Large-scale landslides in north-western Libya

Abstract

A distinct zone of large-scale landslides occurs in the north-eastern border of the Hammada al Hamra in NW Libya. It embraces horizontally lying rocks of Upper Cretaceous and Lower Paleogene age. The main displacement zone is with a clay bed, c. 20 m thick, which contains gypsum and salt interbeds and creeps under the overburden pressure, whereas the role of vadose water is of subordinate importance. Comparing the corrasion of the ancient Roman ruins with that of the landslide scarps it was found that the landslide movement has begun in the Pleistocene.