New Insights into a Very-Large, Slowly Moving Landslide (Hell-Bourg, Reunion) from High-Resolution Seismic Surveys.

Summary In November 2020, a passive and active seismic investigation was applied to the large slow-moving landslide of Hell-Bourg, Reunion Island. The objective of this survey is to provide relevant information for the characterisation of the internal structure and hydrogeology of the landslide. The first joint application of geophysical methods, geomorphological surveys, field observations and measurement has already led to the general characterisation of this complex landslide up to 200 m depth. The initial results from the seismic survey obtained from the P-wave refraction tomography allow confirming the existence and continuity of the main sliding surface, which had previously pointed out by resistivity model from aerial electromagnetic data. Furthermore, thanks to this data discontinuities that affect both the landslide and the substratum up to 450 m deep have been detected, suggesting a strong relation between the dynamic of the landslide and the substratum geometry. These initial results are promising and thus suggest that the seismic data we are currently processing will reveal new insights to improve our knowledge of the structure and dynamics of the Hell-Bourg landslide.