Ion IONIȚĂ, Petronela CHELARU, Lilian NIACȘU, Doru BUTELCĂ & Adrian ANDREI
“Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University, Faculty of Geography and Geology, Carol I Blvd., no 11, 700505, Iași, Romania
E-mail: ion.ionita72@yahoo.com

LANDSLIDE DISTRIBUTION AND THEIR RECENT DEVELOPMENT WITHIN THE CENTRAL MOLDAVIAN PLATEAU OF ROMANIA

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Land degradation by soil erosion, gullying and landslides has been recognized as a major environmental threat in the Moldavian Plateau of eastern Romania. Landslides are of particular concern in the Central Moldavian Plateau, both in terms of damage and affected areas. However, the spatial distribution and the very recent temporal development of the landslides require further study. Generally, the study area is an aggregate of hills and structural platforms separated by deep, frequently asymmetrical, valleys. Middle and Late Miocene (Sarmatian and Meotian) clayey-sandy layers have outcropped due to erosion. Based on thorough reconnaissance of the Central Moldavian Plateau, three representative catchments, encompassing 106,824 ha (a quarter of the total area), have been selected, namely: the Upper Bârlad upstream of Băcești, Șacovăț and Crasna. The results obtained showed that landslides, in any shape or age, cover about half of the study area and most are inactive. Two landslide indices have been used to correlate landslide areas with both hypsometry and slope. In addition, there are similarities and differences between the selected catchments, which are strongly connected with their specific characteristics.