Search results for "Slope instability"
showing 7 items of 7 documents
Active tectonics, sedimentation history and geomorphological features in the northern Sicily continental margin: implications for the marine geohazar…
2020
Starting from the assumption that seismic events in the active margins are accompanied by evidence of a depositional, geomorphologic and structural type, which constitutes the geological record of their activity, we analysed different features of the Northern Sicily continental margin (NSCM) to reconstruct the deformational field and related stress field in the Southern Tyrrhenian sea. As an outcome of this project we were going to obtain seismotectonic setting and mapping to provide a powerful tool in managing and assessing the marine geological hazards. The study area extends from the San Vito Peninsula to the Termini Gulf along the NSCM, including the Ustica island, and is located in a t…
Hydrological and mechanical effects of roots in shallow landslide analysis: A physically-based approach
2015
This study provides the first insights of a methodology for estimating the additional cohesion exercised by vegetation roots in a hillslope landslide analysis within a coupled ecohydrological-stability model. The existing coupled system is able to simulate the spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of Factor of Safety (FS) as a function of soil moisture dynamics. The model takes into account the hydrological effects of vegetation which, through the root water uptaking, contributes in reducing the soil water content and, thus, in increasing the slope stability. The additional mechanical root cohesion is estimated in a Fiber Bundle Model (FBM) framework that allows for the evaluation of t…
The Graham Bank (Sicily Channel, central Mediterranean Sea). Seafloor signatures of volcanic and tectonic controls
2018
Abstract Graham Bank is a dominant physiographic element of the NW Sicily Channel (central Mediterranean Sea), affected in the last 100 years by numerous well-documented volcanic eruptions. We present the first results of a geomorphological study where the Graham Bank region in the depth interval 7–350 m was mapped for the first time with multi-beam echosounder and high-resolution seismic and multi-channel seismic reflection profiles. We describe in high resolution the detailed geomorphological features of Graham Bank, and how the superficial expression of different process and dynamics occurring in the sub-seafloor evidence volcanic and tectonic controls on seafloor morphology across a rel…
Active faulting and continental slope instability in the Gulf of Patti (Tyrrhenian side of NE Sicily, Italy): a field, marine and seismological joint…
2016
The Gulf of Patti and its onshore sector represent one of the most seismically active regions of the Italian Peninsula. Over the period 1984–2014, about 1800 earthquakes with small-to-moderate magnitude and a maximum hypocentral depth of 40 km occurred in this area. Historical catalogues reveal that the same area was affected by several strong earthquakes such as the Mw = 6.1 event in April 1978 and the Mw = 6.2 one in March 1786 which have caused severe damages in the surrounding localities. The main seismotectonic feature affecting this area is represented by a NNW–SSE trending right-lateral strike-slip fault system called ‘‘Aeolian–Tindari–Letojanni’’ (ATLFS) which has been interpreted a…
Modeling the hydrological and mechanical effect of roots in shallow landslide analysis
2015
The additional cohesion exercised by vegetation roots (cr) provides an important contribution to the slope stability. This study proposes a methodology for estimating the cr term in a hillslope landslide analysis within a coupled ecohydrological-stability model. The coupled model simulates the spatial distribution and temporal dynamics of the Factor of Safety (FS) as a function of soil moisture dynamics, by taking into account the hydrological effects of vegetation through the root water uptaking. The additional mechanical root cohesion is estimated in a Fiber Bundle Model framework that allows for the evaluation of the root strength as a function of stress-strain relationships of populatio…
Growth and geomorphic evolution of the Ustica volcanic complex at the Africa-Europe plate margin (Tyrrhenian Sea)
2021
18 pages, 13 figures, 1 table
Modeling the hydrological and mechanical effect of roots on shallow landslides
2016
This study proposes a new methodology for estimating the additional shear strength (or cohesion) exerted by vegetation roots on slope stability analysis within a coupled hydrological-stability model. The mechanical root cohesion is estimated within a Fiber Bundle Model framework that allows for the evaluation of the root strength as a function of stress-strain relationships of populations of fibers. The use of such model requires the knowledge of the root architecture. A branching topology model based on Leonardo's rule is developed, providing an estimation of the amount of roots and the distribution of diameters with depth. The proposed methodology has been implemented into an existing dis…