Assessment of the Ecological Risks of Landslide Damages in the Carpathian Region

Abstract

The dynamism of the landslides within the Carpathian region of Ukraine is because of the difficult engineering and geological conditions. High landslide den sity and significant population density contribute to the fact that environmental parameters worsen and require rational management. Permanent natural factors like clay flysch formation, fault tectonics, high seismic activity, and dense network of rivers mostly facilitate the active development of landslides in the Carpathian region. However, it is triggered by extreme long-term precipitation. The numerical parameters of population density, the landslide damage coefficient, and the predictive range of landslide intensification were selected to assess the ecological risk of damages in the area. The landslide dam age coefficient characterizes the tendency of the area to landslide development, considering all the factors contributing to the landslides. Risk, as a multifunctional calculated complex, includes the calculation of damage, according to which we can assess the possibility of risk for the human being while assuming the equal distribution of the population within the study area. The integral components of the risk are calculated based on the data gathered to assess the growth of risks in the future, considering the area distribution and predictive time series of the landslide intensification. This analysis has identified engineering and geological areas having the greatest risk to human life.