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The sagging deep-seated gravitational movements on the eastern side of Mt. Amiata (Tuscany, Italy)

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Abstract

The eastern side of the Mt. Amiata volcano is affected by a series of deep-seated gravitational slope deformations (DsGSDs). The San Piero and the Podere Mezzavia DsGSDs affect the lower part of the slope. The main escarpments are located on the outer edges of the lava flows, but the landslides mostly affect the pre-volcanic Ligurian Terrains. A deeper movement, possibly exceeding 100 m in thickness, is evidenced by a long trench at the base of the main escarpment that indicates a sagging type movement. This deeper movement is responsible for the activation of a series of superficial rock and mud flows that show evidence of ongoing activity. The most likely location of the sliding surface is the tectonized contact between the Santa Fiora and Argille a Palombini Fms within the Ligurian units, although the superficial landslides prevent our determining with certainty if a clear-cut sliding surface already developed connecting the upper and the lower parts of the slope. These DsGSDs were activated along the flanks of a larger movement that affects the lava flow units cropping out in the middle slope of the volcano. A long main escarpment, secondary escarpments, trenches and borehole data suggest that the thickness could locally exceed 200 m and generate another sagging type movement. Up-slope and up-movement-facing counterscarps indicate the existence of a listric elongated spoon-shaped compound embryonic sliding surface. This sagging, which hosts the towns of Abbadia San Salvatore and Piancastagnaio, appears to be in a quiescent stage, according to preliminary monitoring with a global positioning system (GPS) network. The downcutting of the river network along the softer Pliocene terrains of the Radicofani basin is enhanced by the general uplift of the Apennines and seems to be the major factor in the activation of these DsGSDs.

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Acknowledgments

Special thanks to the Assessorato all’Ambiente of the Siena Province for having granted the geomorphological mapping that firstly led to the recognition of the DsGSD in the Mt Amiata area and, more recently, for having stimulated the continuation of the investigation. Many thanks also to the Comunità Montana del Monte Amiata, and particularly to Dr. D. Rappuoli for useful discussions and information regarding the depth of the bedrock in the Abbadia San Salvatore area.

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  1. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Universita di Siena, Via di Laterina, 8, 53100, Siena, Italy

    Mauro Coltorti, Andrea Brogi, Lorenzo Fabbrini, Dario Firuzabadì & Lapo Pieranni

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  1. Mauro Coltorti
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  2. Andrea Brogi
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  3. Lorenzo Fabbrini
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Correspondence to Mauro Coltorti.

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Coltorti, M., Brogi, A., Fabbrini, L. et al. The sagging deep-seated gravitational movements on the eastern side of Mt. Amiata (Tuscany, Italy). Nat Hazards 59, 191–208 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-011-9746-3

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