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Geotechnical Features of the Volcanic Rocks Related to the Arteara Rock Avalanche in Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain)

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Landslide Science and Practice

Abstract

The Arteara rock avalanche is developed in the Fataga Group which is related to the first volcanic stage in the Gran Canaria Island (8.6–13.3 Ma). The materials of the avalanche are mainly phonolitic ignimbrites and lava flows. We have investigated the geotechnical quality of the five lithotypes distinguished in the area: (a) phonolitic lava, (b) phonolitic agglomerate breccia, (c) reddish non-welded ignimbrite, (d) welded fiamme-bearing ignimbrite, and (e) pumice tuff with lithics. The weak geotechnical properties of the reddish non-welded ignimbrite, the pumice tuff with lithics and the agglomerate breccia, and their location at the middle of the slope suggest that these lithotypes can be regarded as potential sliding surfaces of the avalanche. The geomechanical features of the volcanic rocks found in this study could be very useful for future studies concerning the modelling of the mechanism of failure and run out of the Arteara rock avalanche.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geodynamics, University Complutense of Madrid. Ciudad Universitaria, s/n. 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Martín Jesús Rodríguez-Peces & Esther Martín-Nicolau

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, 35017, Spain

    Jorge Yepes Temiño

Authors
  1. Martín Jesús Rodríguez-Peces
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  2. Jorge Yepes Temiño
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  3. Esther Martín-Nicolau
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Correspondence to Martín Jesús Rodríguez-Peces .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Geological Survey of Italy, ISPRA - Italian Institute for Environmen, Rome, Italy

    Claudio Margottini

  2. ICL - International Consortium on Landsl, Florence, Italy

    Paolo Canuti

  3. Kyoto University Uji-Campus, Uji, Kyoto, Japan

    Kyoji Sassa

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Rodríguez-Peces, M.J., Temiño, J.Y., Martín-Nicolau, E. (2013). Geotechnical Features of the Volcanic Rocks Related to the Arteara Rock Avalanche in Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain). In: Margottini, C., Canuti, P., Sassa, K. (eds) Landslide Science and Practice. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-31310-3_16

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