Landslide inventory of the southern sector of the Monterrey salient. Case of study: Santa Rosa canyon, Nuevo León, northeastern Mexico

Abstract

We present a landslide inventory for the Santa Rosa Canyon in the Monterrey Salient, between Linares and Iturbide in Nuevo León state. A total of 429 landslides were documented from field investigation, analysis and interpretation of satellite imagery and historical data from Google Earth platform for the last 30 years. Falls, slides and flows are the most typical landslides, mainly related to extraordinary rainfalls from hurricanes and tropical storms. Moreover, an overall increase in seismicity in northeastern Mexico may indicate this activity as the second most important factor triggering slope instabilities. This inventory could be used in detailed landslide risk assessment studies in the region, and the methodology may be extrapolated to neighboring areas with recurrent landslides and a lack of scientific studies.