Mass movement features in the vicinity of the town of Sorbas, South-east Spain

A landslide investigation has been undertaken in the vicinity of Sorbas, Almeria Province, South-east Spain. Using the guidelines suggested by the UNESCO Working Party on the World Landslide Inventory, an inventory of the mass movements within the study area has been generated. The area has suffered a wide variety of mass movements, with a landslide density of approximately 4.6 landslides per Km². These mass movements range in size from a few tens of m³ to a few million m³. There is evidence that the major features may relate to Pleistocene climatic conditions very different to the semi-arid climate of the present day. Movements occurring at the present time appear to be on a smaller scale to those initiated earlier in the Pleistocene. The majority of the mass movements are rock falls, although there are also rock topples, rotational slides and lateral spreads.