Paleoclimatic significance of Holocene slope instability in the Dolomites (Italy)

Abstract

This paper deals with the use of records of past landslide events in the study of climate changes. The dating of past landslide events is a useful tool to reconstruct the evolution of the slope-system at a broad temporal scale and to recognize the different formative events it has undergone. When the environmental context can be traced by means of a multidisciplinary approach which comprises geomorphological, sedimentological, paleobotanical, dendrochronological and archaeological analyses, then a deep understanding of the relationship between the possible triggering factors and the slope response can be achieved. The goal is to recognize changes of environmental factors which condition landsliding processes such as climate, seismic activity, vegetation and land use, trying to identify the relationship between landslide events and their triggering process, which is known to be complicated by the behaviour and the properties of the hillslope system. With reference to the results of some case studies in the Dolomites, the conceptual and methodological aspects of the topic are here discussed.