Zoning of the areas susceptible to mass movements in the Tarrafal Municipality, Santiago Island, Cape Verde

Abstract

This study is an analysis of the natural and anthropogenic elements of the Tarrafal Municipality, located at the northern end of the Santiago Island, Cape Verde, and aims to draw a zoning map of the areas susceptible to mass movements, using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. The synthesis map allowed the identification of areas with higher and lower degree of susceptibility. The potential of the information obtained from the zoning map shows that this analysis is increasingly essential for geotechnical stability studies, in view of the need to monitor the areas subject to constant human intervention. The zoning map of the areas susceptible to mass movements can be used to make decisions, at the municipal level and in the context of civil defense, to develop other types of mapping, such as hazard and risk mapping.