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The mobility of some debris flows in pyroclastic deposits of the northwestern Campanian region (southern Italy)

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Abstract

The mobility of 25 debris flows involving the volcanoclastic materials mantling very steep slopes in the northwestern Campanian region in Southern Italy has been evaluated using an empirical approach involving the relationships between volumes, reach angles and relative excess of travel distance. Two sets of landslides characterised by different degree of mobility were distinguished: debris flows with limited runout distances and hyperconcentrated flows with wide runout distances and considerable volumes. For all the landslides, the analysis shows a generally decreasing linear trend in reach angle with increasing volumes. The scatter is high, probably due to path obstructions and the vertical height of the falls. A best correlation has been found between the travel distance and the volume. A plot of the volume of all debris flows versus Corominas’ “ relative excess of travel distance ” shows a progressive increase of mobility with volume of the landslide deposit. This occurrence is more apparent for debris flows in Sarno and surrounding towns with only 20% of the landslides mainly affecting the Sorrentine Peninsula - Lattari Mountains displaying negative values of relative excess of travel distance. The differing mobility is related to the amount of interstitial fluids, material type and angle of slope.

Résumé

Dans cet article une approche empirique a été appliquée en utilisant les rapports liant les volumes, les angles d’extension et la « distance relative de propagation » pour 25 écoulements de débris impliquant les matériaux volcanoclastic enveloppant les versants très raides dans un sectour occidental de la Campania, una Regione de l’Italie méridionale. Deux ensembles d’éboulements caractérisés par degré différent de mobilité ont été détectés. Le premier groupe comprend des écoulements de débris avec des distances d’expansion limitées affectant principalement les versants de la Péninsule Sorrentine—Montagnes des Lattari. Le deuxième groupe comprend des écoulements trés visqueux affectant les versants de la structure montagne Pizzo d’Alvano. Pour tous les écoulements, l’analyse montre une tendance linéaire généralement décroissante dans l’angle d’extension avec l’augmentation des volumes. La dispersion est haute et est probablement dûe aux obstructions de chemin et aux hauteures verticales des chutes. Une meilleure corrélation est entre la distance et le volume. Un graphique du volume de tous les écoulements de débris contre la « distance relative de propagation » de Corominas montre une augmentation progressive de mobilité avec le volume de dépôts d’écoulement. Cet événement est plus évident pour les écoulements de débris affectant les versants de la structure montagne Pizzo d’Alvano. Seulement le 20% d’écoulements affectant principalement la Péninsule Sorrentine, montagnes des Lattari, montre des valeurs négatives de la distance relative de propagation. Probablement, le degré différent de mobilité est dû à la présence de la quantité différente de fluides interstitiels et à différences dans la lithostratigraphe des versants impliquées dans les écoulements.

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Acknowledgements

This work was carried out with financial contributions from the CIPE-MURST (Italian Ministry of Education) under Prof. R. de Riso (prog. 15 RIS n° 7).

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Budetta, P., de Riso, R. The mobility of some debris flows in pyroclastic deposits of the northwestern Campanian region (southern Italy). Bull Eng Geol Environ 63, 293–302 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10064-004-0244-7

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