Geophysical Study of a Large Landslide Affecting the Urban Area of Albuñuelas (S Spain)
Source abstract
Abstract
The urban area of Albuñuelas, a small town located to the south of Granada (S Spain), has been developed in terrain affected by a large-scale rotational landslide with very slow rate of movement. Despite this situation, the internal structure of the landslide and how it has evolved to its present state has not been analyzed in depth up to now. In this paper, we present the first study performed on this landslide to define its configuration and characteristics. For this purpose, ambient noise single-station and array measurements were carried out along several cross-sections of the landslide. The inversion of the measurements has allowed for the estimation of the soil stratigraphy at each site of measurement. These geophysical results have been constrained by data from a borehole drilled in the zone and from field observations of the local geology, allowing for the reduction in uncertainties in the results. A geological–geophysical model of the landslide has been built from these data, showing that the landslide thicknesses is greater than 50 m in its central parts and above 60 m in the upper ones. This model reveals that the evolution of the landslide was complex, with several dislodged elements (blocks) that moved in sequence (retrogression) and were partially eroded in order to explain present morphology. The future evolution of this landslide will be controlled by the composition of the materials surveyed along the foot of the valley, being the western part where there are more erodible materials according to the obtained results.
Source: crossref · Quality: baseline
Research context
OpenAlex topics: Landslides and related hazards · Geological and Geophysical Studies Worldwide · Seismic Waves and Analysis
SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.
Affiliations
Department of Géotechnique, Environment, Risques Naturels et Sciences de la Terre, Université Gustave Eiffel, 44344 CEDEX Bouguenais, France
University Institute of Physics Applied to Sciences and Technologies, University of Alicante, Crta. San Vicente del Raspeig, s/n, 03080 Alicante, Spain
Department of Physics, Systems Engineering and Signal Theory, University of Alicante, Ctra. San Vicente del Raspeig, s/n, 03080 Alicante, Spain
Department Civil Engineering, University of Granada, 18071 Granada, Spain
Institut Français des Sciences et Technologies des Transports, de l’Aménagement et des Réseaux (IFSTTAR), Université Gustave Eiffel, 14-20 Boulevard Newton, Champs-sur-Marne, 77447 Marne la Vallée, France
Department of Earth Science and Research Centre for Geological Risk (CERI), Università di Roma “La Sapienza”, 00185 Roma, Italy
Geo2Siena, 53100 Siena, Italy
Department of Physics, University of Jaén, 23071 Jaén, Spain
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Alicante, Ctra. San Vicente del Raspeig, s/n, 03080 Alicante, Spain
Funding
EU (FEDER) · Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación of the Spanish government · Spanish Investigation Agency · Conselleria de Innovación, Universidades, Ciencia y Sociedad Digital de la Generalitat Valenciana · Junta de Andalucía
References (63)
Show source-provided references
1. Turner, A.K., and Schuster, R.L. (1996). Landslides. Investigation and Mitigation. Special Report 247, National Academy Press. Transportation Research Board.
2. Duncan, J.M., and Wright, S.G. (2005). Soil Strength and Slope Stability, John Willey & Sons.
3. Geophysical investigation of landslides: A review10.2113/gssgfbull.178.2.101 ↗
4. A review of conventional techniques for subsurface characterization of landslides10.1007/s12665-016-6353-3 ↗
5. A review of the advantages and limitations of geophysical investigations in landslide studies10.1155/2019/2983087 ↗
6. Application of geophysical methods for the investigation of the large gravitational mass movement of Séchilienne, France10.1139/t05-034 ↗
7. Rapid characterisation of the extremely large landslide threatening the Rules reservoir (S Spain)10.1007/s10346-021-01728-z ↗
8. High-resolution electrical imaging of the Varco d’Izzo earthflow (southern Italy)10.1016/j.jappgeo.2004.03.004 ↗
9. Prediction of the location of future rupture surfaces of a slowly moving loess landslide by electrical resistivity tomography10.1111/1365-2478.12421 ↗
10. Seismic noise-based methods for soft-rock landslide characterization10.2113/gssgfbull.178.2.137 ↗
11. Geophysical surveys to study a landslide body (NE Sicily)10.1007/s11069-016-2544-1 ↗
12. Ambient noise and ERT data provide insights into the structure of co-seismic rock avalanche deposits in Sichuan (China)10.1007/s10064-021-02346-8 ↗
13. Delgado, J., Galiana-Merino, J.J., García-Tortosa, F.J., Garrido, J., Lenti, L., Martino, S., Peláez, J.A., Rodríguez-Peces, M.J., de Galdeano, C., and Soler-Llorens, J.L. (2021). Ambient noise measurements to constrain the geological structure of the Güevéjar landslide (S Spain). Appl. Sci., 11.10.3390/app11041454 ↗
14. Hussain, Y., Schlögel, R., Innocenti, A., Hamza, O., Iannucci, R., Martino, S., and Havenith, H.-B. (2022). Review on the Geophysical and UAV-Based Methods Applied to Landslides. Remote Sens., 14.10.3390/rs14184564 ↗
15. Persico, R., Piro, S., and Linford, N. (2019). Near-Surface Geophysics, Elsevier.
16. Nakamura, Y. (1989). A Method for Dynamic Characteristics Estimation of Subsurface Using Microtremor on the Ground Surface, Railway Technical Research Institute. Quarterly Reports.
17. Space and time spectra of stationary stochastic waves, with special reference to microtremors
18. A comparison of ESAC and FK methods of estimating phase velocity using arbitrarily shaped microtremor analysis10.1785/0119980109 ↗
19. Asten, M.W. (2003). The Microtremor Survey Method, Geophysical Monograph Series 12, Society of Exploration Geophysicists.
20. High-resolution frequency–wavenumber spectral analysis10.1109/PROC.1969.7278 ↗
21. Estimation of seismic noise structure using Array10.1190/1.1439995 ↗
22. Effects of Love waves on microtremor H/V ratio10.1785/0120070063 ↗
23. Comparison of empirical and numerical site responses at the Tito Test Site, Southern Italy10.1785/0120060223 ↗
24. On the repeatability and consistency of three-component ambient vibration array measurements10.1007/s10518-009-9159-9 ↗
25. Joint inversion of phase velocity dispersion and H/V ratio curves from seismic noise recordings using a genetic algorithm, considering higher modes10.1029/2004GL021115 ↗
26. Joint inversion of H/V ratios and dispersion curves from seismic noise: Estimating the S-wave velocity of bedrock10.1029/2005GL022878 ↗
27. Chacón, J., Irigaray, C., and El Hamdouni, R. (1997). Informe sobre exposición a riesgos derivados de los movimientos de ladera en Albuñuelas (Granada). Incidencia de las lluvias de noviembre a enero de 1996/97. Memoria Técnica. Ayuntamiento de Albuñuelas, + 3 Annexes.
28. IGN (1980). El Terremoto de Andalucía de 25 de Diciembre de 1884, Instituto Geográfico Nacional.
29. Chacón, J., Irigaray, C., and El Hamdouni, R. (2007). Vuelco de viviendas de la población de Albuñuelas (Granada). Informe Final. Contrato Fundación Empresa-Universidad de Granada. Ayuntamiento de Albuñuelas, + 3 annexes.
30. First delmitation of areas affected by ground deformations in the Guadalfeo river valley and Granada metropolitan area (Spain) using the InSAR technique10.1016/j.enggeo.2008.12.005 ↗
31. Main active faults in the Granada and Guadix-Baza Basins (Betic Cordillera)
32. Quesada, C., and Oliveira, J.T. (2020). The Geology of Iberia: A Geodynamic Approach, Active Processes: Seismicity, Active Faulting and Relief, Springer Nature.10.1007/978-3-030-10931-8 ↗
33. The role of faults as barriers in confined seismic sequences: 2021 seismicity in the Granada Basin (Betic Cordillera)10.1029/2022TC007481 ↗
34. Coral reefs in coarse-terrigenous sedimentary environments (Upper Tortonian, Granada Basin, southern Spain)10.1016/0037-0738(90)90011-H ↗
35. Fernández, J., Viseras, C., and Soria, J. (1996). Tertiary Basins of Spain. The Stratigraphic Record of 535 Crustal Kinematics, Cambridge University Press.
36. Avidad, J., García-Dueñas, V., Gallegos, J.A., and González Donoso, J.M. (1981). Mapa Geológico de España, E:1:50.00, Hoja 1041 (Dúrcal), IGME.
37. Micromammals from the Middle Miocene of the Granada Basin (Spain)10.1016/S0016-6995(93)80028-P ↗
38. Estructura del graben asimétrico de Albuñuelas (Granada)
39. Estructura y tectónica activa del valle de Lecrín
40. D’Angiò, D. (2013). Caratterizzazione Meccanica di Laboratorio dei limi Argillosi della Successione del Rio de Albun᷉uelas (Granada, Spagna). [Bachelor’s Thesis, Facoltà di Scienze Matematiche, Fisiche e Naturali, Università di Roma–La Sapienza].
41. Evaluation of road network slopes susceptibility to seismically-induced landslides in the Granada Basin (S Spain)10.3389/feart.2023.1226894 ↗
42. The importance of precipitation and the susceptibility of slopes in the triggering of landslides along roads10.1023/A:1008126113789 ↗
43. El Hamdouni, R. (2001). Estudio de Movimientos de Ladera en la Cuenca del Río Ízbor Mediante un SIG: Contribución al Conocimiento de la Relación entre Tectónica Activa e Inestabilidad de Vertientes. [Ph.D. Thesis, Universidad de Granada].
44. Site effect evolution using spectral ratios with only one station10.1785/BSSA0830051574 ↗
45. Are microtremor useful in site response evolution
46. Numerical and theoretical investigations on the possibilities and limitations of the Nakamura’s technique10.4294/jpe1952.42.377 ↗
47. A comparison and test of various site response estimation techniques, including three that are non reference—Site dependent
48. Empirical site response evaluations: Case studies in Israel10.1016/0267-7261(96)00019-X ↗
49. Site amplification at five locations in San Fransico, California: A comparison of S waves, codas, and microtremors10.1785/BSSA0860030627 ↗
50. Microzonation of the city of Basel10.1023/A:1009774423900 ↗
51. Alternative interpretations of horizontal to vertical spectral ratios of ambient vibrations: New insights from theoretical modeling10.1007/s10518-009-9110-0 ↗
52. On the propagation characteristics estimations of subsurface using microtremors on the ground surface
53. Ambient noise measurements to support emergency seismic microzonation: The Abruzzo 2009 earthquake experience
54. Application of surface-wave methods for seismic site characterization10.1007/s10712-011-9134-2 ↗
55. S-wave velocity profiling by inversion of microtremor H/V spectrum10.1785/0120030028 ↗
56. Geophysical inversion with a neighbourhood algorithm I. Searching a parameter space10.1046/j.1365-246X.1999.00876.x ↗
57. An improved neighborhood algorithm: Parameter conditions and dynamic scaling10.1029/2008GL033256 ↗
58. Surface-wave inversion using a direct search algorithm and its application to ambient vibration measurements10.3997/1873-0604.2004018 ↗
59. Acerra, C., Aguacil, G., Anastasiadis, A., Atakan, K., Azzara, R., Bard, P.-Y., Basili, R., Bertrand, E., Bettig, B., and Blarel, F. (2004). Guidelines for the Implementation of the H/V Spectral Ratio Technique on Ambient Vibrations Measurements, Processing and Interpretation, European Commission. European Commission–EVG1-CT-2000-00026 SESAME.
60. Seismic noise array measurements using broadband stations and vertical geophones: Preliminary outcomes for the suitability on f-k analysis10.1007/s10518-011-9277-z ↗
61. Suitability of 10 Hz vertical geophones for seismic noise array measurements based on frequency-wavenumber and extended spatial autocorrelation analyses
62. Array estimators and use of microseisms for reconnaissance of sedimentary basins10.1190/1.1441596 ↗
63. Building Seismic Safety Council (2009). NEHRP Recommended Provisions for Seismic Regulations for New Buildings and Other Structures (FEMA P-750), Building Seismic Safety Council.