Week8: Mass Wasting, Argentina

Landslides are widespread in Argentina. The most catastrophic events have been described for mountain regions, which comprise one-third of the country, extending from the north to the southern border, involving mountains, ranges, tablelands, and sea cliffs. Argentina's landslide susceptibility is classified as high according to the information that is currently available. This means that this area has rainfall patterns, terrain slope, geology, soil, land cover, and earthquakes that make localized landslides a frequent hazard phenomenon. 





Argentina experienced a landslide as recently as June 8th of this year. Heavy rainfall has been affecting the Rio Negro Province (central-southern Argentina) since 6 June, triggering a landslide that has resulted in casualties and damage. Media report, as of 8 June, one fatality, two people still missing and three injured people in San Carlos de Bariloche City (far south-west of the Rio Negro Province, near the border with Chile) due to a landslide that occurred on 7 June. In addition, media report some destroyed houses across the affected area. Over the next 48 hours, more rainfall is forecast for the southwestern Rio Negro Province.


Since Argentina is susceptible to landslides, to prepare, they should take into account planning decisions such as project siting, project design, and construction methods must take into account the potential for landslides. Further detailed information should be obtained to better understand the level of landslide susceptibility in Argentina. Climate change is likely to alter slope and bedrock stability through changes in precipitation and/or temperature. It is difficult to determine future locations and timing of large rock avalanches, as these depend on local geological conditions and other non-climatic factors.

References:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0928202508100153#:~:text=Landslides%20are%20widespread%20in%20Argentina,tablelands%2C%20and%20sea%2Dcliffs.

https://reliefweb.int/report/argentina/argentina-landslide-media-servicio-meteorologico-nacional-echo-daily-flash-08-june-2022

https://blogs.agu.org/landslideblog/2022/06/08/san-carlos-de-bariloche-a-deadly-slope-failure-in-argentina/

https://thinkhazard.org/en/report/12-argentina/LS





Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 16, 2022 at 11:08 PM

    Great post. I am doing Dominica and it also has a bunch of landslides within the island. I agree with what you said about preparing for landslides even though they are really unexpected.

    ReplyDelete
  2. GuadalupeOctober 21, 2022 at 6:36 PM

    I agree with you about how someone could be prepared for landslides but sometimes they come unexpectedly. I enjoyed reading your post.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sam McCarthyOctober 28, 2022 at 1:34 PM

    I didn't know how prone Argentina was to landslides or how recent one has occurred. I liked how thorough you were with the history of mass wasting.

    ReplyDelete

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