Numerical modeling of the mount Steller landslide flow history and of the generated long period seismic waves

• Published in: Geophysical Research Letters
• Main Authors: Moretti, Laurent, Mangeney, Anne, Capdeville, Yann, Stutzmann, Eléonore, Huggel, Christian, Schneider, Demian, Bouchut, François
• Other Authors: Sismologie Paris, Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPG Paris)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPG Paris)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Laboratoire de Planétologie et Géodynamique UMR 6112 (LPG), Université d'Angers (UA)-Université de Nantes - UFR des Sciences et des Techniques (UN UFR ST), Université de Nantes (UN)-Université de Nantes (UN)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Glaciology, Geomorphodynamics and Geochronology, Physical Geography Division, Department of Geography, Universität Zürich Zürich = University of Zurich (UZH), Laboratoire d'Analyse et de Mathématiques Appliquées (LAMA), Université Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée (UPEM)-Fédération de Recherche Bézout (BEZOUT), Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 (UPEC UP12)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2012
• Subjects: landslides; numerical modeling; [SDU.STU.GP]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; glacier; Alaska
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-00728958; https://hal.science/hal-00728958/document; https://hal.science/hal-00728958/file/Moretti_et_al-2012-Geophysical_Research_Letters.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL052511

International audience The rock-ice avalanche that occurred in 2005 on Mount Steller, Alaska and the resulting long period seismic waves have been simulated for different avalanche scenarios (i.e., flow histories), with and without erosion processes taken into account. This 40-60 Mm3 avalanche traveled about 10 km down the slope, mainly on top of a glacier, eroding a significant amount of ice. It was recorded by 7 broadband seismic stations. The simulations were compared with the recorded long period seismic signal and with the inverted flow history. The results show that, when erosion processes are taken into account, the simulations reproduce the observed signal at all the stations over a wide range of azimuths and source-station distances (37-623 km). This comparison makes it possible to constrain the rheological parameters involved which should help constrain the volume of eroded material. Because landslides are continuously recorded by seismic networks, this method could significantly broaden quantitative insights into natural flow dynamics.