On the origin of late Quaternary palaeolandslides in the Liège (E Belgium) area

peer reviewed ; A series of palaeolandslides is described in eastern Belgium, with geophysical investigations, trench analysis and a number of 14C dates complementing the field description. The proposed sliding mechanism stresses the importance of initial liquefaction of the upper Cretaceous Aachen sands underlying the ∼30-m-thick Vaals Clay Formation, in which all landslides are developed. Slope-stability analyses support the hypothesis of sudden landsliding and yield further useful information to discuss their origin. A main difficulty in determining the landslide trigger arises from insuffi... Mehr ...