Monitoring and modelling moraine landslides: an example from Cazzaso village (Carnic Alps, Italy)

Landslides in Alpine valleys pose significant hazards due to potential impacts on inhabited areas and landslide-dam formation. These valleys feature diverse glacial deposits (moraine, debris talus, and glacio-fluvio-lacustrine materials) with varying technical traits. A comprehensive study investigated a Carnic Alps landslide in north-eastern Italy, focusing on moraine deposits. This entailed geological-geomorphological analyses, slope deformation monitoring, and utilisation of 2D and 3D stability models. The 19th-century landslide occurred in Tolmezzo, Friuli Venezia Giulia, and affected the Cazzaso village. Geological-geomorphological studies involved LiDAR-derived terrain models, borehole-based slope stratigraphy, and inclinometer-derived landslide characterisation. Deformation data combined GPS measurements and multi-temporal interferometric synthetic aperture radar. Reconstructing the slope’s geological model, stability assessments employed 2D and 3D limit equilibrium methods, factoring in groundwater and seismicity. Validation occurred against monitoring data and geological-geomorphological observations. The 3D models further identified most landslide-susceptible zones.