Historical background of shallow landslide occurred 2009 in Houfu district, western Japan

Abstract

We investigated vegetation and historical backgrounds of the shallow landslides occurred on 21 July 2009 in Houfu district in western Japan. The shallow landslides seem to cluster into the valley head hollows near the rocky mountain ridge. Radiocarbon ages of the valley head deposit indicate that human induced erosion during 13 to 19th century produced the 2009 landslide material. Thus, the past land degradation significantly affected on the distribution of the 2009 landslides through the formation of the valley fill.