SwanRisk - Mass Movements in Swaneti (Georgia)

Svaneti is a region in the Caucasus of Georgia with sometimes serious landslides and rock falls as well as flood events, which lead to numerous deaths and destruction of transport routes, particularly in the Enguri River valley. The Enguri River valley is the only land connection between the Georgian lowlands and the Svaneti capital of Mestia, so the destruction of the road could cut off supplies to the Greater Caucasus towns. These natural risks not only represent a direct danger to people and the environment, but can also, in conjunction with changes in the groundwater and seepage water regime, lead to an increase in, for example, B. lead to mass movements on slopes.

The geologically caused mass movements are further accelerated by ongoing erosion, which leads to the loss of trees or forests, which in turn increases the erosion and can therefore be viewed as a kind of self-reinforcing process. The current retreat of glaciers is expected to result in thawing permafrost and increasing winter precipitation. They are a cause of the change in the hydrological regime and of increasing slope instability in the medium term, which is further exacerbated by the occurrence of high amounts of meltwater.

In the project funded by the BMBF, we are carrying out various geoscientific investigations together with our Georgian partners along with monitoring. You can find out more about our work and objectives under project content.

Learn more about the project

Locations

Weather Stations

mestia

Mestia


Uschguli

Uschguli


Eceri

Eceri


lenjeri

Lenjeri


Geo-Monitoring Systems

lachamula

Lachamula





becho

Becho