Abstract

BORJA BAEZA, Roberto Carlos  and  ALCANTARA AYALA, Irasema. Susceptibility to mass movement processes in the municipality of Tlatlauquitepec, Sierra Norte de Puebla. Invest. Geog [online]. 2010, n.73, pp.7-21. ISSN 2448-7279.

Since historical times, mass movement processes have taken place in the Mexican territory as a result of its topography, heterogeneous lithology, intense rainfall and the impact of anthropic activity, particularly in mountainous areas such as the Sierra Norte de Puebla. In this region, as a result of extremely high rainfall, a large number of landslides occurred in October 1999. These were mainly slides and flows; they affected economic, structural and environmental aspects and caused the loss of dozens of human lives. Among the various approaches to analysis of this type of hazard, cartography is of considerable importance since it allows the understanding and assessment of spatial distribution, as well as of the interactions of elements of the terrain that determine slope instability. Hence, some studies of landslide hazard cartography have been carried out in Mexico; these have mainly been based on the overlaying, against a background of geographic information systems, of layers of information concerning the parameters that are involved in slope instability. However, there is a tendency for this approach to establish similar degrees of influence for all factors, regardless of specific local conditions. The present aim was to consider the influence of the five most important parameters controlling regional slope instability in the Sierra Norte de Puebla (slope, morphogenesis, relief dissection, deforestation and roads), and to validate the results by means of a recurrence index. Multicriteria analysis has allowed a map of susceptibility to mass movement processes to be produced for the municipality of Tlatlauquitepec.

Keywords : Landslide susceptibility; multicriteria analysis; recurrence index.