Abstract Reactivation of a landslide is usually accompanied by microseismic signals emitted from the deforming soil mass. The reproduction of similar signals in a physical model test conducted under control conditions can allow researchers to explore and test such complicated signals to improve the prediction of full-scale failure. The present study investigates the similarity between the slidequakes (microseismicity) naturally emitted from an existing colluvial landslide (Sobradinho, Brazil) in response to rainfalls and the emissions generated by a pullout test of an expander body (EB) pile in tropical soil under controlled conditions. The microseismic signals emitted from both experimental sites (i.e. the landslide and the EB pile test) were recorded and compared. Data were acquired by mini-arrays of four short-period seismometers. For the signal nomenclature, a typological scheme was adopted, in which sonograms/spectral contents of the signals were used. As a result, short duration microseismic signals were observed during the pullout test. In contrast, at the Sobradinho landslide, the testing detected signals of different characteristics whose source mechanisms have remained ambiguous, mainly because of the short duration of the data campaigns. However, at the landslide, propagating events were observed that might be attributed to the energies generated by the river bedload during the heavy rains. The present study offers some insight into the pre-collapse dynamic behavior of unstable slopes in clayey formations.

Abstract The application of geophysical monitoring technologies may offer an opportunity to understand the dynamic of slopes in response to factors triggering their instability. In this study, Ambient Noise Interferometry was used as a monitoring approach on a man-made reduced-scale vertical slope and on a natural-scale landslide in Sobradinho (Brazil), under the influence of mechanical stress and rainfall, respectively. For both experiments, we adopted similar data acquisition system and processing workflow. After preprocessing of ambient seismic noise, the time-lapse changes were determined in terms of relative velocity changes using the moving window cross spectral technique. For the vertical slope, terrestrial laser scanning was also performed to detect crack or fissure generation. The prototype experiment results showed a decreasing trend of relative velocity changes and reached a minimum value of -0.6% at the end of the experiment. No change was detected on the digital elevation model that was computed from terrestrial laser scanning images, due to the absence of centimeter scale superficial fissures. At natural scale (Sobradinho landslide), no significant variation in relative velocity changes was detected for the rainy and non-rainy days, mainly because of the inadequate change in the degree of saturation, which was found within a relatively short period of data acquisition.

El presente artículo describe el trabajo realizado mediante algunas actividades de empoderamiento desarolladas en una comunidad local de la provincia de Caserta (en el sur de Italia); un lugar que se caracteriza por la amplia presencia de la criminalidad organizada. El lugar de trabajo de este estudio está representado por una red comunitaria destinada a la promoción de la concientización, la liberación y el bienestar. De especial modo este trabajo se caracteriza por presentar iniciativas y proyectos dirigidos a establecer nuevos valores de comunidad a través de la reconstrucción de un sistema social basado en el trabajo y en contra de los grupos criminales, los cuales tienden a dominar no solo la actividad económica, sino también aspectos de la vida civil.

The article describes working experiences in relation to empowering activities, which have been carried out in a local community in the province of Caserta (in Southern Italy), a place characterized by the widespread presence of organized criminal groups. In this study, workplace is intended as a community network aimed at the promotion of coscientization, liberation, and well-being. Specifically, this paper features initiatives and projects aimed at establishing new community values through a re-construction of a work-based social system standing against criminal clans, which tend to dominate not only economical transactions but also civil life.