Anthropic Valorisation of Vulnerable Areas Affected by Deep-Seated Landslides

Abstract

Deep-seated landslides are considered geomorphologic risk phenomena, but highly stable over time. The people perceived them differently, associating their shape with various legends. Their low vulnerability degree led to their complex valorisation. This ranged from their location in built-up spaces (households, religious infrastructures, etc.) to a varied economic usage (agriculture, logging, tourism). The scope of this study consists in assessing the deep-seated landslides as geomorphosites. This assessment is conducted by calculating their functional and additional values and the impact of their use in the field. The methodology involved 3 stages: inventory of some representative deep-seated landslides areas in Romania and the Republic of Moldova; assessment of 13 deep-seated landslides sites, perceived as case study; and their ranking, depending on the integration of the values achieved individually for each subcriterion. The research outcomes have confirmed the presence of a significant number of deep-seated landslides in the Carpato-Danubiano-Pontic space (especially in the Transylvanian Depression and in the Moldavian Plateau). The research also revealed the possibility to catalogue these landslides as geomorphosites and the high anthropic usage degree owed first of all to the good stability of the landforms.