Pleistocene landslides in the Moldavian Plateau, Eastern Romania

Abstract

The Moldavian Plateau is a landslide prone region located in North-Eastern and Eastern Romania, the general morphostructural setting of this area consisting of a monocline with cuesta landforms. In the study area, the landslides are characterized by a strong temporal and spatial clustering, being influenced by the morphostructural setting and by the stratified layered rocks. The majority of the hillslopes affected by landslides are characterized by the presence of large old, relict landslides whose morphological signature is degraded by erosion and by younger landslides, the majority of them generating the retreat of the scarps in a retrogressive manner. In this paper we study the topological relations between several large landslides and archaeological sites for three selected settlements in the Moldavian Plateau, situated on ridges and hillslopes. Landslides and archaeological sites were mapped using high resolution LiDAR DEMs and extensive field validation activities were performed for stratigraphic and morphologic recognition of the landslides, deposits, and its relation with archaeologic sites