Alpine deep-seated gravitational slope deformation and the Messinian Salinity Crisis

The southern part of the French Alps is studied for years in mapping and understanding of large-scale gravitational deformations. The identification and the knowledge of large-scale slope deformation (deep-seated gravitational slope deformation or DSGSD and deep-seated landslide or DSL) in the previous work of Jomard (2006) and Zerathe (2013) open a new vision of landslide processes with the reinterpretation of their dynamics and the characterization of the time scales involved. We identify DSGSD(10.109 m3) in the Var Valley associated with geological and geomorphological anomalies linked to the Messinian Salinity Crisis(MSC) and the alpine orogenesis. We use field observations, geological information (geological map, boreholes), and topographic analysis performed in a GIS environment in order to describe these anomalies. This old and partly eroded slide mass is associated with three typical DSGSD features: (1) a double-crested ridge, the Sinne Valley, (2) a large formation (2.7 × 108 m3) of slope deposit dated from the Messinian (Carros breccia), and (3) the kilometric deviation (1 to 2 km) of the Var River. We relate all these anomalies to the MSC (5.97 to 5.46 Ma) and the incision of deep canyons during this period related to this major eustatic variation(≈ 1300 m). The incision of the canyon triggered the collapse process of the DSGSD of the Sinne Valley and so destabilized the entire massif. At present, three DSLs resulting from the DSGSD deformation are still present in the area in a dormant state. Indeed, since the infilling of the Var Canyon during the Pliocene, the activity of the DSGSD has stopped.