The Role of Soil Type in Triggering Shallow Landslides in the Alps (Lombardy, Northern Italy)

Fabio Luino, Jerome De Graff, Marcella Biddoccu, Francesco Faccini, Michele Freppaz, Anna Roccati, Fabrizio Ungaro, Michele D’Amico and Laura Turconi
Additional contact information
Fabio Luino: Istituto di Ricerca per la Protezione Idrogeologica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Strada delle Cacce 73, 10135 Torino (TO), Italy
Jerome De Graff: Department of Earth & Environmental Science, California State University, M/S ST24, Fresno, CA 93740, USA
Marcella Biddoccu: Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie per l’Energia e la Mobilità Sostenibili, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Strada delle Cacce 73, 10135 Torino (TO), Italy
Francesco Faccini: Istituto di Ricerca per la Protezione Idrogeologica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Strada delle Cacce 73, 10135 Torino (TO), Italy
Michele Freppaz: Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie, Forestali e Alimentari, Università di Torino, Largo Paolo Braccini 2, 10095 Grugliasco (TO), Italy
Anna Roccati: Istituto di Ricerca per la Protezione Idrogeologica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Strada delle Cacce 73, 10135 Torino (TO), Italy
Fabrizio Ungaro: Istituto per la BioEconomia, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Via Madonna del Piano 10, 50018 Sesto Fiorentino (FI), Italy
Michele D’Amico: Dipartimento di Scienze Agrarie e Ambientali—Produzione, Territorio, Agroenergia, Università degli Studi di Milano, Via Celoria 2, 20133 Milano (MI), Italy
Laura Turconi: Istituto di Ricerca per la Protezione Idrogeologica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Strada delle Cacce 73, 10135 Torino (TO), Italy

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 8, 1-26

Abstract: Shallow landslides due to the soil saturation induced by intense rainfall events are very common in northern Italy, particularly in the Alps and Prealps. They are usually triggered during heavy rainstorms, causing severe damage to property, and sometimes causing casualties. A historical study and analysis of shallow landslides and mud-debris flows triggered by rainfall events in Lombardy was carried out for the period of 1911–2010, over an area of 14,019 km 2 . In this study, intensity–duration rainfall thresholds have been defined using the frequentist approach, considering some pedological characteristics available in regional soil-related databases, such as the soil region, the textural class, and the dominant soil typological units (STU). The soil-based empirical rainfall thresholds obtained considering the soil regions of the study area were significantly different, with a lower threshold for landslide occurrence in the soil region M1 (Alps), where soils developed over siliceous parent material, with respect to the whole study area and the soil region M2 (Prealps), where soils developed over calcareous bedrocks. Furthermore, by considering textural classes, the curves were differentiated, with coarse-textured soils found more likely to triggerlandslides than fine soils. Finally, considering both texture and main soil groups, given the same rainfall duration, the rainfall amount and intensity needed to initiate a landslide increased in the following order: “coarse-skeletal” Cambisols < Umbrisols < Podzols < “fine” Cambisols. The results of this study highlighted the relevant role of pedological conditioning factors in differentiating the activation of rainfall-induced shallow landslides in a definite region. The information on soils can be used to define more precise rainfall–pedological thresholds than empirical thresholds based solely on meteorological conditions, even when they are locally defined. This knowledge is crucial for forecasting and preventing geo-hydrological processes and in developing better warning strategies to mitigate risks and to reduce socio-economic damage.

Keywords: rainfall threshold; soil region; soil texture; soil typological units; Northern Italy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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