Peculiar morphologies of subaqueous landslide deposits and their relationship to flow dynamics

Abstract

The morphology of subaqueous landslide deposits is seldom analyzed quantitatively or at least semi-quantitatively with regard to the dynamics of the flow. However, the peculiar morphology of the deposits can reveal information on the mechanics of propagation of the mass movement and on the mechanism of emplacement. Horseshoe-shaped deposits and oriented blocks are two peculiar morphologies of subaqueous landslide which have been identified in this paper. Both morphologies have been described in a qualitative way by considering the shape of the deposit and the geomorphological features of the areas of emplacement. Furthermore, these morphologies have been analyzed in a quantitative way by means of mathematical and numerical approaches. The close relationship between these morphologies and the landslide mechanism of propagation and emplacement has been thus preliminary demonstrated by accounting for the interaction between moving mass and the ambient fluid. © Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2010.