KINEMATIC MODELING OF FAULT SYSTEMS AND APPLICATION IN CASES OF NATURAL SLOPES N 030º E N 040º OF THE CITY OF SALVADOR, BAHIA, BRAZIL
Kinematic analysis, Slope stability; slope failures; Salvador Fault System; Iguatemi Fault System; Landslide risk assessment.
The disorderly process of urban occupation in a region of marked topographic variation transformed Salvador into the Brazilian city with the largest number of people inhabiting areas with high susceptibility for natural disasters. Simultaneously, there is a lack of geotechnical studies about the correlation between Salvador’s substrate and its possible interference towards the deflagration of slope failures. This study was based on the kinematic modelling with equal area stereographic projection (Schmidt-Lambert). Natural slopes N 030º and N 040º related to the Sistema de Falhas de Salvador (SFS) e Sistema de Falhas do Iguatemi (SFI) were considered as parameters, as well as the fault systems at directions N 000°, N 010°, N 030°, N 040°, N 090°, N 120° e N 160°, according to literature. in the majoritory of slope data from Salvador and fault systems from Reconcavo Basin. The kinematic modelling was applied to a case study of 67 slopes located near SFS and SFI. These slopes were identified and interpreted with morphostructural lineaments characterization using the digital elevation model of the TOPODATA project, and cross sections across Salvador’s contour map. The case study describes six locations in Salvador where wedge failure hazards are dectected and one location where the hazard is related to the flexural toppling mechanism. The findings of this study allow both policy makers and the technical officers of local enterprises to establish a more accurate geotechnical diagnosis with less risk of social and material damages.