Megalandslides in the Andes of Central Chile and Argentina (32°-34°s) and potential hazards

MOREIRAS S.M.; SEPULVEDA, S.A.

Geodynamic Processes in the Andes of Central Chile and Argentina.

Geological Sociaty of London

Año: 2014; p. 1 - 54

This review deals with an integration and update of the knowledge about large volume landslides in the Central Andes at 32-34°S. An integrated landslide inventory for megalandslides in central Chilean and Argentinean Andean basins was developed, and dispersed chronological data on paleolandslides was compiled, showing a dominance of Late Pleistocene and Holocene ages. Traditional hypotheses adopted for explaining landslide occurrence in the Central Andes are contrasted. Whereas seismic tremors have been widely suggested as the main triggering mechanism in Chilean collapses, palaeo-climatic conditions are considered as the main cause of Argentinean giant landslides. These different approaches denote the lack of multidisciplinary studies focused on the controversy about seismic or climate trigger mechanism in the Central Andes. These studies are also essential to understand failure mechanisms and assessment of the related hazard and risk, which are essential to reduce social and economic impacts on vulnerable communities for future landslide events