Large Late Pleistocene landslides from the marginal slope of the Flysch Carpathians

• DOI: 10.1007/s10346-013-0463-8
• Publication Date: 2014-01-17T10:24:14Z
• Authors: Tomáš Pánek; Filip Hartvich; Vlasta Jankovská; Jan Klimeš; Petr Tábořík; Miroslav Bubík; Veronika Smolková; Jan Hradecký
• Keywords: Flysch; Alluvial fan; Marine isotope stage; Mass movement; Colluvium

The gently concave piedmont of the marginal slope of the Flysch Carpathians in the Czech Republic has long been considered to comprise a system of pediments or coalescent alluvial fans. However, within one of the typical sections of this piedmont, large successive landslides with long travel distances of ~2.5 km have been identified through geophysical measurements and the investigation of an extensive artificial exposure. Accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) radiocarbon dating and pollen analysis demonstrate that the uppermost generations of landslide deposits have originated since ~56 ka BP during the warmer and more humid interpleniglacial conditions of Marine Isotope Stage 3 (MIS 3). The geomorphological evidence for landsliding during MIS 3 has almost completely disappeared from this region due to intensive periglacial processes operating during the Last Glacial Maximum and subsequent fluvial and anthropogenic processes operating during the Holocene. The considerable antiquity of the studied terrestrial landslide bodies is unique within the context of Europe. This study shows the value of re-examining landscape development using new techniques and fresh exposures.