Influence of degrading pwrmafrost on slope stability

• Main Authors: Gunzel, Friederike, Haeberli, Wilfried
• Other Authors: Lozan, Jose, Breckle, Siegmar, Escher-Vetter, Heidi, Grassl, Hartmut, Kasang, Dieter, Paul, Frank, Schickhoff, Udo
• Format: Book Part
• Language: German
• Published: Wissenschaftliche Auswertungen 2020
• Subjects: Ice; permafrost
• Online Access: https://research.brighton.ac.uk/en/publications/9e7ffd19-e1b1-41d4-a9ef-065adc4aef07; https://www.klima-warnsignale.uni-hamburg.de/buchreihe/hochgebirge/kapitel-7-2-einfluss-der-permafrostdegradation-auf-hangstabilitaet/

Perennially frozen ground (permafrost) in high mountain areas has a large influence on the stability of steep rock and scree slopes. However, this influence diminishes due to increasing temperatures, leading to dangerous rock avalanches and debris flows. High-mountain permafrost has been intensely researched during the last decades, both in the laboratory and in the field. In this chapter the mechanisms of rock falls in permafrost, creep processes in ice-rich scree, and methods of permafrost monitoring are introduced. Examples of large rock falls in permafrost illustrate the hazards caused by such events.