Giant landslides; Structural predisposition; Weak bedrock; Quaternary

In this paper we review published and recently detected new cases of giant landslides (>10(8)-10(9) m(3)) located outside mountain areas with the aim to summarize modes of their distribution, genesis and link to potential triggers. Regions that are particularly prone to low-gradient landslides are formed by weak subhorizontal platform formations in intraplate settings, Cenozoic inverted basins at the piedmonts of young orogenic belts and sensitive clay formations. Giant low-gradient landslides involve mostly complex rotational and translation failures with flow-type emplacement of distal parts; slip surfaces of such failures are usually inclined less than similar to 5 degrees.