Geological and geophysical characterization of the Brindisi di Montagna Scalo landslide (Basilicata, Southern Italy)

Abstract

The Brindisi di Montagna Scalo Landslide in Southern Italy is an active complex mass movement, which affects the left slope of the Basento River. In the last few decades, this landslide has been continuously monitored, as it directly threatened some of the most important communication routes in the Basilicata Region. Nevertheless, little progresses have been made to prevent further landslide advancement, and continuous maintenance is required. With the aims of better understanding, the main factors controlling the evolution of this landslide, and suggesting the most appropriate countermeasures, a multidisciplinary study, based on the integration of direct and indirect techniques, was carried out. Direct techniques included multi-temporal geomorphological analysis of the slope, alongside geological and structural field observations. Indirect techniques consisted of electrical resistivity tomography acquisition. The combined analyses of the geological and geophysical data showed that Quaternary tectonic processes played a fundamental role as a predisposing factor, whereas seasonal rainfall, and the perpetual undercutting by erosional processes caused by the Basento River at the toe of the landslide are the main triggering mechanisms. The Brindisi di Montagna Scalo Landslide represents an outstanding case-study, concerning the interaction between a flow-like complex landslide and essential linear infrastructure, such as motorways and railways.

UAV-based high-resolution mapping of a complex landslide: an example from Basilicata, southern Italy

“…In the past, the BML were mapped using out-of-date topographic maps and a scale inadequate for facing field work requirements (Servizio Geologico d'Italia, 2012;Cotecchia et al, 1986;Bentivenga et al, 2006Bentivenga et al, , 2019. In these cases, both the landslide bodies and the bedrock were mapped in a roughly way and the ancient landslides were not mapped at all.…”

“…In this sector an about 800 m-long active landslide, labelled "colata di Brindisi di Montagna scalo" (hereafter BML) is present (Cotecchia et al, 1986;Bentivenga et al, 2006) and occupies most part of the slope. It is a multi-temporal earth flow (period of activity: from 1973 to 2016; Cotecchia et al, 1986;Bentivenga et al, 2019) classified by Cotecchia et al (1986) and Bentivenga et al (2006) as a "rotational slideflow" (Cruden and Varnes, 1986). The moving materials detach from the Flysch Rosso formation starting from a toe of an existing landslide terrace and deposited within a channel above the Gruppo delle Argille Variegate (Spilotro et al, 2016).…”

“…The moving materials detach from the Flysch Rosso formation starting from a toe of an existing landslide terrace and deposited within a channel above the Gruppo delle Argille Variegate (Spilotro et al, 2016). The geological map of the study area was published at 1:50,000 scale on the official map (sheet n. 470 "Potenza" -Servizio Geologico d'Italia, 2012) and as a sketch map in the papers by Cotecchia et al (1986) and by Bentivenga et al (2006Bentivenga et al ( , 2019. All these maps show a similar geological bedrock made up of Flysch Rosso, cropping out in the feeding area of the landslide, and of the Gruppo delle Argille Variegate, outcropping in the accumulation area along the Basento River.…”