Geologically complex regions more prone to landslides, study suggests

Team in China demostrate that multiple geological factors contribute to a landscape's predistribution to landslides

We know that steep slopes and heavy rain help to trigger landslides, but are some types of landscape more susceptible than others? A study suggests that geologically complex regions are more likely to produce landslides.

Yifan Zhang, from the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment in Chengdu, China, and colleagues developed an index of geological complexity that combines four different geological components: lithologic complexity (number of different rock types per unit area); tectonic complexity (density of faults); seismicity (probability of earthquake activity); and structural complexity (how disordered the rock structures are).