ABSTRACT
In May of 1999, melting snow cover combined with heavy rainfalls in the northeastern part of Switzerland resulted in the occurrence of numerous shallow landslides. Many of these slides were located in the subalpine Molasse, a series of interbedded marls, conglomerates and sandstones. The subalpine Molasse is highly prone to such sliding activity given the dip of the bedding, the surface topography and the weak nature of the marls that rapidly degrade when exposed to weathering. Historically, the subalpine Molasse has hosted numerous slides of varying orders of magnitude and the surficial morphology is primarily dictated by previous rock slides which periodically reactivate as secondary soil slips. Given the conditions contributing to the slope failure and the history of previous sliding, similar slides within the region are highly probable. This paper presents the findings from a detailed investigation of one such site, the Rufi slide.
