The 2005 Mt. Steller, Alaska, rock-ice avalanche: a large slope failure in cold permafrost
This paper describes and analyzes the exceptionally large rock-ice avalanche of 40 to 60 million m3 volume that occurred in 2005 from the south face of Mt. Steller (Bering Glacier region, Alaska), which has steep glaciers at the summit. Analysis of seismic signals revealed a series of precursory roc...
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ftunivzuerich:oai:www.zora.uzh.ch:3097 2023-05-15T16:20:24+02:00 The 2005 Mt. Steller, Alaska, rock-ice avalanche: a large slope failure in cold permafrost Huggel, C Gruber, S Caplan-Auerbach, S Wessels, R L Molnia, B F 2008-07-03 application/pdf https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/3097/ https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/3097/9/Huggel_MtSteller_Alaska_2008V.pdf http://uspermafrost.org/meetings/nicop/proceedings.html https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-3097 eng eng https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/3097/9/Huggel_MtSteller_Alaska_2008V.pdf doi:10.5167/uzh-3097 urn:isbn:978-0-9800179-2-2 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Huggel, C; Gruber, S; Caplan-Auerbach, S; Wessels, R L; Molnia, B F (2008). The 2005 Mt. Steller, Alaska, rock-ice avalanche: a large slope failure in cold permafrost. In: 9th International Conference on Permafrost, Fairbanks, Alaska, 29 June 2008 - 3 July 2008, 747-752. Institute of Geography 910 Geography & travel Conference or Workshop Item PeerReviewed info:eu-repo/semantics/conferenceObject 2008 ftunivzuerich https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-3097 2022-11-29T20:15:48Z This paper describes and analyzes the exceptionally large rock-ice avalanche of 40 to 60 million m3 volume that occurred in 2005 from the south face of Mt. Steller (Bering Glacier region, Alaska), which has steep glaciers at the summit. Analysis of seismic signals revealed a series of precursory rock/icefalls and a special sequence interpreted as slip and deformation in glacier ice. Reconstruction of the thermal conditions based on regional climate and radiosonde data yielded mean annual ground surface temperatures of -10 to -15°C for the failure area. Because the slope failure was at depths of meters to decameters we also performed numerical modeling of a 2D temperature profile across the mountain. Results showed that the existence of a hanging glacier in the summit area induces a deep-seated thermal anomaly. We subsequently outline a number of processes that may be effective for slope destabilization with the given thermal conditions. Conference Object glacier glaciers Ice permafrost Alaska University of Zurich (UZH): ZORA (Zurich Open Repository and Archive |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Zurich (UZH): ZORA (Zurich Open Repository and Archive |
op_collection_id |
ftunivzuerich |
language |
English |
topic |
Institute of Geography 910 Geography & travel |
spellingShingle |
Institute of Geography 910 Geography & travel Huggel, C Gruber, S Caplan-Auerbach, S Wessels, R L Molnia, B F The 2005 Mt. Steller, Alaska, rock-ice avalanche: a large slope failure in cold permafrost |
topic_facet |
Institute of Geography 910 Geography & travel |
description |
This paper describes and analyzes the exceptionally large rock-ice avalanche of 40 to 60 million m3 volume that occurred in 2005 from the south face of Mt. Steller (Bering Glacier region, Alaska), which has steep glaciers at the summit. Analysis of seismic signals revealed a series of precursory rock/icefalls and a special sequence interpreted as slip and deformation in glacier ice. Reconstruction of the thermal conditions based on regional climate and radiosonde data yielded mean annual ground surface temperatures of -10 to -15°C for the failure area. Because the slope failure was at depths of meters to decameters we also performed numerical modeling of a 2D temperature profile across the mountain. Results showed that the existence of a hanging glacier in the summit area induces a deep-seated thermal anomaly. We subsequently outline a number of processes that may be effective for slope destabilization with the given thermal conditions. |
format |
Conference Object |
author |
Huggel, C Gruber, S Caplan-Auerbach, S Wessels, R L Molnia, B F |
author_facet |
Huggel, C Gruber, S Caplan-Auerbach, S Wessels, R L Molnia, B F |
author_sort |
Huggel, C |
title |
The 2005 Mt. Steller, Alaska, rock-ice avalanche: a large slope failure in cold permafrost |
title_short |
The 2005 Mt. Steller, Alaska, rock-ice avalanche: a large slope failure in cold permafrost |
title_full |
The 2005 Mt. Steller, Alaska, rock-ice avalanche: a large slope failure in cold permafrost |
title_fullStr |
The 2005 Mt. Steller, Alaska, rock-ice avalanche: a large slope failure in cold permafrost |
title_full_unstemmed |
The 2005 Mt. Steller, Alaska, rock-ice avalanche: a large slope failure in cold permafrost |
title_sort |
2005 mt. steller, alaska, rock-ice avalanche: a large slope failure in cold permafrost |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/3097/ https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/3097/9/Huggel_MtSteller_Alaska_2008V.pdf http://uspermafrost.org/meetings/nicop/proceedings.html https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-3097 |
genre |
glacier glaciers Ice permafrost Alaska |
genre_facet |
glacier glaciers Ice permafrost Alaska |
op_source |
Huggel, C; Gruber, S; Caplan-Auerbach, S; Wessels, R L; Molnia, B F (2008). The 2005 Mt. Steller, Alaska, rock-ice avalanche: a large slope failure in cold permafrost. In: 9th International Conference on Permafrost, Fairbanks, Alaska, 29 June 2008 - 3 July 2008, 747-752. |
op_relation |
https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/3097/9/Huggel_MtSteller_Alaska_2008V.pdf doi:10.5167/uzh-3097 urn:isbn:978-0-9800179-2-2 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5167/uzh-3097 |
_version_ |
1766008312165302272 |