Moosfluh, towards a rock slope failure? ...

• Main Author: Galletti, Maud
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: ETH Zurich 2018
• Subjects: permafrost
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000456801; http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/456801

Landslides and rockfalls are critical hazards to take into account in mountainous areas and understanding their mechanisms is crucial for mitigation purposes. Due to climate change, permafrost degradation and glacial retreat are becoming more and more relevant to consider in steep terrain. Indeed critically stressed slopes might react to these rapid changes and generate an increasing number of rock failure events. In the Great Aletsch region (Switzerland) glacial retreat has been considerable in the last decade and the adjacent southern slope (Moosfluh) has suffered progressive debuttressing, as well as increased deep-seated gravitational slope deformation (DSGSD) and enhanced rock failure phenomena. In this study, we investigate rockfall events occurring in the lower portions of the Moosfluh DSGSD in the 2017 summer season. We used a local network of three low-cost seismometers (raspberry shakes), webcam photos and field data to detect rockfalls and generate an event’s catalogue. Rockfall parameters as ...