Failure Mechanism of a Rainfall-Triggered Landslide in Clay Slopes

In December 2013, a portion of a large and deep ancient landslide on the southern slope of the Montescaglioso town (Basilicata, Southern Italy) was abruptly reactivated, as a consequence of exceptional rainfall events, causing relevant damages to structures and infrastructures. The sliding surface is supposed to be located within a thick deposit of Pleistocene stiff clays overlain by dislocated blocks of calcarenites and cemented conglomerates. This paper discusses the research carried out to investigate the failure mechanism that occurred during the landslide event and the factors that controlled the reactivation. To this purpose, geological and geomorphological analyses were first proposed, followed by a back-analysis of the landslide process, performed via limit equilibrium calculations implementing time-dependent pore water pressure distributions derived from transient seepage finite element analyses. Furthermore, the overall landslide mechanism was investigated through a three-dimensional finite element analysis, built using the monitoring campaign carried out in the post-failure stage and calibrated according to the in situ failure mechanism evidence. Both the limit equilibrium and finite element analyses provide results in good agreement with the geomorphological evidence, further allowing us to recognize the effects of rainfall infiltration in the increase of pore water pressure along the sliding surface and the variation of the stress-strain state leading to failure occurrence.

Automated summary

This study investigates the failure mechanism and reactivation factors of a large ancient landslide in Southern Italy in 2013. Through geological and geomorphological analyses, as well as limit equilibrium and finite element analyses, it is found that rainfall infiltration played a crucial role in increasing pore water pressure along the sliding surface and causing failure.