Deciphering the evolution of the Bleis Marscha rock glacier (Val d'Err, eastern Switzerland) with cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating, aerial image correlation, and finite element modeling
We constrain the Holocene development of the active Bleis Marscha rock glacier (Err–Julier area, eastern Swiss Alps) with 15 cosmogenic nuclide exposure ages (10Be, 36Cl), horizontal surface creep rate quantification by correlating two orthophotos from 2003 and 2012, and finite element modeling. We...
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ftdatacite:10.3929/ethz-b-000483164 2023-05-15T16:37:50+02:00 Deciphering the evolution of the Bleis Marscha rock glacier (Val d'Err, eastern Switzerland) with cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating, aerial image correlation, and finite element modeling Amschwand, Dominik Ivy-Ochs, Susan Frehner, Marcel Steinemann, Olivia Christl, Marcus Vockenhuber, Christof 2021 application/pdf https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000483164 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/483164 en eng ETH Zurich info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode cc-by-4.0 CC-BY article-journal Journal Article Text ScholarlyArticle 2021 ftdatacite https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000483164 2022-02-09T13:45:34Z We constrain the Holocene development of the active Bleis Marscha rock glacier (Err–Julier area, eastern Swiss Alps) with 15 cosmogenic nuclide exposure ages (10Be, 36Cl), horizontal surface creep rate quantification by correlating two orthophotos from 2003 and 2012, and finite element modeling. We used the latter to separate the control on surface movement exerted by topography and material properties. Bleis Marscha is a stack of three overriding lobes whose formation phases are separated by time gaps expressed morphologically as over-steepened terrain steps and kinematically as a sharp downslope decrease in surface movement. The three discrete formation phases appear to be correlated to major Holocene climate shifts: Early Holocene low-elevation lobes (∼8.9–8.0 ka, after the Younger Dryas), Middle Holocene lobe (∼5.2–4.8 ka, after the Middle Holocene warm period), and Late Holocene high-elevation lobes (active since ∼2.8 ka, intermittently coexisting with oscillating Bleis Marscha cirque glacierets). The formation phases appear to be controlled in the source area by the climate-sensitive accumulation of an ice-debris mixture in proportions susceptible to rock glacier creep. The ongoing cohesive movement of the older generations requires ice at a depth which is possibly as old as its Early–Middle Holocene debris mantle. Permafrost degradation is attenuated by “thermal filtering” of the coarse debris boulder mantle and implies that the dynamics of the Bleis Marscha lobes that once formed persisted over millennia are less sensitive to climate. The cosmogenic radionuclide inventories of boulders on a moving rock glacier ideally record time since deposition on the rock glacier root but are stochastically altered by boulder instabilities and erosional processes. This work contributes to deciphering the long-term development and the past to quasi-present climate sensitivity of rock glaciers. : The Cryosphere, 15 (4) : ISSN:1994-0416 : ISSN:1994-0424 Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice permafrost DataCite Metadata Store (German National Library of Science and Technology) |
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English |
description |
We constrain the Holocene development of the active Bleis Marscha rock glacier (Err–Julier area, eastern Swiss Alps) with 15 cosmogenic nuclide exposure ages (10Be, 36Cl), horizontal surface creep rate quantification by correlating two orthophotos from 2003 and 2012, and finite element modeling. We used the latter to separate the control on surface movement exerted by topography and material properties. Bleis Marscha is a stack of three overriding lobes whose formation phases are separated by time gaps expressed morphologically as over-steepened terrain steps and kinematically as a sharp downslope decrease in surface movement. The three discrete formation phases appear to be correlated to major Holocene climate shifts: Early Holocene low-elevation lobes (∼8.9–8.0 ka, after the Younger Dryas), Middle Holocene lobe (∼5.2–4.8 ka, after the Middle Holocene warm period), and Late Holocene high-elevation lobes (active since ∼2.8 ka, intermittently coexisting with oscillating Bleis Marscha cirque glacierets). The formation phases appear to be controlled in the source area by the climate-sensitive accumulation of an ice-debris mixture in proportions susceptible to rock glacier creep. The ongoing cohesive movement of the older generations requires ice at a depth which is possibly as old as its Early–Middle Holocene debris mantle. Permafrost degradation is attenuated by “thermal filtering” of the coarse debris boulder mantle and implies that the dynamics of the Bleis Marscha lobes that once formed persisted over millennia are less sensitive to climate. The cosmogenic radionuclide inventories of boulders on a moving rock glacier ideally record time since deposition on the rock glacier root but are stochastically altered by boulder instabilities and erosional processes. This work contributes to deciphering the long-term development and the past to quasi-present climate sensitivity of rock glaciers. : The Cryosphere, 15 (4) : ISSN:1994-0416 : ISSN:1994-0424 |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Amschwand, Dominik Ivy-Ochs, Susan Frehner, Marcel Steinemann, Olivia Christl, Marcus Vockenhuber, Christof |
spellingShingle |
Amschwand, Dominik Ivy-Ochs, Susan Frehner, Marcel Steinemann, Olivia Christl, Marcus Vockenhuber, Christof Deciphering the evolution of the Bleis Marscha rock glacier (Val d'Err, eastern Switzerland) with cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating, aerial image correlation, and finite element modeling |
author_facet |
Amschwand, Dominik Ivy-Ochs, Susan Frehner, Marcel Steinemann, Olivia Christl, Marcus Vockenhuber, Christof |
author_sort |
Amschwand, Dominik |
title |
Deciphering the evolution of the Bleis Marscha rock glacier (Val d'Err, eastern Switzerland) with cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating, aerial image correlation, and finite element modeling |
title_short |
Deciphering the evolution of the Bleis Marscha rock glacier (Val d'Err, eastern Switzerland) with cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating, aerial image correlation, and finite element modeling |
title_full |
Deciphering the evolution of the Bleis Marscha rock glacier (Val d'Err, eastern Switzerland) with cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating, aerial image correlation, and finite element modeling |
title_fullStr |
Deciphering the evolution of the Bleis Marscha rock glacier (Val d'Err, eastern Switzerland) with cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating, aerial image correlation, and finite element modeling |
title_full_unstemmed |
Deciphering the evolution of the Bleis Marscha rock glacier (Val d'Err, eastern Switzerland) with cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating, aerial image correlation, and finite element modeling |
title_sort |
deciphering the evolution of the bleis marscha rock glacier (val d'err, eastern switzerland) with cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating, aerial image correlation, and finite element modeling |
publisher |
ETH Zurich |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://dx.doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000483164 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11850/483164 |
genre |
Ice permafrost |
genre_facet |
Ice permafrost |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode cc-by-4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-b-000483164 |
_version_ |
1766028124385968128 |