GRAVIMETRIC STUDY OF A RETROGRESSIVE LANDSLIDE IN

SOUTHERN ITALY ?

V. DEL GAUDIO1,2 , J. WASOWSKI3 , P. PIERRI2 , U. MASCIA2 and G.

CALCAGNILE1,2
1 Dipartimento di Geologia e Geofisica, Università di Bari, via E. Orabona 4, 70125, Bari, Italy;
E-mail: delga@geo.uniba.it; 2 Osservatorio di Geofisica e Fisica Cosmica, Università di Bari, Bari,
Italy; E-mail: pierri@geo.uniba.it; 3 C.N.R., Centro di Studio sulle Risorse Idriche e la
Salvaguardia del Territorio (C.E.R.I.S.T.), c/o Ist. di Geologia Applicata e Geotecnica,
Politecnico di Bari, Bari, Italy; E-mail: wasowski@area.ba.cnr.it

(Received 10 July, 1999; Accepted 12 July, 2000)

Abstract. Post-failure activity of the December 1993 Senerchia slump-earthflow was characterised
by intermittent recession of the headscarp and earthflow movements. The retrogression showed con-
siderable spatial variability, depending on the properties of the geological materials. The retrogressive
failures were preceded by intense fissuring of the ground in the crown zone. Two microgravimetric
surveys were carried out in order to detect possible spatial-temporal density variations in an area
upslope of the headscarp. Although it was not possible to recognise any significant temporal density
changes, this surveying revealed the presence of a negative anomaly which coincided with the area
of maximum headscarp retreat. The gravity modelling was constrained by borehole information and
new headscarp exposures produced by a series of retrogressive failures suggested that the origin
of the anomaly might be associated with a hollow in an underlying clay-rich bedrock which had
been subsequently filled by coarse colluvium. A possible concentration of groundwater in the hollow
and its discharge towards the headscarp area controlled the local slope instability. The results of
this study showed that microgravimetric surveys conducted upslope of retrogressive landslides can
provide useful information on subsurface lithological heterogeneities that may control the amount
and preferential direction of upslope landslide enlargement.

Keywords: retrogressive landslide, gravimetry, density, subsurface morphology, Italy

1. Introduction

On December 29th 1993, a damaging mass movement (Figure 1) started on the

southern outskirts of Senerchia, a town located in the Southern Apennines. This
mass movement, named ‘Acquara-Vadoncello’ landslide, has been intermittently
active in the following years destroying over 100 m of a rural road, several hectars
of cultivated fields, and causing the collapse of a farm house.
Due to its post-failure activity, the Acquara-Vadoncello landslide was chosen
as one of the key test sites for a multidisciplinary research project supported by
? Work carried out with the financial support of the M.U.R.S.T. (Italian Ministry of University
and Scientific and Technological Research) and of the Commission of the European Communities –
Environment Research Programme 1991–1994 – Contract EV5V-CT94-0451

Surveys in Geophysics 21: 391–406, 2000.

© 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
392 V. DEL GAUDIO ET AL.

Figure 1. Map of the 1993 Acquara-Vadoncello landslide area showing locations of inclinometer
(filled circles) and piezometer borehole heads (half filled squares), six stations of the topographic
control network (T1–T5bis) and position of profile A-A’; the rectangle indicates the area covered
by Figure 3; the thick dotted line marks the limits of the large 1980 earthflow; note also landslide
ponds shown in black. The diagonal lines in the upper left corner indicate the outcrop of carbonate
breccias; the remaining area contains up to a few meter thick colluvium which overlies the clay rich
substratum (adapted from Wasowski and Mazzeo, 1998).
 GRAVIMETRIC STUDY OF A RETROGRESSIVE LANDSLIDE IN SOUTHERN ITALY 393

the Commission of the European Communities (‘Landslide evolution controlled

by climatic factors in a seismic area. Prediction methods and warning criteria’, En-
vironment Research Programme 1991–1994). One of the objectives of the project
was to define the lithological and physical characteristics of the subsurface slope
materials and their spatial variations, which apparently condition the retrogress-
ive activity of the mass movement. For this purpose, the support of geophysical
techniques was requested and, considering that the local characteristics of topo-
graphy and vegetation seriously hindered the possibility to use the most common
prospection methods (seismics and geoelectrics), it was decided to experiment the
employment of gravimetry.
Examples of geophysics used in the study of geometry and physical character-
istics of landslide bodies have been reported for over 20 years (cf. Bogoslovsky and
Ogilvy, 1977; McCann and Forster, 1990); however, the use of gravimetric surveys
in slope stability investigations is rather uncommon. Indeed, gravimetry has had
a limited employment in professional practice because of two main drawbacks:
(i) the long, laborious processing of data required by terrain correction and (ii)
the difficulty of a straightforward interpretation of gravimetric data, caused by
their intrinsic ‘ambiguity’ which, in absence of external constraints, causes a wide
multiplicity of compatible solutions.
With respect to the first problem, terrain correction is now much easier thanks
to the development of numerical cartography which made digital terrain models
available on the market or promptly obtainable from cartographic data recorded
in vector form. On the other hand, the problem of the interpretative ambiguity of
gravimetric data is less severe in case of surveys on mass movements, because the
modelling of a landslide body causing gravimetric anomalies can take advantage
of the important constraints provided by the direct recognition of the landslide top
surface.
In comparison with geophysical techniques more commonly used (like seismic
and geoelectric prospections), gravimetry has the advantage of a major easiness of
field operations considering that (i) the instrument is light and compact and can be
carried by hand also on uneven terrains which are inaccessible to transport vehicles
and (ii) the measurements are quite quick and cost-effective (an expert team of 2–3
field operators can easily carry out at least 30–40 measurements a day, including
the topographic survey to locate the station points). This allows to obtain a dense
areal coverage of measurements in a fairly short time. Furthermore, gravimetry can
give more direct information on rock density, which is a very important parameter
for slope stability analysis.
Previous studies (Calcagnile et al., 1982, 1983; Canziani et al., 1983; Di Filippo
et al., 1993) showed that highly sensitive instruments (micro-gravity meters) can
detect gravimetric anomalies caused by landslide material if this has a sufficient
density contrast (i.e. at least a few tenths of a g/cm3 ) with respect to the underlying
rocks. This condition is generally met when the landslide material is lithologically
different from the substratum. However, a significant density contrast is observed
394 V. DEL GAUDIO ET AL.

quite frequently also in case of a slide surface developed within a single form-
ation because slope failures generally cause a remarkable loss of coherence and
compactness of the rocks involved in mass movements.
The studies on a variety of cases showed that, with the support of limited aux-
iliary sub-surface data (mechanical or other geophysical soundings), gravimetric
surveys can provide:
(a) ‘in situ’ determination of rock global density;
(b) estimates of landslide body thickness;
(c) estimates of density contrast between landslide material and undisturbed rock;
(d) location and geometry of density heterogeneities within the landslide body.
The present work explores a further possibility to use gravimetry in the study
of unstable slopes, that is the detection of lateral variations of density reflecting
changes occurring in the crown area of an active retrogressive landslide. The fo-
cus on crown area was prompted by field observations of the Acquara-Vadoncello
landslide, that revealed the considerable hazard resulting from the instability of the
headscarp (Wasowski, 1994). The idea was to test whether any detectable gravimet-
ric signature there is coinciding with the extent and state of ground fissuring in the
crown area, which usually precedes retrogressive scarp failures. If so, it was hoped
that periodic gravity monitoring of the crown area could give useful information
for the prediction of the upslope enlargement of the landslide and help to assess
the relative hazard.
Although the geophysical measurements did not reveal any significant temporal
gravity changes in the crown area of the Acquara-Vadoncello landslide, some previ-
ously unknown ground heterogeneities were identified. This work shows that these
heterogeneities are due to spatial variations in both the bedrock geometry and the
thickness of overlying colluvium and may play an important role in controlling the
retrogressive evolution of the mass movement.

2. Geological Outline and Landslide Description

The Acquara-Vadoncello mass movement (Figure 1) involved a tectonically dis-

turbed flyschoid (turbidite) sequence of pre-Pliocene age composed primarily of
overconsolidated mudstones and secondarily of marlstones and limestones. This
sequence crops out in an intermontane valley bordered by fault-bounded massifs
made of carbonatic rocks Meso-Cenozoic in age; the latter are intensively fractured
and karstified and constitute important water-bearing acquifers.
The area of Senerchia, including the landslide zone, is characterised by the
presence of a Quaternary age relict alluvial fan (Alexander and Coppola, 1989)
adjacent to the tectonic contact between the western carbonate massif and the fly-
schoid succession. The Senerchia fan is made predominantly of coarse carbonate
breccias more or less cemented, that locally are overlain by colluvial and alluvial
deposits.
 GRAVIMETRIC STUDY OF A RETROGRESSIVE LANDSLIDE IN SOUTHERN ITALY 395

Figure 2. Schematic geological profile A-A’ of the headscarp-crown zone of the Acquara- Vadoncello
landslide and the area further upslope from it including the steep south facing escarpment of the
relict Senerchia alluvial fan (for location see Figure 1); symbols: a = argillaceous-marly-calcareous
substratum (‘flysch’), b = coarse carbonate breccias of the Senerchia fan, c = colluvium; P5, I6, I5
and P4 stand for boreholes (the last 3 holes are projected). The substratum is deformed tectonically
and characterised by variable attitude of strata (not shown). The arrows point to the positions of the
slide headscarp at different times.

The permeability contrasts between the carbonate breccia fan, the adjacent in-
coherent surficial deposits and the underlying clay-rich flyschoid materials (and
perhaps also between the different turbidite layers) are likely to have an important
influence on the local slope instability phenomena. Rainfall is also important be-
cause the Acquara- Vadoncello landslide took place on 29th December 1993 after
a three day storm characterised by 200 mm of rainfall (Wasowski, 1998a). How-
ever, the local groundwater flow pattern is still poorly known due to the complex
subsurface geology.
Based on its geomorphic expression, the Acquara-Vadoncello landslide can be
classified as a slump-earthflow (cf. Cruden and Varnes, 1996). The landslide fol-
lowed the path of a pre-existing earthflow (one of the subsidiary mass movements
of the huge 1980 Senerchia mudslide: Maugeri et al. 1982; Cotecchia and Del
Prete, 1984; Cotecchia et al., 1986), and ended up overriding its accumulation
zone. The 1993 landslide reached a length of over 500 m and a maximum width
and thickness of 140 m and 16–17 m, respectively.
Following the 1993 event, the earthflow has been periodically reactivated by
headscarp failures (rotational slides, small debris flows and falls). These failures
resulted in a semi-continuous retrogression of the landslide towards a relatively
flat area located at the foot of a steep scarp delimiting the southern-most part of the
Senerchia fan (Figure 2). Due to its retrogressive nature, the slide constitutes poten-
tial hazard for the infrastructure facilities located upslope, including the Senerchia
cemetery situated near the edge of the fan scarp.
396 V. DEL GAUDIO ET AL.

Figure 3. Reconstruction of the successive positions of the mainscarp of the Acquara- Vadoncello
slide from June 1995 untill May 1996 (adapted from Wasowski, 1998a). The October 1995 and April
1996 positions are not shown because they are nearly coincident with those of the preceding months.

The area upslope of the headscarp was instrumented in 1995 and monitored with
borehole piezometers and inclinometers. In addition, periodic topographic surveys
were carried out to measure surface movements (Wasowski, 1998a,b; Wasowski
and Mazzeo, 1998). Field observations and monitoring results pointed out the
variability of the headscarp recession process, both in time and space. After a
period of relative quiescence in 1994, mass movement activity increased signific-
antly in 1995. The reactivation started in winter and was initially characterised by
local shallow movements. In the subsequent spring-summer months, several deep
retrogressive rotational slides occured, followed by large scale displacements of
the earthflow. The 1995 intensive retrogressive phase was preceded by progressive
development of numerous semicircular cracks sub-parallel to the main scarp and
distant from it up to over 20 m.
By the end of 1996 field checks and topographic measurements indicated that
some parts of the headscarp receeded over 70 m, whereas elsewhere the amount
of retrogression did not exceed 10 m (Figure 3). It appeared that these differences
could not be simply explained in reference to the surface geology.
 GRAVIMETRIC STUDY OF A RETROGRESSIVE LANDSLIDE IN SOUTHERN ITALY 397

In addition, the location of few minor discharge, intermittent springs in the

headscarp area did not coincide with the zones characterised by maximum ret-
rogression. Therefore, it was suggested that the observed spatial variability of the
retrogressive process depends largely on the properties of the subsurface geological
materials, and especially on their lithological and perhaps structural heterogeneities
(Wasowski, 1998a).
After spring 1996 the retrogressive process has been quite slow. Minor slumps
have occasionally occurred and one of these resulted in the partial collapse of the
farm house located near the edge of the mainscarp. Large scarp failures compar-
able with those of 1995 have not occurred and the overall upslope enlargement
of the slide in the last two and a half years (mid 1996–1998) has not exceeded a
few metres. This behaviour is most likely due to a more stable geometry of the
earthflow, which, by reducing or cancelling the rate of material removal from the
foot of the headscarp, also slowed down the retrogressive activity of the landslide
(Wasowski, 1998a,b).

3. Field Operations and Processing Procedures

In October 1995 an array of 99 gravimetric stations was set up in an approximately

rectangular area of 100 × 150 m, covering the crown zone of the landslide up
to the foot of the steep south facing scarp of the Senerchia fan. Throughout the
survey area the local relief reaches 20 m along the direction of the highest altimetric
gradient.
Gravimetric measurements were carried out with a LaCoste & Romberg D mi-
crogravity meter. The gravity measurements were referenced to a station located
outside the landslide area, that provided a stable reference for surveys carried out
at different times, and the Bouguer anomalies were calculated in relative terms,
without determining their absolute values.
The precision of the survey was estimated by repeating measurements on 15%
of the stations: the differences obtained from repeated measurements did not ex-
ceed 0.03 mgal with a root mean square (r.m.s.) of 0.01 mgal, which represents
an adequate level of precision for measurements in detail surveys, considering that
data processing, due to the uncertainties affecting terrain correction, could hardly
warrant a better accuracy of the final results.
In order to determine the planimetric and altimetric position of the gravity sta-
tions a topographic survey was carried out by using theodolite and geodimeter. The
elevations were determined with an approximation better than 5 cm, which allows
the calculation of the free-air and Bouguer corrections with an accuracy not less
than the measurement precision.
Data processing required the production of a digital elevation model (DEM) that
was used for the terrain correction. For this purpose, contour lines from topographic
maps were digitised and then processed using a computer program which calculates
398 V. DEL GAUDIO ET AL.

the mean elevation in each cell of a rectangular grid (Del Gaudio and Ruina, 1995).
The influence of topography within 10 m from each station was calculated on the
basis of the elevation differences measured directly in the field. The extension of
terrain correction beyond 10 km range was not taken into account because the con-
tribution of the remote topography was essentially constant throughout the small
survey area.
The density value employed in terrain correction was obtained from the gra-
vimetric data themselves by applying bidimensional variants of two methods
reported by Nettleton (1939) and Parasnis (1962), as described in a previous study
(Canziani et al., 1989). These methods allow an estimate of the overall density of
a rock outcrop from a sparse distribution of gravimetric measurements, provided
that the plani-altimetric distribution of the stations has significant deviations from a
purely linear trend (Del Gaudio et al., 1998). The application of these two methods
gave consistent density values around 2.3 g/cm3 . The laboratory measurements
resulted in values of 2.1–2.2 g/cm3 for the clay-rich layers of the flysch (personal
communication, Ruth Fearon, City University, London, U.K.). Although this litho-
type prevails, the survey area also includes variably cemented coarse calcareous
breccias, limestones and marlstones, whose densities are most likely higher; thus
the density value obtained from gravimetric data appears representative of the
overall average.

4. Results and Discussion

4.1. F IRST CAMPAIGN ( OCTOBER 1995)

Figure 4 (top) shows the map of Bouguer anomalies obtained from the October
1995 campaign. To the NW the Bouguer anomalies show a regional trend des-
cending towards the SE, interrupted by a change of gradient in the central part
and by a slight counter- trend gravity increase in the NE corner. This configuration
outlines a local negative anomaly, superimposed on the regional field, that broadens
downslope merging with another and wider anomalous zone located along the
headscarp edge. The second anomaly, however, is affected by a major uncertainty.
Indeed, the relatively rapid and continuous modification of topography near the
headscarp makes it difficult to calculate the terrain correction.
The negative anomaly in the NE part of the survey area does not show any cor-
relation with the present morphology or with lateral variations of the outcropping
colluvium consisting mainly of incoherent calcareous debris which form a small
and relatively flat terrace upslope of the area affected by headscarp retrogression.
Furthermore, landslide activity between June 1995 and October 1995 was char-
acterised by rapid headscarp recession directed towards the zone of the observed
anomaly.
These facts drew attention to the possibility that the source of the gravimetric
anomaly reflects a subsurface lithological or structural discontinuity that in turn
 GRAVIMETRIC STUDY OF A RETROGRESSIVE LANDSLIDE IN SOUTHERN ITALY 399

Figure 4. Map of Bouguer anomalies calculated from the surveys of October 1995 (top) and May
1996 (bottom). Contour spacing is 0.01 mgal.
400 V. DEL GAUDIO ET AL.

controls the preferential direction of landslide retrogression and its evolution. Two
interpretative hypotheses were formulated: the anomaly could correspond to (i)
a ‘weak’ zone of diffuse fissuring that is extending upslope or (ii) a depression
(hollow) within the mudstone substratum, filled by the low density colluvium.
In the second case, the influence of the inferred bedrock hollow on the landslide
activity would be two-fold in relation to the presence of incoherent material, more
susceptible to failure, and to the convergence of shallow groundwater flow, with
obvious negative effects on local slope stability.
Considering the logistic difficulties and the prohibitive cost of carrying out ad-
ditional mechanical or geophysical soundings, a discrimination between the two
hypotheses was attempted by gravimetric measurements alone, paying particular
attention to the time evolution of the anomalies. If anomalies are due to progressive
development of the extension zone up-slope of the headscarp, a variation of the
anomaly field configuration is expected, whereas the anomalies would be constant
in the case of a burried bedrock depression.

4.2. S ECOND CAMPAIGN ( MAY, 1996)

In order to detect a possible time variation of the gravimetric anomalies, the

measurements were repeated in May 1996. The new campaign included 109 meas-
urement stations. Only part of them (46) coincided with those of the previous
survey because marker stakes of most of them had been removed by vandals or
had been lost due to the headscarp retrogression. However, several new stations
were located in the area of the negative anomaly to obtain a more detailed Bouguer
field.
The new work revealed a more complex anomaly distribution (see Figure 4,
bottom). In particular, the central part of the negative anomaly shows a narrowing
caused by a ‘ridge’ corresponding to a relative maximum that had not been detected
in the previous campaign due to the absence of stations in that area. However,
apart from this detail, no important anomaly modifications were observed and the
gravity changes generally did not exceed a few hundredths of a mgal (i.e. within the
survey precision limits). Furthermore, the gravity variations observed were almost
exclusively positive: this systematic effect could reflect a slight density increase
due to an increase in the water content of the slope materials between the two
investigations, which were carried out shortly before and shortly after the rainy
season.
The observed gravity variations do not provide definitive evidence against the
hypothesis linking the gravity effect to the actively retrogressing scarp zone. In-
deed, during the time between the two surveys the headscarp retrogression was
about ten times slower than in the in the spring-summer 1995 (about 1.5 m/month
against 13 m/month). However, also taking into account the particular shape of the
anomaly (Figure 4, bottom), the buried bedrock hollow hypothesis is preferred.
The widening of the anomalous zone upstream of the ‘ridge’ in the central part of
 GRAVIMETRIC STUDY OF A RETROGRESSIVE LANDSLIDE IN SOUTHERN ITALY 401

the Bouguer field could be explained by invoking a local geometric complexity of

the bedrock surface; the irregular widening of the extension zone upslope of the
‘ridge’ would be more difficult to explain.

4.3. Q UANTITATIVE INTERPRETATION

The plausibility of the interpretative hypothesis was verified through quantitative

modelling of the gravimetric anomalies. For this purpose, the local anomalies were
first separated from the regional field. This operation, usually based on the well-
known methods of numerical filtering, can be biased by a shift of the ‘zero level’ of
the residual anomalies (Nettleton, 1976). These filtering methods generally make
the implicit assumption of a balance between positive and negative anomalies.
When anomalies of one sign are largely prevailing the resulting ‘zero level’ is shif-
ted towards the dominant anomalies and their amplitudes are artificially reduced.
Another problem in the quantitative modelling of the anomaly source is the correct
estimate of its density contrast with respect to the average characteristics of the
ground materials.
Both these problems can be solved if some auxiliary data are available to con-
strain the solution of data inversion. In this specific case, the additional data were
obtained from pre-existing boreholes drilled for the inclinometric and piezometric
measurements. In particular, the detailed logs of boreholes I5, I6 and P5, located
in the area of the gravimetric survey (Figures 1 and 2), revealed that a variable
thickness colluvium overlies a layer of coarse calcareous debris interpreted as the
distal portion of the Senerchia fan (Wasowski, 1996).
A preliminary calculation of the residual anomalies was obtained by removing
a linear regional field deduced from the gravity stations located in the outer limits
of the survey area. The residuals obtained at the stations located near the boreholes
were analysed taking into account the logged subsurface lithological variation. As-
suming that the density of the coarse carbonate breccias does not differ significantly
from the average density value adopted for terrain correction, a possible correlation
between anomalies and thicknesses of the colluvium was examined. At boreholes
P5 and I6, the amplitudes of the negative anomaly showed a variation consistent
with the local thickness of the colluvium; however, the anomaly observed near
borehole I5 was incompatible with the thickness of surficial materials resulting
from its lithologic log. This suggests that the negative anomalies in the north-
eastern and the southern part of the survey have different origins. The north-eastern
anomaly could be caused by the thickening of the colluvium which presumably
fills a local incision in the underlying Senerchia fan breccias, whereas the large
anomaly to the south (crown zone) needs only to be explained by reference to the
local characteristics of the flyschoid material. It is likely that the southern anomaly
also reflects in part the disturbed conditions of the ground near the edge of the
headscarp.
402 V. DEL GAUDIO ET AL.

Figure 5. Residual anomalies (contour spacing = 0.02 mgal) of the May 1996 survey (top) and
thickness values of the incoherent debris (contour spacing = 1 m) according to the final numerical
model (bottom).
 GRAVIMETRIC STUDY OF A RETROGRESSIVE LANDSLIDE IN SOUTHERN ITALY 403

On the basis of the data from boreholes P5 and I6, a simple empirical relation
between local colluvium thickness and the gravimetric anomaly was assumed. This
is justified by the shallow depth (location) and flat shape of the anomalous source,
which imply that its gravimetric effects depend mainly on local conditions (cf.
Calcagnile et al. 1984). The empirical relation helped to define a preliminary nu-
merical model for the colluvial deposit. The top and bottom of this structure were
represented by a 5 × 5 m cell grid. For each cell the mean elevation of both limiting
surfaces was defined. The anomaly source was modelled as a set of right prisms
and its gravimetric effect on the gravity stations was calculated. The top surface
was assumed to be coincident with the ground surface, whereas the bottom was
derived from the gravimetric anomalies by using the empirical relationship. The
theoretical anomalies were calculated assuming unit density: because the geometry
of the debris layer was known adjacent to the boreholes, the comparison between
experimental and theoretical anomalies allowed the estimation of both the density
contrast and the ‘zero-level’ shift of the computed residuals. The density contrast
was estimated by considering the difference between local anomalies in two gravity
stations and dividing it by the difference between the corresponding theoretical
anomalies for unit density. The zero-level shift was then obtained from the differ-
ences between experimental residuals and theoretical anomalies, calculated with
the correct density contrast. The density contrast was −0.5 g/cm3 , which implies a
density of 1.8 g/cm3 for the incoherent debris, the shift of the zero- level was equal
to −0.05 mgal.
Figure 5 (top) shows the residuals relative to the May 1996 campaign corrected
for the zero-level shift. The first numerical model of the anomalous body was iterat-
ively modified until a satisfactory fit to the observed residuals was obtained for the
18 gravity stations located within the zone of negative anomalies. Data from the sta-
tions located near the boundary of the survey area were not considered because they
could be biased by the effect of nearby structures. The model was refined until the
maximum difference between the theoretical and observed residuals was less than
0.03 mgal. This value is about 10% of the maximum anomaly and represents the
maximum error observed in the gravimetric measurement; it is also the uncertainty
limit estimated for the terrain correction. In the final model (Figure 5, bottom)
the differences between the theoretical and experimental anomalies were between
−0.024 and +0.028 mgal, with a mean value of 0.001 mgal and a r.m.s. of 0.014
mgal. According to this model, the area with the maximum thickness of incoherent
debris (18 m) is located to the NE of the body. Considering the borehole lithologies,
the thickness of the underlying Senerchia fan breccias in this zone should be close
to zero.
404 V. DEL GAUDIO ET AL.

5. Conclusions

The hypothesis of a buried bedrock hollow which controls the preferential direction
of the retrogressive landsliding process has gained further support from successive
field observations conducted in the past three years. As the headscarp receded,
it exposed local incisions in the bedrock. These were up to 8 meters wide, over
3 meters deep and filled with colluvium. The ridge and furrow-like morphology
underlying the base of colluvium indicated that intensive erosion and mass wasting
processes in the past affected the terrain upslope of the headscarp. The gradual
enlargement of the incisions revealed during the headscarp retrogression, supports
the presence of a larger hollow further upslope, i.e. closer to the steep escarpment
of the Senerchia fan.
Furthermore, during the last stage of the retrogressive process, the direction
of maximum headscarp recession deviated slightly from NW–SE (direction of the
maximum slope gradient) towards the elongation axis of the negative gravimetric
anomaly. This local slope instability might be controlled by a concentration of
groundwater in the hollow and its discharge towards the headscarp area.
The results of this study suggest that gravimetry surveying is potentially a very
useful tool for investigating unstable slopes. This geophysical method deserves
more attention because it:
(a) allows a relatively quick, detailed and thus cost-effective reconnaissance
technique, which can reveal sub-surface slope morphology and lithological
variations. This can help to program more costly subsurface investigations
(e.g. boreholes);
(b) provides a specific contribution to slope investigations with regard to the im-
portant parameter of the bulk density of rocks for quantitative slope stability
analysis.
In particular, this method may be usefully employed in the study of areas im-
mediately upslope of active or intermittently active retrogressive landslides. The
technique can reveal the presence of unexpected lithological or structural hetero-
geneities which may control the evolution of the retrogressive process. However,
a more precise definition of any heterogeneities needs a quantitative assessment
of the anomalies detected. In isolation, gravimetric data may also suffer from in-
terpretative ambiguities, but with the support of auxiliary data (e.g. mechanical
soundings), they can provide reliable information on the geometry and density of
the anomalies. A quantitative examination of compatibility of possible models with
experimental data allows discrimination between different interpretations.
The definition of lithological heterogeneities upslope from a landslide backs-
carp may be very important for the prediction of further retrogression. The
concentration of groundwater in buried hollows and its discharge towards crown
areas almost certainly controls local slope instability. Knowledge of their distri-
bution can thus help to indicate the most probable directions of future headscarp
 GRAVIMETRIC STUDY OF A RETROGRESSIVE LANDSLIDE IN SOUTHERN ITALY 405

retrogression and can indicate zones that might be particularly prone to future mass
movements.

Acknowledgement

We thank three anonymous reviewers for their constructive criticism. Final version
of this paper benefited from suggestions by Paul Gostelow.

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