The Slumgullion landslide (southwestern Colorado, USA): investigation and monitoring

This paper summarizes the research performed at the Slumgullion landslide. The landslide consists of an active slope movement currently moving on the upper-middle part of an older, larger, and inactive landslide. After the first specific study carried out in 1958, the landslide has been the object of detailed investigation and monitoring starting from 1990. These, which will be briefly described here, consisted of: high-scale and multi-temporal mapping of the features produced by the landslide movement at the ground surface; geological characterization of the materials involved in landsliding; evaluation of the hazards, with particular reference to deformation of the area ahead of the active toe; geophysical investigation; monitoring of the landslide by means of surveys, photogrammetric methods, and GPS methods; comparison of landslide movement with meteorological data, and assessment of the relationships between movement and rainfall and snow melting.