CHANGE OF A HIGHWAY ROUTE CAUSED BY A ROCKSLIDE

During the spring of 2013, a relatively large rockslide with a total area of 96,952 m2 occurred in the eastern part of the Malá Fatra mountains. The anticipated depth of the slip surfaces was from 30 to 40 metres and the volume of moving mass was estimated to be 2,000,000 m3. The maximum movement of the rockslide on the first day in March 2013 was estimated to be 43 m. The front of the rockslide interfered with the projected D1 highway route. The paper presented here offers an analysis of the causes of the rockslide and its activity in association with the potential threat to the proposed highway

Landslides monitoring techniques review in the Geological Surveys of Europe

ABSTRACT: Landsliding is the downslope movement of surface material under the force of gravity, initiated when gravitational and other types of shear stresses within the slope exceed the shear strength of the material that forms the slope. Often, landslides pose a physical and environmental threat to communities living in landslide-prone areas. While much landslide research focuses on monitoring techniques to define the background of the landslide (extent, volume, velocity, magnitude) one of the main goals of the Geological Surveys (GS) are to support and understand the regional and local geology to identify areas susceptible to landslides.N/

Landslide databases in the Geological Surveys of Europe

Acceso electrónico sólo desde el IGMELandslides are one of the most widespread geohazards in Europe, producing significant social and economic impacts. Rapid population growth in urban areas throughout many countries in Europe and extreme climatic scenarios can considerably increase landslide risk in the near future. Variability exists between European countries in both the statutory treatment of landslide risk and the use of official assessment guidelines. This suggests that a European Landslides Directive that provides a common legal framework for dealing with landslides is necessary. With this long-term goal in mind, this work analyzes the landslide databases from the Geological Surveys of Europe focusing on their interoperability and completeness. The same landslide classification could be used for the 849,543 landslide records from the Geological Surveys, from which 36% are slides, 10% are falls, 20% are flows, 11% are complex slides, and 24% either remain unclassified or correspond to another typology. Most of them are mapped with the same symbol at a scale of 1:25,000 or greater, providing the necessary information to elaborate European-scale susceptibility maps for each landslide type. A landslide density map was produced for the available records from the Geological Surveys (LANDEN map) showing, for the first time, 210,544 km2 landslide-prone areas and 23,681 administrative areas where the Geological Surveys from Europe have recorded landslides. The comparison of this map with the European landslide susceptibility map (ELSUS 1000 v1) is successful for most of the territory (69.7%) showing certain variability between countries. This comparison also permitted the identification of 0.98 Mkm2 (28.9%) of landslide-susceptible areas without records from the Geological Surveys, which have been used to evaluate the landslide database completeness. The estimated completeness of the landslide databases (LDBs) from the Geological Surveys is 17%, varying between 1 and 55%. This variability is due to the different landslide strategies adopted by each country. In some of them, landslide mapping is systematic; others only record damaging landslides, whereas in others, landslide maps are only available for certain regions or local areas. Moreover, in most of the countries, LDBs from the Geological Surveys co-exist with others owned by a variety of public institutions producing LDBs at variable scales and formats. Hence, a greater coordination effort should be made by all the institutions working in landslide mapping to increase data integration and harmonization.Earth Observation and Geohazards Expert Group (EOEG), EuroGeoSurveys, the Geological Surveys of Europe, BélgicaGeohazards InSAR Laboratory and Modeling Group, Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, EspañaRisk and Prevention Division, Bureau de Recherches Géologiques et Minières, FranciaEngineering Geology Department, Institute of Geology and Mineral Exploration, GreciaGeoHazard team, Geological Institute of Romania, RumaníaGeological Survey of Slovenia, EsloveniaCroatian Geological Survey, CroaciaItalian Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Geological Survey of Italy, ItaliaSwiss Federal Office for the Environment, SuizaGeological Survey of Austria, AustriaPolish Geological Institute, National Research Institute, PoloniaGeological Survey of Ireland, IrlandaCzech Geological Survey, República ChecaFederal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources, AlemaniaGeological Survey of Norway, NoruegaCyprus Geological Survey, ChipreGeological Survey of Sweden, SueciaInstitut Cartogràfic i Geològic de Catalunya, EspañaBritish Geological Survey, Reino UnidoGeological Survey of Slovakia, EslovaquiaGeological Survey of Lithuania, LituaniaFederalni zavod za geologiju, Bosnia y HerzegovinaGeological Survey of Estonia, EstoniaLaboratório Nacional de Energia e Geologia, PortugalGeological Survey of Hungary, HungríaNorwegian Water and energy Directorate of Norway, Norueg

Venezuelan tepuis: their caves and biota

From the Preface: The world at the top of the tepuis of Venezuela is amazing. Ever since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote The Lost World , the enigma of the South American steep and isolated table-mountains have attracted many people. Everyone in our research team dreamt about exploring these blank spaces on the map . However, despite this great attraction, scientific literature concerning tepuis has remained rather scarce. We are therefore proud to present this scientific monograph on tepuis, which is considered to be only the second issue of its kind, following the work of Huber (1992). This volume summarizes the main scientific results of expeditions to these tepuis between 2002 and 2011. The major research described in this monograph is dedicated to the great caves discovered in Roraima and Churí tepuis. The geological research was accompanied by biological research on cave and surface fauna, with a special focus on malacofauna, herpetofauna and insects. Although some of the data from this research has been previously published in scientific articles, it did not always obtain the justifiable space to present all gathered documentation and to elucidate all relevant scientific problems from a greater perspective. It is therefore our great pleasure to present this monograph containing detailed information on all research currently performed by our interdisciplinary research team. This is accompanied by a large number of fascinating photographs and several informative maps and diagrams. The greatest benefits to be gained from this combined monograph compared to short scientific publications is that more space is available to discuss currently unresolved problems, to ponder new intriguing questions and to envisage future necessary research. It is our sincere hope that all our readers will appreciate the unique information presented in this manner, and we hope you will really enjoy this monograph and find interesting topics for your research. Open Access See Extended description for more information

Integration of geohazards into urban and land-use planning. Towards a Landslide Directive. The EuroGeoSurveys Questionnaire

Exposure to hazards is expected to increase in Europe, due to rapid population growth in urban areas and the escalation of urbanization throughout many countries. In the framework of the European Geological Surveys (EGS), the Earth Observation and Geohazards Expert Group (EOEG) has carried out a survey based enquiry regarding the integration of geohazards (earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, ground subsidence, floods and others) into urban and land-use planning. Responses from 19 European countries and 5 regions reveal heterogeneous policies across national borders. 17% of the countries have not yet implemented any legal measures to integrate geohazards into urban and land-use plans and half of the participating countries have no official methodological guides to construct geohazard maps. Additionally, there is a scarce knowledge about real social impacts of geohazards and resulting disasters in many of the countries, although they have a significant impact on their national economies. This overview stresses the need for a common legislative framework and homogenization of the national legislations as well as mutual guidelines which adopt the principles applicable to the management of geohazards and explain the process to be followed in the production of hazard documentation. This is especially relevant in case of landslide and subsidence hazards; although those are of great importance in Europe, there are no common guidelines and practices similar to Directive 2007/60/EC on the assessment and management of flood risk. Based on their expertise, EuroGeoSurveys (EGS) have the potential to coordinate this activity in European geohazard guidelines and to promote the interaction among stakeholders