Geomorphology and geology of San Antoni del Sur, Guantanamo, Cuba : its contribution in producing landslides

The current geomorphology of San Antonio del Sur has many different and complex features conditioned by: the Caribbean-North America inter-Plate zone, climatic conditions and paleoclimatic oscillations during the Quaternary period. In general, the current landforms were created by a combination of horizontal and vertical movements, being more frequents the first ones until the Middle Eocene, as from which the vertical movements prevails mainly with strike-slip faults. These landforms present gravitational forms that have generated different types of landslides in the study area.
This paper presents the geomorphology and geology of San Antonio del Sur area, making emphasis in the causes that produce landslides. The different geomorphological complexes, the genetic landforms and subforms are explained besides the different lithologies. It is discuss the different hypothesis of the geomorphological evolution in the study area and the gravitational forms that produce landslides.
Due to climatic, tectonic and lithological factors, the study area has different landforms from the coast (at southern part) to the north. In this way, seven geomorphological complexes were defined: the coastal hills, the terrigenous hills, the limestone hills, the metamorphic hills, the alluvial valley, the accumulational slopes and the Caujery depression. The evolution of the area can explained using two models: one for the Caujery Valley and one to explain the coastal hills and the Baitiquirí pound-shape bay. The reason to use two models is because both areas has developed independent landforms due to different causes that are explained in the paper. The principals’ landslides are located (in order of importance) in the Caujery
Scarp, in the coastal hills and in the accumulational slopes at northern of Baitiquirí. It is outstanding the Jagueyes landslides in the Caurjery Scarp, recognized as the biggest in Cuba. Among the most common landslides are the rotational landslides, translational landslides, rock falls, topples and debris flows.