Deep Seated Landslides of Seciurile (Getic Piedmont, Romania) and Its Implication for the Settlement

Abstract

The Seciuri settlement in Romania emerged and developed on a corrugated terrain, fragmented by numerous small valleys cut by sheet wash and the Amaradia springs. In the west, north and east, it neighbours two lignite quarries – Seciuri Vest and Seciuri-Ruget, lying at the contact between the Getic Piedmont and Getic Subcarpathians. In the spring of 2006, the settlement was destroyed almost completely by a landslide that perfectly overlaps the heartland of the village. Due to the risks incurred, the local authorities decided to evacuate the village and move it to Campu Mare Depression, where a new settlement was built.

Changes in the slope stability are the results of cumulated effects of various factors, such as: lithology and strata slope, overloading of the slope, water excess on the slopes, artificial mechanical shocks, and changes in the terrain land use. The rainfalls in 2004 and 2005, as well as the sudden melting of snow in the spring of 2006 are the main factors that triggered the landslide. The vibrations induced by coal conveyors and the heavy traffic on the industrial road, both of which are on the upper side of the slope, where the detachment scarp emerged, also contributed to the landslide.

The analysis of the landslide mass indicates that it slid in a series of steps that formed sliding prisms inside this mass, most of the time having a local character. This activity explains the appearance of some local compression of the water logged sand, leading to deepening and local detachment steps.