The History of Mudflow Processes Research in Georgia (on the example of Kakheti)

Abstract

Georgia, as a mountainous country, provides favourable conditions for the development of mudflow processes. The study of these processes is essential for their effective management, the reduction of damage, the prevention of casualties, and the preservation of undisturbed areas within the country’s already limited land resources. Research on mudflow processes in Georgia dates back more than a century. The earliest investigations were rather primitive in nature and were primarily aimed at identifying events that had already occurred, rather than analysing their formation or attempting prediction. This article examines how the scientific approach to mudflow research has evolved over time. It is mainly based on documentary research and the analysis of published sources, and it outlines the objectives of mudflow studies at different historical stages, as well as the criteria used for subsequent classification. The first descriptive reports on turbulent processes along the Georgian Military Road were published in 1891 in the Proceedings of the Russian Geographical Society. S. Rauner’s work Southern Caucasus Silt Flows and Their Regulation was published in the Forestry Journal (issues 1–2) in 1903. Notably, this publication described not only the mudflow of the Duruji River that occurred on 23 May 1899, but also the mudflows of the Stori and Kisiskhevi rivers. It also addressed certain protective measures, primarily forest melioration and the terracing of valley slopes. At the beginning of the 20th century, specifically on 30 August 1906, information on the passage of the Duruji River mudflow through Kvareli appeared in the monthly meteorological bulletin of the Tbilisi Physical Observatory. Whereas early studies were purely descriptive, by the 1940s the focus had shifted towards the geographical aspects of mudflows, with increasing attention paid to their origin and to mitigation measures. In later studies, attempts at prediction also became apparent. At the same time, greater emphasis was placed on understanding the process itself. A landslide, as a geodynamic category, is determined by a complex combination of multiple factors.