triggered a large number of shallow landslides in the province of Messina (Sicily), causing human losses and extensive damages. In a follow-up study a detailed geomorphological survey was carried out as well as a LIDAR digital elevation model. In this paper we present an attempt at using such data to model and understand the mass wasting processes and their consequences in terms of slope morphometry changes in one of the affected watersheds, the Briga creek. Here, the event was characterized by a sudden triggering of many similar shallow soil failures, generating in turn a sediment flow that moved along the main directions of drainage with high velocities and modalities ranging from debris flow to mud flow. The main damages were registered at the channel junctions and at the watershed outlet, where the major mass concentration was reached. Starting from the landslide inventory mapping carried out a few days after the event, we performed an analisys of mobilized volumes, using a method that numerically compares the pre-event and the post-event DEMs. Afterwards, we generated a very accurate, morphology-based reconstruction of flow directions for the entire watershed, in order to understand which were the main avenues of mass flow over the area and where most of the mobilized sediment was deposited. Finally, combining the extensive data connected with landslide scars with a statistical model for the prediction of regolith thickness, we propose a distributed model of colluvium depth for the Briga watershed. The use of this dataset together with present-day topography as derived from LIDAR data allows for the definition of topographic and bedrock gradient maps which, in turn, constitute an important step towards the definition of the actual boundary conditions for slope stability analysis. We believe that this will be a fundamental component for the definition of the residual risk in the area
2010
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010
Moretti S.; Casagli N.; Catani F.; Battistini A.; Raspini F.
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Utilizza questo identificatore per citare o creare un link a questa risorsa: https://hdl.handle.net/2158/403629
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