Mass Wasting in Lebanon

Many people fear tornados, tsunamis, earthquakes and floods but very few stop to think about the consequences about everyday occurrences such as mass wasting. Mass wasting is defined by Keller as "A comprehensive term for any type of downslope movement of earth materials." This type of action within certain communities is unknown and unexpected such as the many landslides that have occurred in places around the US, including the incident at La Conchita. In order to discuss the effects of mass waste around Lebanon, it is pertinent to discuss the impact upon Lebanon. Lebanon has suffered from increased mass wasting from the years of 1956-2008, as per an article titled "The effect of forest fire on mass movement in Lebanese mountainous areas". The increased mass wasting is at a relatively high 60% increase.



"Forest fire is considered a significant, if not the primary,
foundation of geomorphological and hydrological modification
in fire-prone areas over both short and long time scales. Apart
from its visible effect on reducing vegetation and litter, forest
fire can be an essential rock-weathering agent (‭Paragraph 2). Because the area in Lebanon is relatively dry, the country is exposed to more fires than other countries. Due to many fires (mainly writhing June to September) the area within the country of Lebanon suffers from mass waste due to the rock weathering occurring and "enhanced water repellency". In addition to high fire hazard, Lebanon also suffers from "irregular and highly intense rainfalls" due to its Mediterranean weather. The contrast of hot and wet on rocks and its land causes this country to suffer from the occurrence of mass wasting. ‬


In order to avoid and minimize occurrences of endangerment to Lebanese citizens, a method of remote sensing data has been establishes.
"RS techniques were used to detect the distribution of mass
movements over the study area. Such techniques offer promis-
ing possibilities for identifying and securing information on
mass movement and forest fire detection in several difficult-to-
access, rugged mountainous karstic landscapes that are present
throughout this area" (Paragraph 14). The RS techniques this country has developed has greatly changed the impact of mass waste upon its citizens. As mentioned previously, a natural hazard is only a hazard because humans are involved. I find their technique useful in detecting mass wasting and preventing a natural disaster to the Lebanese citizens.


https://www.researchgate.net/jou1049-8001_International_Journal_of_Wildland_Firel
https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2004/3072/fs-2004-3072.html(This link contains an image of the incident at La Conchita. It is not the country of Lebanon, however, it is an incident that occurred in CA and it is to give the visual of what mass wasting looks like. I was unable to save images for some unknown reason but I would like to direct you to a site with a visual).