Comment on nhess-2021-16

Abstract

The Tazones Lighthouse slope shows different active mass movements affecting an area of 70.000 m 2 of the Cantabrian Coast (N Spain), characterized by almost vertical rocky cliffs developed on Jurassic rocks: alternating marl, sandstone and limestone with three main stratigraphic and structural discontinuity families. Between June 2018 and May 2020, 22 monthly monitoring campaigns have been carried out to measure the displacement of 38 control points, located between 95-110 masl. The total station monitoring has been complemented by ortophoto analysis and detailed digital terrain models (DTM) from two drone flights. Since the beginning of the 3D monitoring, about the 50% of the markers moved more than 1 m, one of them exceeding 15 m. Detailed DTM has shown that the increased activity is controlled by the discontinuities. There is an extraordinary correlation between displacement acceleration and precipitation and soil moisture: the largest displacements have occurred after 2 periods of intense rain (January and October-November 2019, with a maximum 24-hour precipitation of 64.5 mm and 82.1 mm, respectively, and soil moisture values higher than 90%). This represents an exceptional opportunity to analyse in real time the Jurassic cliffs retreat of the Cantabrian Coast, a question that remained not quantified.