Determining grain size distribution of the material composing landslide dams in the Northern Apennines: Sampling and processing methods

Landslide dams are a particular kind of natural dam which forms when an earth or rock mass reaches a river channel causing its complete or partial blockage. Since 1995, the Earth Sciences Department of the University of Firenze has been running a project involving the inventory of landslide dams in the Northern Apennines, which currently contains more than 60 case studies. It is known that the geotechnical characterisation of landslide dams is closely related to the grain size distribution of the materials composing the dams. In particular, grain size exerts a control on dam stability, influencing the strength and the permeability of the dam material.