More on the landslide at Mingechaurskoe Reservoir

Landslides and growing folds: A lesson from the Kura fold-and-thrust belt (Azerbaijan, Georgia)

“…More attention was paid only to landslides around the shoreline of Mingachevir reservoir (Yetirmishli et al, 2018). Several planar slides on the limbs of the anticline, which are susceptible to reactivations triggered by fluctuations in water levels, have been documented, particularly along the southern bank of the Mingachevir reservoir in close proximity to the dam site (Kotyuzhan and Molokov, 1990;Bairamov et al, 1992;Islamova et al, 2019).…”

“…11a, the density of landslides on the Boz Dag anticline increases from both plunging noses of the anticline towards its central part. Although some landslides along the northern flank of the anticline may have originated due to groundwater rise related to the filling of the Mingachevir Reservoir in 1959 (Kotyuzhan and Molokov, 1990;Bairamov et al, 1992;Yetirmishli et al, 2018;Islamova et al, 2019), the distribution of landslides on both flanks of the anticline is clearly controlled by the local slope steepness and the dip of the beds. Landslides are completely absent on both low plunging noses of the anticline, and their occurrence is strictly confined to the highest central segment where the average dip of the beds exceeds 10 • (Fig.…”

“…While some mapped landslides may have been caused by past seismicity, almost a millennium has passed since the last significant earthquake, the M~7 AD 1139 Ganja earthquake (Ismail-Zadeh et al, 2020). Consequently, many landslides, especially in actively incising valleys and on dip slopes on anticlinal limbs, have likely been triggered by other factors, such as heavy rainfall, river undercutting, or anthropogenic activities (Kotyuzhan and Molokov, 1990;Bairamov et al, 1992;Yetirmishli et al, 2018;Islamova et al, 2019). In other settings, such as fault escarpments distal to actively eroding rivers, we speculate that large, old landslides may have a seismic origin, whereas smaller landslides have been removed due to erosion or anthropogenic activities since the last earthquake.…”