The Spectacular Landslide-Controlled Landscape of the Northwestern Coast of Malta

Soldati, Mauro; Devoto, Stefano; Prampolini, Mariacristina; Pasuto, Alessandro

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-15456-1_14

Cited by 24 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Following the long-term monitoring experience of coastal landslides affecting the northwestern part of Malta [53][54][55], a network of GNSS benchmarks has also been installed in Premantura. At the same time, the submarine 3D model, presented here, could be the starting point for monitoring the effects of future storms in the underwater environment, that represents the source area for the quarrying and detachment of future boulders.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of the October 2018 Storm Vaia on Coastal Boulders in the Northern Adriatic Sea

Biolchi

Denamiel

Devoto

et al. 2019

Water

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Boulder detachment from the seafloor and subsequent transport and accumulation along rocky coasts is a complex geomorphological process that requires a deep understanding of submarine and onshore environments. This process is especially interesting in semi-enclosed shallow basins characterized by extreme storms, but without a significant tsunami record. Moreover, the response of boulder deposits located close to the coast to severe storms remains, in terms of accurate displacement measurement, limited due to the need to acquire long-term data such as ongoing monitoring datasets and repeated field surveys. We present a multidisciplinary study that includes inland and submarine surveys carried out to monitor and accurately quantify the recent displacement of coastal boulders accumulated on the southernmost coast of the Premantura (Kamenjak) Promontory (Croatia, northern Adriatic Sea). We identified recent boulder movements using unmanned aerial vehicle digital photogrammetry (UAV-DP). Fourteen boulders were moved by the waves generated by a severe storm, named Vaia, which occurred on 29 October 2018. This storm struck Northeast Italy and the Istrian coasts with its full force. We have reproduced the storm-generated waves using unstructured wave model Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN), with a significant wave height of 6.2 m in front of the boulder deposit area. These simulated waves are considered to have a return period of 20 to 30 years. In addition to the aerial survey, an underwater photogrammetric survey was carried out in order to create a three-dimensional (3D) model of the seabed and identify the submarine landforms associated with boulder detachment. The survey highlighted that most of the holes can be considered potholes, while only one detachment shape was identified. The latter is not related to storm Vaia, but to a previous storm. Two boulders are lying on the seabed and the underwater surveys highlighted that these boulders may be beached during future storms. Thus, this is an interesting example of active erosion of the rocky coast in a geologically, geomorphologically, and oceanologically predisposed locality.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of the October 2018 Storm Vaia on Coastal Boulders in the Northern Adriatic Sea

Biolchi

Denamiel

Devoto

et al. 2019

Water

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“…This is mainly due to the tectonic and geological features of the area which is characterized by a dense network of joints and fractures [79] and by the superposition of terrains with different geomechanical behaviour (cf. [80]). In fact, the brittle limestone plateaus overlying clayey terrains enhance the fracturing of the plateaus and the development of lateral spreading locally evolving into block sliding [44,46,[81][82][83][84][85].…”

Section: Geological and Geomorphological Settingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coastal Vulnerability Assessment along the North-Eastern Sector of Gozo Island (Malta, Mediterranean Sea)

Rizzo

Vandelli

Buhagiar

et al. 2020

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The coastal landscape of the Maltese Islands is the result of long-term evolution, influenced by tectonics, geomorphological processes, and sea level oscillations. Due to their geological setting, the islands are particularly prone to marine-related and gravity-induced processes, exacerbated by climate change. This study aligns different concepts into a relatively concise and expedient methodology for overall coastal vulnerability assessment, taking the NE sector of Gozo Island as a test case. Geomorphological investigation, integrated with analysis of marine geophysical data, enabled characterization of coastal dynamics, identifying this stretch of coast as being potentially hazardous. The study area features a high economic value derived from tourist and mining activities and natural protected areas, that altogether not only make coastal vulnerability a major concern but also the task of assessing it complex. Before introducing the methodology proposed for overall vulnerability assessment, an in-depth revision of the vulnerability concept is provided. The evaluation was carried out by using a set of key indicators related to local land use, anthropic and natural assets, economic activities, and social issues. Results show that the most critical areas are located east of Marsalforn including Ramla Bay, an important tourist attraction hosting the largest sandy beach in Gozo. The method combines physical exposure and social vulnerability into an overall index. It proves to be cost effective in data management and processing and is suitable for the identification and assessment of overall vulnerability of coastal areas to consequences of climate- and marine-related processes, such as coastal erosion, landslides and sea level rise.

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“…Globigerina Limestone (GL) Formation and the oldest Lower Coralline Limestone (LCL) Formation [47,48]. The peculiar geological and structural setting of the northwestern coast of Malta favors the occurrence of abundant and recurrent landslides [14,39,40,49]. Figure 2 shows the landslide distribution and includes a pie chart of different types of mass movements according to the classification of Cruden and Varnes [50].…”

Section: Slow-moving Landslides At the Nw Malta Coastmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Landslides are one of the most frequent geohazards in Europe and can severely impact coastal areas [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. In particular, landslides are common along the European coasts of the Mediterranean Sea and can include different types of transport mechanisms such as falls, slides, spreads, or flows [9][10][11][12][13][14]. Among these, lateral spreading and block sliding processes are widely represented in the Mediterranean coasts, such as in northern Mallorca (Spain) [15], in the western part of Liguria (Northern Italy) [16], Tropea area (Southern Italy) [17], Scopello in northern Sicily [18] and in the Maltese islands [14,19,20].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Advantages of Using UAV Digital Photogrammetry in the Study of Slow-Moving Coastal Landslides

et al. 2020

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The aim of this study is to demonstrate the advantages of using micro drones in the study of large slow-moving landslides, which are widespread along the northwestern coast of Malta. In particular, attention was given to the inventory and analysis of gravity-induced joints and megaclast deposits at four study sites selected due to the presence of remarkable examples of lateral spreads evolving into block slides. The research was carried out by means of Google Earth (GE) image analysis and uncrewed aerial vehicle digital photogrammetry (UAV-DP). UAV-DP outputs enabled the identification and characterization of tens of persistent joints (locally exceeding 150 m) and permitted the size categorization of thousands of blocks. With reference to gravity-induced joints, a favorable agreement was found between existing datasets (mainly based on the integration of GE analysis and field survey) and UAV-DP outputs in terms of the identification of joints and their persistence. Conversely, the use of the UAV-DP technique showed significant advantages in terms of joint aperture determination (even exceeding 1 m) and distribution setting. Regarding the extensive megaclast deposits, UAV-DP enabled the identification of 8943 individuals which, compared with the 5059 individuals identified by GE analysis, showed an increase in the total population of 76%. This is related to the high accuracy of DP-derived orthomosaics and 3D models, which are particularly useful for identifying detached blocks. The inexpensive technique used in this research highlights its potential for being extended to other rocky coastal areas affected by slow-moving landslides.

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The Spectacular Landslide-Controlled Landscape of the Northwestern Coast of Malta

Cited by 24 publications

References 26 publications

Impact of the October 2018 Storm Vaia on Coastal Boulders in the Northern Adriatic Sea

Impact of the October 2018 Storm Vaia on Coastal Boulders in the Northern Adriatic Sea

Coastal Vulnerability Assessment along the North-Eastern Sector of Gozo Island (Malta, Mediterranean Sea)

Advantages of Using UAV Digital Photogrammetry in the Study of Slow-Moving Coastal Landslides

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