Assessment of some spatial and temporal issues in landslide initiation within the Río Aguas Catchment, South–East Spain

Abstract

A research programme underway in south-east Spain has the overall aim of developing a long-term landscape evolution model for the Tertiary depositional basins that lie within the eastern part of the Betic cordillera. As part of the work it has become apparent that there are multiple natural hazards to development in the region, and the nature and distribution of these is presently under investigation. For one hazard, namely landsliding, a database of over 300 cases has been compiled within one defined 425 km 2 river catchment, namely the Río Aguas. Evaluation of the database has demonstrated that the contemporary distribution of landslides correlates with areas of steepest slopes across a range of the different lithologies. However, the "slope" component of the landscape is controlled by a wave of incision associated with a river capture event c. 100000 years ago which locally increased erosion by between 5 and 10 times. This event was a function of differential uplift between the depositional basins and resulted in over-steepened slopes within parts of the catchment which have yet to reach equilibrium in this evolving landscape.

The National Landslide Database of Great Britain: Acquisition, communication and the role of social media

“…This uses a hierarchical approach which allows a large area to be broken down systematically into smaller units depending on geology, hydrology and geomorphology. Eyles (1983) used the approach for mapping glacial terrains and identified the genetic relationship between landforms and the processes and materials involved in their development; Griffiths et al (2005) established that terrain systems mapping can provide an effective tool in the investigation of landslide distributions at a regional scale. According to the Australian Geomechanics Society (2000) identification of landslides requires an understanding of slope processes and the relationship of these to geomorphology, geology, hydrogeology, climate and vegetation.…”

Slope Systems

“…This evidence suggests a cyclicity in dominant processes in this setting, which is not inconsistent with that interpreted for the much drier Henry Mountains badlands by Howard (1997). Mass movements have been noted on large scales in badlands in Alberta (De Lugt and Campbell, 1992), Italy (Piccarreta et al, 2006;Ciccacci et al, 2008) and Spain (Griffiths et al, 2005). As well as contributing to large-scale evolution, mudflows have also been demonstrated in extreme events on a within-slope scale (Oostwoud Wijdenes and Ergenzinger, 1998; Ciccacci et al, 2008;Godfrey, Everitt and Martín Duque, 2008).…”

“…Farifteh and Soeters (2006) suggested that the size and spacing of joints and faults in basilicata was responsible for the patterns of biancane (small, isolated) rather than calanchi (large, gullied) badland systems. Griffiths et al (2005) noted that landslides in badlands in the Aguas basin in southern Spain were more likely to occur on specific lithological boundaries (e.g. 39 % of all landslides where multiple lithologies were present occurred where the lower unit was a calcareous mudstone).…”

“…Bryan, Campbell and Yair (1986) suggested that in the Dinosaur Provinical Park in Alberta, badland evolution has followed broad phases of incision and filling relating to relatively wetter and drier phases through the Holocene (see also Evans, Campbell and Lemmen, 2004, and similar arguments for the evolution of southern French badlands in Descroix and Gautier, 2002), although Evans (2000) has demonstrated that this landscape is also strongly controlled by inherited features from past glacial and periglacial processes. Initial formation of the South Dakota badlands seems to have been triggered by gullying as a response to base-level change (Mather, Stokes and Griffiths, 2002;Howard, 2009), and base-level change has also been implicated in Spanish gully systems (Griffiths et al, 2005), so that large-scale climate variability can also be seen to be important. However, gully formation and evolution is a complex process that may or may not indicate climatic control (Cooke and Reeves, 1976).…”

Creation of a National Landslide Domain Map to Aid Susceptibility Mapping in Great Britain

“…The development of the Landslide Domain Map incorporated a land system mapping method (Engineering Group Working Party 1982;Griffiths et al 2005;Guzzetti 2005;Pasuto and Soldati 1999;Savigear 1965;Styles et al 1984;Wilshusen 1979). A terrain system covering a large area can be subdivided into a number of defining terrain facets, which in turn may be further broken down to terrain elements (Tab.…”