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Large earthflow-type landslides are destructive mass movement phenomena with highly unpredictable behaviour. Knowledge of earthflow kinematics is essential for understanding the mechanisms that control its movements. The present paper characterises the kinematic behaviour of a large earthflow near the village of Ľubietova in Central Slovakia over a period of 35 years following its most recent reactivation in 1977. For this purpose, multi-temporal spatial data acquired by point-based in-situ monitoring and optical remote sensing methods have been used. Quantitative data analyses including strain modelling and DEM differencing techniques have enabled us to: (i) calculate the annual landslide movement rates; (ii) detect the trend of surface displacements; (iii) characterise spatial variability of movement rates; (iv) measure changes in the surface topography on a decadal scale; and (v) define areas with distinct kinematic behaviour. The results also integrate the qualitative characteristics of surface topography, in particular the distribution of surface structures as defined by a high-resolution DEM, and the landslide subsurface structure, as revealed by 2D resistivity imaging. Then, the ground surface kinematics of the landslide is evaluated with respect to the specific conditions encountered in the study area including slope morphology, landslide subsurface structure, and local geological and hydrometeorological conditions. Finally, the broader implications of the presented research are discussed with particular focus on the role that strain-related structures play in landslide kinematic behaviour.

To reconstruct the geomorphic imprint of the anthropogenic and natural environmental changes in the Late Holocene, we studied the alluvial record of the Becva River floodplain (Outer Western Carpathians, Czech Republic). Coring, geophysical sounding and lithological analysis of floodplain deposits supported by AMS (accelerator mass spectrometry) dating enabled the establishment of the primary evolutionary stages of Late Holocene floodplain evolution. During the Late Atlantic and Early Subboreal periods, gravel aggradation and braided environments occurred in the studied floodplain. The Late Subboreal and Early Subatlantic are characterised by overbank sedimentation, and the Middle Subatlantic is marked by the recurrence of gravel aggradation. A major incision phase took place during the Mediaeval Warm Period. The onset of overbank sedimentation in the 15th century correlated with ongoing deforestation of the lower parts of catchment, and colonisation of the mountain ridges during the 16th–17th centuries further accelerated this process. During the 20th century, reforestation of mountains and river-channel training resulted in a significant incision phase. Our data suggest that climate fluctuations were major driving factors for the morpho-sedimentary evolution of the floodplain approximately up to the 12th century, whereas in the latter evolution period, anthropogenic activity superseded natural factors. This transition occurred more than one millennium later than in other Central and Western European catchments.

Comprehensive geomorphological and sedimentological analyses confirmed three phases of Wurm glaciation in the surroundings of Prasilske Lake and Stara Jimka, in the Bohemian Forest (Sumava Mountains). Glaciations were affected by a steep east-facing slope, by plateaus on the adjacent ridges and by local geological conditions. A small valley glacier (about 2 km long and 50 m thick) occurred during the first phase. In the second phase, a glacier–rock glacier developed, probably based on remnants of the valley glacier. During the last phase glacial activity was divided into Stara Jimka and the stepped cirque of Prasilske Lake. A further shallow (∼ 3 m deep) lake in Stara Jimka was dammed by slope movements after deglaciation (∼ 14 cal. ka BP) and survived until ∼ 4 cal. ka BP. The Late Pleistocene chronology of the Bohemian Forest seems to be related more closely to the Alps than to northern Europe. In the mid-mountains of central Europe, Pleistocene glaciation decreases significantly eastward, because of increasing continentality. The presence of plateaus (deflation areas), around 1300 m altitude, across the approach of westerly winds was important for the development of glaciers in the Bohemian Forest. The termination of glaciation before the Younger Dryas is specific to the Bohemian Forest in comparison with the Vosges and Krkonose Mountains.