Application of 2D electrical resistivity for geometry investigation of Noghol-Semirom landslide

The Noghol landslide is located in Padena region in Semirom area in Isfahan province, Iran. The Noghol Landslide has a triangle form with a movement by E-W direction. The overall movement in landslide is from east to west toward to the Dengezloo river. The area influenced by the movement of landslide is about 600 by 700m. Landslide is occurred in the Bakhtiyari formation (massive to thick-bedded conglomerate with interbedded sandstone and marl belong to Cenozoic era). ERT surveying is carried out on the six profiles (parallel and perpendicular to the landslide direction) using a Dipole–dipole array. The total length of traverses is about 3 kilometres. Landslide is limited by a fault (strike NW-SE) from the north side and a permanent river from the west side of landslide. Conglomerate and marl are placed on the north and south sides of the fault, respectively. ERT survey yielded important information about the geometry and characteristics of the landslide. ERT results also show that two main sliding surfaces are present in Noghol landslide: a sliding surface in depths shallower than 20 m. On the outcrop of marl formation, normally, weathered surface creates a sliding surface. The second is a sliding surface in nearly 50 m depth. Here, right flank of landslide is formed by fault. Sliding surface is created when marl formation is partially saturated. So, both shallow and deep-seated landslide can be recognized in studied landslide. This information is confirmed by geological and borehole investigations.