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Slope failures

The problems related to the genesis and development of slope movements is an intricate interaction of the extreme climate situations, geologic setting of an area, terrain´s geomorphology and human activity. In the local conditions, extreme precipitations, intense snow melting, mining activities and inadequate foundation engineering are usually the trigger mechanisms. In the Czech Republic, landslides occur above all in some particular geological units. Perm-Carboniferous and Cretaceous sediments and Tertiary volcanic rocks of the České středohoří Mts. are known to be landslide-prone. The Flysch Belt sediments of the West Carpathians are also known for frequent landslides and an intense research there has been underway since July 1997, when an extreme rainfall activated hundreds of landslides causing considerable material damage.

The study of geological hazards will be based on historical knowledge derived from archaeological localities, from geochronological dating and historic documents. It will immediately follow up on the digital geological maps and their 1: 25,000 thematic layers. Modern remote sensing methods will be used such as the LIDAR imaging, the SBAS-DInSAR satellite radar data and the geophysical methods will be further improved as well. The past years saw an increase in demand for data about the landslides endangering particular constructions. The response to that will be compilation of thematic catalogues of slope deformations highlighting highly jeopardized sites or tracks of land exposed to danger.

Landslide at Dobkovičky village

Landslide at Dobkovičky village buried the half-built D8-Highway from Prague to Dresden.

We have been able to experience a shortening of intervals between the individual flood events since 1997; landslip disasters were documented in 2002, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2013 and 2014. The key problem is defining the length between the peak rainfall aggregates and the oncoming series of shallow landslides in a particular area. Analyzing the influence of the climate on the increased occurrence of slope instabilities in the Czech Republic between 1997 and 2015 is therefore an important issue in the geo-hazard investigation.

The objective of the research in legislation, promotion of land-use planning and remediation of the damages induced by landslides or rock-fall is to improve quality of the Czech legislation concerning the geological hazards and its implementation at the regional level. This regards above all the methodology of risk ranking of the individual landslides.

The research shall further involve innovation of the rugged-terrain monitoring methods and innovation of emergency condition analysis methodology and designing of warning systems at pilot localities.

Engineering-geological research belongs to the core study subjects of geo-hazard study since it investigates, deciphers the interaction of the rock environment with geological hazards (landslides) and man-made constructions. Engineering-geological zones will be defined on the basis of similarity or homogeneity of those properties primordial for engineering geology or geo-technology. In a long run, an inventory of the existing and newly formed slope instabilities should be secured on a day-to-day basis, giving rise to an interactive map of the landslide proneness.

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Czech Geological Survey
Klárov 131/3
118 00 Praha 1
phone: +420257089486
petr.kycl@geologycz
Czech Geological Survey
Leitnerova 204/22
602 00 Brno
phone: +420543429263
oldrich.krejci@geologycz