A multi-parameter field monitoring system to investigate the dynamics of large earth slides–earth flows in the Northern Apennines, Italy

Large earth slides and rocks lides evolving into earth flows are quite widespread in the Northern Italian Apennines. Despite being simply referred to as landslides, many of them are, in fact, large complexes of landslides. They evolved through multiple and/or successive movements, undergoing partial and/or total reactivations. The reactivation of pre-existing landslide bodies is the prevalent mechanism for the known landslide events, as the historical records and the technical reports indicate. Landslide reactivation is, indeed, a relevant topic from the perspective of risk assessment and mitigation. A multi-parameter monitoring system was installed on a large complex of landslides that underwent partial or total reactivations after heavy rainfall events, causing damages to buildings and infrastructures. Two clusters of automatic piezometers—each coupled with an inclinometer—and a time-lapse resistivity deployment were the core of the monitoring system. A weather station, collecting data from subsurface thermometers, and a water content probe completed the system. After the construction of a new geological model of the slope, this study aimed at understanding the possible mechanisms leading to the reactivation of the landslide. This goal was achieved by gaining insights into the process of rainfall infiltration into the landslide deposits, by determining the groundwater flow and evaluating the landslide displacements. The monitoring system captured the processes that took place in the landslide bodies and the bedrock in response to a rainfall event in early February 2017, which followed a dry period of eight months. The recorded data provided indications on the variation of the hydraulic head in the groundwater within the landslide and the bedrock, particularly at the sliding surfaces. The electrical conductivity of the groundwater and the resistivity of the terrain varied across the failure surfaces. In particular, a sudden increase in the electrical conductivity was related to the locations of the main sliding surfaces. The joint analysis of time-lapse resistivity, hydraulic heads, and groundwater electrical conductivity helped identify the locations of weaker levels within the landslide masses, which were confirmed by data from inclinometers. This study improved the knowledge of the hydrogeological behaviour of a complex of landslides in heterogeneous low-permeability media. Moreover, the obtained results contributed to the understanding of the role played by different portions of the landslide complex in the evolution of the movement.