The deterioration processes of weathered rocks, and residual soils were studied, especially with relation to the effects of land use and human modifications of the land surface and the influence of climatic anomalies and seismic events. The loss of strength, the internal cracking and the widening of discontinuities with time and the resulting accelerated weathering due to external agents play an essential role in the processes of landslides in high mountain areas. The processes, the events and the different ways of measuring and