title: Contaminated area instability along Ångermanälven River, northern Sweden.
abstract: Industrially utilized river basins are frequently exposed to contaminants originating from polluting activities. However, the physical instability and probability of mass movement mobilization of contaminated soil into rivers have only received little attention. In this study, we present a GIS-based method to produce a regional overview of where and how contaminated areas are potentially exposed to slope instability. A landslide susceptibility-index was used to study the degree and distribution of overlap between contaminated sites and unstable ground. A contaminated area instability hazard classification was produced integrating slope instability and contamination risk classification. Our results indicate that mass movement can be tied mainly to a slope gradient ≥16°, a proximity to the river that is <500 m, a distance of <500 m from roads, concave surface curvature, and sand- and silt soils. Forty-six (22%) of all considered contaminated sites are located within areas with a non-negligible slope instability, of which a majority, 30 sites (14%) are situated on ground with a low or moderate instability. Three sites with a class 2 contamination risk (the 2nd highest class) are located on ground with a very high slope instability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, S-10691, Stockholm, Sweden. a.stroberg@gmail.com.
authors.forename: A
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9200-0785
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ströberg
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, S-10691, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ebert
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, S-10691, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jarsjö
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Geography, Stockholm University, S-10691, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Frampton
mesh_terms: D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000032:analysis*; D055876:Landslides; D045483:Rivers; D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D013548:Sweden
chemical_list: D012987:Soil; D012989:Soil Pollutants
keywords: Local soil contamination; Mass movement; Risk assessment; Rivers; Slope instability