Historical and Catastrophic Landslides

By Unknown -

Alpenseminar and Blog post by Thomas Biehl

On the 14th of May we had a presentation about really impressive and destructive landslides in the Alps. These landslides are generally related to large earthquakes and there are few examples that we may consider here:

1. Dobratsch - Carinthia

In 1348 a destructive earthquake occurred near the town of Villach on the Austrian/Italian border. This earthquake resulted in several landslides along the 2166 m high Dobratsch massif, which lies atop the Periadriatic Lineament.


Overview of the Dobratsch landslides, after Lenhardt, 2007 

The largest of these landslides was known as the "Rote Wand". This caused the destruction of a dam and the flooding of the whole Gail River Valley.

Overview of the regional structure of the Dobratsch Mountains, after Stefan et al., 2004

2. Köfelsberg - Tirol

Rapid Alpine deglaciation during the Holocene, approximately 9000 BC, resulted a massive landslide near the town of Köfelsberg.

Overview of the Köfelsberg, after Prager et al., 2009


This is of special interest because it is one of only two locations in the world where the force of the mass movement resulted in the formation of a special type of pseudotachylite, or "frictionite". In this region, this brittle rock is known as a Köfelsbergit.

Overview of the Köfelsberg landslide, after Prager et al., 2009


3. Achensee - Tirol

The Achensee region is located on the trailing edge of the Inntal Thrust Trace and defined by northwest trending high-angle strike-slip fault. Today, the Achensee represents a natural dam that was formed after massive landsliding approximately 2000 BC. This large landslide was linked to deglaciation in the Zillertal region and specifically the of the Würm Glacier.

View of the Achensee

4. Vajont Dam - Italy


View of the Vajont Dam

In 1963 the Vajont Dam failed due to reactivation of underlying shear zones. This reactivation was linked to hydrous-infilling along these shear zones and consequentially the expansion of clay minerals. This mass movement resulted in the dam rupturing and sending a large tidal wave into the Longarone Valley killing more than 2000 people.


Overview of the Vajont Dam failure after, Barla and Paronuzzi, 2013; Massironi et al., 2013



 
Location: Jena, Germany

Comments

  1. UnknownApril 18, 2018 at 3:49 AM

    Hi, I´m a PhD student from Innsbruck, I´m going to study the Achensee for my PhD program in Natural hazards, I´ve seen what you have written about the Achensee and its formation so about the natural dam formed by a huge landslide. Can you tell me more about that landslide? where can I find other information??? Thank you

    Andrea Franco

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