scholarly journals Rainfall induced landslides in December 2004 in south-western Umbria, central Italy: types, extent, damage and risk assessment

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 237-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Cardinali ◽  
M. Galli ◽  
F. Guzzetti ◽  
F. Ardizzone ◽  
P. Reichenbach ◽  
...  

Abstract. The autumn of 2004 was particularly wet in Umbria, with cumulative rainfall in the period from October to December exceeding 600 mm. On 4–6 December and on 25–27 December 2004, two storms hit the Umbria Region producing numerous landslides, which were abundant near the town of Orvieto where they affected volcanic deposits and marine sediments. In this work, we document the type and abundance of the rainfall-induced landslides in the Orvieto area, in south-western Umbria, we study the rainfall conditions that triggered the landslides, including the timing of the slope failures, we determine the geotechnical properties of the failed volcanic materials, and we discuss the type and extent of damage produced by the landslides. We then use the recent event landslide information to test a geomorphological assessment of landslide hazards and risk prepared for the village of Sugano, in the Orvieto area. Based on the results of the test, we update the existing landslide hazards and risk scenario for extremely rapid landslides, mostly rock falls, and we introduce a new landslide scenario for rapid and very rapid landslides, including soil slides, debris flows and debris avalanches.

2002 ◽  
Vol 2 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 57-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Cardinali ◽  
P. Reichenbach ◽  
F. Guzzetti ◽  
F. Ardizzone ◽  
G. Antonini ◽  
...  

Abstract. We present a geomorphological method to evaluate landslide hazard and risk. The method is based on the recognition of existing and past landslides, on the scrutiny of the local geological and morphological setting, and on the study of site-specific and historical information on past landslide events. For each study area a multi-temporal landslide inventory map has been prepared through the interpretation of various sets of stereoscopic aerial photographs taken over the period 1941–1999, field mapping carried out in the years 2000 and 2001, and the critical review of site-specific investigations completed to solve local instability problems. The multi-temporal landslide map portrays the distribution of the existing and past landslides and their observed changes over a period of about 60 years. Changes in the distribution and pattern of landslides allow one to infer the possible evolution of slopes, the most probable type of failures, and their expected frequency of occurrence and intensity. This information is used to evaluate landslide hazard, and to estimate the associated risk. The methodology is not straightforward and requires experienced geomorphologists, trained in the recognition and analysis of slope processes. Levels of landslide hazard and risk are expressed using an index that conveys, in a simple and compact format, information on the landslide frequency, the landslide intensity, and the likely damage caused by the expected failure. The methodology was tested in 79 towns, villages, and individual dwellings in the Umbria Region of central Italy.


The Holocene ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 1105-1116 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Bellotti ◽  
G. Calderoni ◽  
F. Di Rita ◽  
M. D’Orefice ◽  
C. D’Amico ◽  
...  

Geomorphologic, stratigraphic, faunistic, palynological and carbon isotope analyses were carried out in the area of the Tiber river mouth. The results depict a complex palaeoenvironmental evolution in the area of the Roman town of Ostia, ascertain the changes of the Tiber river delta over the last 6000 years and support a re-interpretation of some archaeologic issues. The wave-dominated Tiber delta evolved through three distinct phases. In the first step (5000–2700 yr BP) a delta cusp was built at the river mouth, which was located north of the present outlet. Subsequently (2700–1900 BP), an abrupt southward migration of the river mouth determined the abandonment of the previous cusp and the progradation of a new one. The third step, which is still in progress, is marked by the appearance of a complex cusp made up of two distributary channels. The transition from the first to the second evolution phase occurred in the seventh century bc and was contemporary to the foundation of Ostia, as suggested by historical accounts. However, the oldest archaeological evidence of the town of Ostia dates to the fourth century bc, when human activity is clearly recorded also by pollen data. We suggest that the first human settlement (seventh century bc) consisted of ephemeral military posts, with the aim of controlling the strategic river mouth and establishing the Ostia saltworks. Only after the fourth century bc the coastal environment was stable enough for the foundation and development of the town of Ostia.


Geosciences ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 322
Author(s):  
Evelina Volpe ◽  
Luca Ciabatta ◽  
Diana Salciarini ◽  
Stefania Camici ◽  
Elisabetta Cattoni ◽  
...  

The development of forecasting models for the evaluation of potential slope instability after rainfall events represents an important issue for the scientific community. This topic has received considerable impetus due to the climate change effect on territories, as several studies demonstrate that an increase in global warming can significantly influence the landslide activity and stability conditions of natural and artificial slopes. A consolidated approach in evaluating rainfall-induced landslide hazard is based on the integration of rainfall forecasts and physically based (PB) predictive models through deterministic laws. However, considering the complex nature of the processes and the high variability of the random quantities involved, probabilistic approaches are recommended in order to obtain reliable predictions. A crucial aspect of the stochastic approach is represented by the definition of appropriate probability density functions (pdfs) to model the uncertainty of the input variables as this may have an important effect on the evaluation of the probability of failure (PoF). The role of the pdf definition on reliability analysis is discussed through a comparison of PoF maps generated using Monte Carlo (MC) simulations performed over a study area located in the Umbria region of central Italy. The study revealed that the use of uniform pdfs for the random input variables, often considered when a detailed geotechnical characterization for the soil is not available, could be inappropriate.


1995 ◽  
Vol 38 (5-6) ◽  
Author(s):  
G. D'Addezio ◽  
F. R. Cinti ◽  
D. Pantosti

The combination of paleoseismological and historical investigation can be used to obtain a complete knowledge of past earthquakes. In Italy the 1000 year-long record of historical earthquakes provides an opportunity to compare data from the catalogue with results from paleoseismologic investigations. Trenching results along the Ovindoli-Pezza Fault (OPF). in the Abruzzi region. showed two surface faulting events. The most recent of these events occurred after 1019 A.D. and should be reported in the Catalogue of Italian Seismicity. Nevertheless, the earthquake appears to be missed or not well located in the Catalogue. In order to define in which century a large earthquake on the OPF should have clearly left a sign in the historical record, we carried out historical investigations back to the XI century. The studies were mainly focu5ed on disclosing possible <<negative>> e vidence for the occurrence of the most recent event along the OPF. No clear records related to this event were found but on the basis of the information we obtained the occurrence of this earthquake can be constrained between 1019 A.D. and the XV century. possibly between 1019 A.D. and XIII century.


Author(s):  
C. Braucher ◽  
E. Currà

Abstract. This research aims to propose a classification of masonry typologies in Central Italy after the earthquakes that in 2016 involved about 120 municipalities. This territory, since several decades, presents high fragility features due to the depopulation process that increase the vulnerability and risk degree. This condition affects even the maintenance practices of traditional buildings by the inhabitants and the extraordinary post-traumatic situation acts as an accelerating factor of the abandonment. In this article we will explain deeply the first part of the research, focusing in particular on methods and tools that were defined and used to carry out this study. The research highlights the need of a specific comparative tool for masonry facades classification. This was elaborated through the comparison of existed bibliography as the EMS-98, the Aedes schedules and the local classification by Umbria Region and the De Meo book. The result then is the production of another synoptic map that would simplifies the correlation between different approaches to classification and the censed facades. Moreover, it was elaborated a second synoptic map moving from the analyses of many survey forms already discuss in literature. The result of this comparison is a new survey form to carry out the field research on vernacular masonry buildings. This new form focuses on the characteristics of the buildings that the research aims to study in Central Italy. The two tools that are illustrate in the following paper were applied on one hundred survey of masonry buildings carried out during August 2018. The last part of this paper proposes a statistical analysis of the results of the field research.


Geophysics ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 77 (6) ◽  
pp. B287-B294 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jamie K. Pringle ◽  
Peter Styles ◽  
Claire P. Howell ◽  
Michael W. Branston ◽  
Rebecca Furner ◽  
...  

The area around the town of Northwich in Cheshire, U. K., has a long history of catastrophic ground subsidence caused by a combination of natural dissolution and collapsing abandoned mine workings within the underlying Triassic halite bedrock geology. In the village of Marston, the Trent and Mersey Canal crosses several abandoned salt mine workings and previously subsiding areas, the canal being breached by a catastrophic subsidence event in 1953. This canal section is the focus of a long-term monitoring study by conventional geotechnical topographic and microgravity surveys. Results of 20 years of topographic time-lapse surveys indicate specific areas of local subsidence that could not be predicted by available site and mine abandonment plan and shaft data. Subsidence has subsequently necessitated four phases of temporary canal bank remediation. Ten years of microgravity time-lapse data have recorded major deepening negative anomalies in specific sections that correlate with topographic data. Gravity 2D modeling using available site data found upwardly propagating voids, and associated collapse material produced a good match with observed microgravity data. Intrusive investigations have confirmed a void at the major anomaly. The advantages of undertaking such long-term studies for near-surface geophysicists, geotechnical engineers, and researchers working in other application areas are discussed.


Author(s):  
Joshua Hagen

This chapter offers a critical examination of historic preservationist practices to expand our understanding of the Nazi regime’s ideologies and objectives regarding historic places and national heritage. Rather than catalogue the actual techniques of historic preservation, this chapter focuses on the cultural politics animating the regime’s efforts to construct its vision of national history, heritage, and memory. To do so, the chapter surveys the Nazi regime’s efforts to “preserve” three generalized places: the city, the town, and the village


2019 ◽  
pp. 115-148
Author(s):  
John James Kennedy ◽  
Yaojiang Shi

While village cadres, along with town and county officials, are often portrayed as the strong arm of the state, enforcing the birth policy regardless of the social and personal costs, the relationship between villagers, cadres, and officials is, in fact, more fluid and complex. In-depth interviews with local cadres, including village leaders, midwives, and family planning cadres, as well as town and county officials, show a more dynamic and at times reciprocal relationship between local leaders and villagers. Many of the village cadres and officials interviewed admitted that it was not uncommon for births to go unregistered for years and that official birth counts and population reports compiled at the village level and sent up to the town governments were, at times, incomplete. The interviews reveal mutual noncompliance and selective policy implementation at the grassroots and even town and county levels.


2005 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 903-909 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Chelli ◽  
G. Mandrone ◽  
A. Ruffini ◽  
G. Truffelli

Abstract. In the Northern Apennines there are many historical villages and castles, which are of great value and represent a cultural heritage of great importance. Their presence within a territory greatly affected by landslide hazards creates, in many circumstances, the need to solve problems of land management and to act for the preservation of historical monuments. This paper describe an interesting landslide, failed during the night of 28 February 2004, that involved the village of Rossena: the failure damaged the village (Fig. 1), the road and the fields down to the stream but, fortunately, the castle just upslope the village was not involved at all. The 10th century massive castle of Rossena stands on the top of a cliff at about 500 m a.s.l., on the border between the provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia, and it is surrounded by a small ancient village. The castle of Rossena is the best preserved stronghold of the Longobard times, enlarged and reinforced in the tenth century and partially rebuilt by Bonifacio, the father of Matilda of Canossa (the Vice-Queen of Italy and probably the most important woman in the Middle Ages) as a defensive structure guarding the Enza Valley. In addition, at Conossa, very close to Rossena, there was the meeting between Pope Gregory VII and the Emperor of Germany Henry IV, during the historical event known as "fight for the investitures". For these reasons, the area of Rossena is one of the most relevant from a historical point of view in the entire western part of the Emilia Romagna Region and it also has a high value as a geosite (Coratza et al., 2004).  


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