The residential area of Limnes in Pissouri, SW Cyprus has experienced significant ground behaviour problems since heavy winter rainfall in 2011/2012. These problems have comprised cracking and displacement to the ground, pavements, roads, walls and buildings, leading to the abandonment of the most seriously-affected houses. Nicosia marl comprises the underlying lithology, a material that is associated with volume change upon wetting and drying and has led to foundation problems elsewhere in the country. Various explanations have been given to account for the observed phenomena at Limnes, including the effects of underground water , settlement, slope instability, cyclical shrink–swell, seepage erosion and dissolution. Raised water tables, caused by residential waste-water discharges, applied loads from residential buildings, and inadequate ground investigation and foundation design, are other contributory or causal factors that have been cited. A geomorphological study was undertaken in 2017 and early 2018 that combined field observations with aerial photograph interpretation, and a review of available ground investigation data, to yield an explanation and develop a preliminary ground model. The conclusion drawn was that the Limnes area had been affected by ancient (possibly late Pleistocene–early Holocene) deep-seated failure and that slope instability had subsequently been reactivated at a shallower depth within the failed material as a result of loss of material strength and high water tables. The properties of the Nicosia marl, while important in controlling the behaviour of the ground on a site-by-site basis, were considered to be aggravating factors in the context of the landslide displacement(s) affecting the slope as a whole. InSAR satellite movement monitoring data were analysed for the Limnes area and the outcome vindicated the geomorphological interpretation and helped strengthen the ground model that embodied slope failure as the underlying cause of damage.

The residential development of Limnes in Pissouri, Cyprus was constructed on a slope formed by a pre-historic landslide. Reactivated ground movements within this landslide, first noticed by residents in 2012, continue to cause significant damage to property. The rates of movement, already observed to be accelerating between 2014 and 2017, increased by up to a factor of three during and following the very wet winter of 2018–19. The outcome has been a marked increase in architectural and structural damage to some properties, as well as building rotation in the both vertical and horizontal planes. An interpretation of the most recent InSAR results suggests that the area behind the back scarp may also now be undergoing displacement and this, to an extent, is borne out by observed cracking to some buildings and paved surfaces in the vicinity. Uncertainties remain over the depth(s) of sliding and the groundwater regime within the landslide mass that can only be resolved through further ground investigation and subsurface monitoring.

The Zagros Mountains in Iran are an active fold-and-thrust belt that contains world-class examples of folding and salt tectonics. The Fars Region is an excellent location for testing remote sensing methods and applications of satellite data due to its dry climate and superb exposure of geological features. Recent advances in satellite technology and image acquisition have resulted in high-quality global datasets at increasing resolution that provide a highly valuable source of data for structural analysis of fold-and-thrust belts. Oblique lineaments like the Razak Line in eastern Fars can be identified by changes in the dimensions of anticlines, presence of deflected folds, offsets in the alignment of structures, location of anticlinal plunges and exposures of salt. Drainage analysis can show propagation and coalescence of anticlines. We review several methods using optical data, digital elevation models and interferometric synthetic-aperture radar. We integrate those methods and generate detailed geological maps, structural cross-sections, identify structural steps and hidden basement features, and compare to seismological data and their effect on the exposed geology.

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