ABSTRACT
The landslides are important geodynamic processes in geological endangering of environment in Slovakia. The present regional investigation has registered in Slovakia more than 15,000 old potential landslides, which cover an area of about 1,620 km2. The landslides are concentrated in the flysh highlands, intermountain basins and on the margins of the young volcanic mountains. The landslides damage forests, arable soils, meadows and pastures. They endanger railways and roads on 1,300 sectors. They limit extension of towns and villages into unstable surroundings. The slope stability is a limiting factor in an optimum landscape use. About 90% of new landslides take place by reactivation of potential landslides due to man’s negative intervention. The paper analyses the cases of activation of old landslides due to the construction of civil or industrial structures. Numerous landslides were induced by deforestation of land, incorrect agricultural melioration works, According to the results of our works the risk of renewing movements of old landslides may be decreased to the minimum, when we know the degree of danger. Therefore very important is engineering geological evaluation and mapping of unstable areas.
