The floods that struck Mozambique at the start of 2000 were the worst in living memory. On the 2nd of March 2000 the Guardian reported that more than 1 000 000 people had been made homeless and at least 200 had died. The major problems of inundation such as loss of crops and livestock were well publicized but others that have an engineering geological significance, such as gullying caused by intense surface water flows were less well reported. Gullying can be rapid and can have a significant impact both locally on housing and more widely on roads, transport and infrastructure. Theexamples described here occurred in the area near the capital, Maputo.
Geology
Maputo lies at the southern end of Mozambique on high ground at the mouth of the Maputo River ( Fig. 1). To the east a steep slope leads down to a coastal plainthat comprises coastal dune sand of the Quaternary Formacao de Xefina (QXf) and to the south a steep slope leads down …
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