Landslide inventory map of north-eastern Calabria (South Italy)

Abstract

Landslides are one of the most widespread natural hazards in many areas of Calabria region (Southern Italy), due to the combination of its peculiar geological, morphological, and climatic characteristics and very often to unsustainable land management. This study reports the reconnaissance and the characterization of landslides of north-eastern Calabria (south Italy). The landslide inventory map was obtained by combining field surveys with the analysis of topographic maps and multi-temporal air photos, taken in the period ranging from 1954 to 2006. This analysis has provided the spatial and temporal evolution of mass movements. The integration and elaboration of the data obtained in a GIS environment provided the inventory map of landslides on a scale 1:50,000. Landslides are widespread in the study area and play an important role in the present-day landscape evolution. A total of 1003 landslides were recognized, occupying a surface of 230.4 km2, about 30.5% of the whole study area. The landslides were mapped on the basis of the movement type, as follows: slides, flows, falls and complex landslides. Slide and complex type mass-movements are very common, and represent more than 87% of the landslides mapped. The pelitic lithologies show the highest density of landslides, mainly complex type. Multi-temporal air photo interpretation and field surveys provided data for distinguishing the state of activity of the landslides; therefore, 29% of the landslides mapped has been assessed active while the remaining 71% has been considered inactive. This kind of map is an useful tool for land planning policy. As all the data are digitized and stored in GIS database, this will provide the basic input needed to generate the landslide susceptibility assessments besides evaluate the landslide hazard and risk.