Investigating the Impact of Aspect on Landslide Geometric Characteristics

Abstract

In this study, the effect of aspect on changes in landslide geometric properties was investigated in Mazandaran province. In order to do this research, the recorded landslides data were used in questionnaires which was prepared by Mazandaran Natural Resources Administration during field survey. Geometric characteristics including number, area, depth and volume of landslides were investigated. In order to investigate the effect of aspect on depth, area and volume of landslides, one-way ANOVA and Duncan's method were used. The results showed that the highest number of landslide slopes was 68 and 67 landslides respectively in northern and southern and the lowest ones were recorded with 36 landslides in the southeast. In the case of comparing means in different aspects, the results also showed that there is a significant difference (α = 0.01 significance level) between the means of depth, area and volume of north, eastern and north-east shores compared to the western and southwest directions. The other aspects also have intermediate positions in all three cases. Finally, it can be concluded that the aspect has a significant effect on the values of geometric variables such as depth, area, and volume of landslides in Mazandaran province.