Theme: Rock avalanche

Analysis of the Mt. de La Saxe landslide

The Mont de La Saxe landslide affects the south-western side of Mont de La Saxe near Courmayeur, Valle d'Aosta. This landslide at present can be considered one of the most critical active landslides in the Italian Alps. The estimated unstable mass is more than eight millions of cubic meters and the main elements at risk are the hamlets of La Palud and Entreves, and the motorway access to the international tunnel of the Mont ...

High pressure rheology

Some geological phenomena of high pressure shearing show an unusual low friction during rock on rock slipping, like the abnormally long rock avalanches runout (hypermobility) or the slip of faults during earthquakes. The project aims to study the effect of the dynamic fragmentation of rock granules on the motion shear resistance, starting from the consideration that dynamic fragmentation is ubiquitous in geological processes subject to shearing ...