•Selected extreme rainfall events in the last 25years in Slovenia were investigated.•Rainfall characteristics triggering flash floods and landslides are different.•Copulas yield useful ...intensity–duration–frequency relationship (IDF).•Rainfall inter-event time selection has significant influences on IDFs.•Different rainfall thresholds should apply in different parts of Slovenia.
Floods, landslides and debris flows are natural events that occur all over the world and are often induced by extreme rainfall conditions. Several extreme events occurred in Slovenia (Europe) in the last 25years that caused 18 casualties and approximately 500million Euros of economic loss. The intensity–duration–frequency (IDF) relationship was constructed using the Frank copula function for several rainfall stations using high-resolution rainfall data with an average subsample length of 34years. The empirical rainfall threshold curves were also evaluated for selected extreme events. Post-event analyses showed that rainfall characteristics triggering flash floods and landslides are different. The sensitivity analysis results indicate that the inter-event time definition (IETD) and subsample definition methodology can have a significant influence on the position of rainfall events in the intensity–duration space, the constructed IDF curves and on the relationship between the empirical rainfall threshold curves and the IDF curves constructed using the copula approach. Furthermore, a combination of several empirical rainfall thresholds with an appropriate high-density rainfall measurement network can be used as part of the early warning system of the initiation of landslides and debris flows. However, different rainfall threshold curves should be used for lowland and mountainous areas in Slovenia.
The Post-Forum Study Tour following the 4th World Landslide Forum 2017 in Ljubljana (Slovenia) focuses on the variety of landslide forms in Slovenia and its immediate NW surroundings, and the ...best-known examples of devastating landslides induced by rainfall or earthquakes. They differ in complexity of the both surrounding area and of the particular geological, structural and geotechnical features. Many of the landslides of the Study Tour are characterized by huge volumes and high velocity at the time of activation or development in the debris flow. In addition, to the damage to buildings, the lives of hundreds of people are also endangered; human casualties occur. On the first day, we will observe complex Pleistocene to recent landslides related to the Mesozoic carbonates thrust over folded and tectonically fractured Tertiary siliciclastic flysch in the Vipava Valley (SW Slovenia), serving as the main passage between the Friulian lowland and central Slovenia, and thus also an important corridor connecting Northern Italy to Central Europe. A combination of unfavourable geological conditions and intense short or prolonged rainfall periods leads to the formation of different types of complex landslides, from large-scale deep-seated rotational and translational slides to shallow landslides, slumps and sediment gravity flows in the form of debris or mudflows. The second day of the study tour will be held in the Soča River Valley located in NW Slovenia close to the border with Italy, where the most catastrophic Stože landslide in Slovenia recently caused the deaths of seven people, and the nearby Strug landslide, which is a combination of rockfall, landslide and debris flow. The final day of the Post-Forum Study Tour will start in the Valcanale Valley located across the border between Slovenia and Italy, severely affected by a debris flow in August 2003. The flow caused the deaths of two people, damaged 260 buildings; large amounts of deposits blocked the A23 Highway, covering both lanes. In Carinthia (Austria), about 25 km west of Villach, the Dobrač/Dobratsch multiple scarps of prehistoric and historic rockslides will be observed. Dobratsch is a massive mountain ridge with a length of 17 km and a width of 6 km, characterized by steep rocky walls. The 3-day study tour will conclude with a presentation of the Potoška planina landslide, a slide whose lower part may eventually generate a debris flow and therefore represents a hazard for the inhabitants and for the infrastructure within or near the village of Koroška Bela.
The area of Lokavec in the Vipava Valley, SW Slovenia, consists of Mesozoic carbonates thrust over Paleogene siliciclastic flysch. Overthrusting and tectonic damage of carbonates accelerated their ...mechanical disintegration. As a result, accumulations of slope gravel and large carbonate gravitational blocks are deposited on the slopes. Based on previous research, basic geological mapping and analysis of the DEM, ten carbonate blocks were identified. The aim of our research was to map lithology, measure and analyse the dip of carbonate strata and to determine transport mechanisms for individual blocks. The displacement of blocks from the source area ranged from 80 m to 1950 m. With the displacement of gravitational blocks, changes in dip direction and dip angle were also observed. The differences between the strata dip of carbonate source area and gravitational megablocks are from 4° to 59°.
During the last decade, several rainfall-induced deep-seated large landslides with volumes of the order of 1 million m
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were triggered in various locations in Slovenia (central Europe), each ...representing a serious threat to the nearby villages and traffic infrastructure and urging to be mitigated. The Macesnik landslide, triggered in 1989, and the Slano blato landslide, triggered in 2000, were the first two large landslides in Slovenia, where a combination of drainage and retaining works consisting of deep reinforced concrete (RC) shafts/wells was successfully used as a mitigation measure. This paper presents the field conditions and a brief history of the two landslides with emphasis on the design approach and method used for the stability analysis and the design of deep RC shafts/wells. In addition, the paper gives an insight into the problems associated with the execution of works and provides data about the behavior of the two landslides after drainage and retaining works were completed. The monitoring data show that the undertaken mitigation measures were efficient to improve the stability of both landslides and significantly reduce the risk.
The Slano blato landslide is situated above the village of Lokavec, in the western part of Slovenia. This area is one of the seismically most active parts of the country. Considering just the last ...decade, movement of the landslide was observed in November 2000, when the displaced material reached a velocity of 60–100 m/day. Silty and clayey gravel above flysch layers of marl and sandstone formed the landslide mass.
Geotechnical investigations of the landslide were performed in 2003 and 2004, when the depth of the landslide was determined, as well as the geotechnical parameters and the sliding mechanism. Rheological tests were also carried out for further analysis. Based on the investigation results and the observed landslide velocity, the landslide was classified as an earth flow. Inclinometer measurements showed that the landslide has two shear surfaces, with different behaviour shown as each.
A stability analysis was carried out numerically by applying the Mohr–Coulomb and Burger elasto–plastic models. The Mohr–Coulomb model indicated that the high water level influences the landslide instability. In the case of the Burger elasto-plastic model, a higher velocity was calculated, at a water content of between 35 and 40%.
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