Timing and periodicity of paraglacial rock-slope failures in the Scottish Highlands
Many formerly-glaciated mountains exhibit a high density of postglacial rock-slope failures (RSFs) in the form of rockslides, rock avalanches or deep-seated gravitational slope deformations. Such RSFs are often termed ‘paraglacial’ as they reflect pre-conditioning by glaciation and deglaciation. The...
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ftunstandrewcris:oai:research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk:publications/acf93b10-ba6d-4ab0-a46e-8ff78ffe4721 2024-09-30T14:36:26+00:00 Timing and periodicity of paraglacial rock-slope failures in the Scottish Highlands Ballantyne, Colin Stone, John 2013 https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/publications/acf93b10-ba6d-4ab0-a46e-8ff78ffe4721 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2012.12.030 eng eng https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/publications/acf93b10-ba6d-4ab0-a46e-8ff78ffe4721 info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess Ballantyne , C & Stone , J 2013 , ' Timing and periodicity of paraglacial rock-slope failures in the Scottish Highlands ' , Geomorphology , vol. 186 , pp. 150-161 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2012.12.030 article 2013 ftunstandrewcris https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2012.12.030 2024-09-04T23:45:35Z Many formerly-glaciated mountains exhibit a high density of postglacial rock-slope failures (RSFs) in the form of rockslides, rock avalanches or deep-seated gravitational slope deformations. Such RSFs are often termed ‘paraglacial’ as they reflect pre-conditioning by glaciation and deglaciation. The temporal pattern of paraglacial RSFs is unknown. We employ 47 cosmogenic isotope exposure ages obtained for 17 catastrophic RSFs in the Scottish Highlands to test models of changes in RSF frequency since deglaciation. Our results show that RSF activity spans almost the entire postglacial period from ~ 17 ka until ~ 1.5 ka, and that the periodicity of sampled postglacial RSFs is statistically indistinguishable from a pattern of uniform periodicity (~ 1 ka− 1). Our data do not conform to proposed models of declining RSF frequency with time elapsed since deglaciation, but suggest that the temporal distribution of postglacial RSFs is best described by a combination of rapid response (enhanced RSF frequency during or immediately after deglaciation) followed by approximately constant periodicity. Our findings are consistent with near-surface fracturing of rock when glacially-induced confining stresses are removed, causing some failures during or immediately after deglaciation and reducing other slopes to critical conditional stability so that failure is triggered by progressive rock-mass weakening or by transient triggering mechanisms. Neither permafrost degradation (thaw of ice in joints) nor seismic activity offers a general explanation for triggering Scottish RSFs, but could be contributory in some cases. The quasi-constant periodicity inferred for Holocene RSFs implies that the probability of RSFs in this seismically-quiescent intraplate area has not changed in the past ~ 10 ka, and that further (though infrequent) catastrophic RSFs are likely to occur in the future. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice permafrost University of St Andrews: Research Portal Geomorphology 186 150 161 |
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Open Polar |
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University of St Andrews: Research Portal |
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ftunstandrewcris |
language |
English |
description |
Many formerly-glaciated mountains exhibit a high density of postglacial rock-slope failures (RSFs) in the form of rockslides, rock avalanches or deep-seated gravitational slope deformations. Such RSFs are often termed ‘paraglacial’ as they reflect pre-conditioning by glaciation and deglaciation. The temporal pattern of paraglacial RSFs is unknown. We employ 47 cosmogenic isotope exposure ages obtained for 17 catastrophic RSFs in the Scottish Highlands to test models of changes in RSF frequency since deglaciation. Our results show that RSF activity spans almost the entire postglacial period from ~ 17 ka until ~ 1.5 ka, and that the periodicity of sampled postglacial RSFs is statistically indistinguishable from a pattern of uniform periodicity (~ 1 ka− 1). Our data do not conform to proposed models of declining RSF frequency with time elapsed since deglaciation, but suggest that the temporal distribution of postglacial RSFs is best described by a combination of rapid response (enhanced RSF frequency during or immediately after deglaciation) followed by approximately constant periodicity. Our findings are consistent with near-surface fracturing of rock when glacially-induced confining stresses are removed, causing some failures during or immediately after deglaciation and reducing other slopes to critical conditional stability so that failure is triggered by progressive rock-mass weakening or by transient triggering mechanisms. Neither permafrost degradation (thaw of ice in joints) nor seismic activity offers a general explanation for triggering Scottish RSFs, but could be contributory in some cases. The quasi-constant periodicity inferred for Holocene RSFs implies that the probability of RSFs in this seismically-quiescent intraplate area has not changed in the past ~ 10 ka, and that further (though infrequent) catastrophic RSFs are likely to occur in the future. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ballantyne, Colin Stone, John |
spellingShingle |
Ballantyne, Colin Stone, John Timing and periodicity of paraglacial rock-slope failures in the Scottish Highlands |
author_facet |
Ballantyne, Colin Stone, John |
author_sort |
Ballantyne, Colin |
title |
Timing and periodicity of paraglacial rock-slope failures in the Scottish Highlands |
title_short |
Timing and periodicity of paraglacial rock-slope failures in the Scottish Highlands |
title_full |
Timing and periodicity of paraglacial rock-slope failures in the Scottish Highlands |
title_fullStr |
Timing and periodicity of paraglacial rock-slope failures in the Scottish Highlands |
title_full_unstemmed |
Timing and periodicity of paraglacial rock-slope failures in the Scottish Highlands |
title_sort |
timing and periodicity of paraglacial rock-slope failures in the scottish highlands |
publishDate |
2013 |
url |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/publications/acf93b10-ba6d-4ab0-a46e-8ff78ffe4721 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2012.12.030 |
genre |
Ice permafrost |
genre_facet |
Ice permafrost |
op_source |
Ballantyne , C & Stone , J 2013 , ' Timing and periodicity of paraglacial rock-slope failures in the Scottish Highlands ' , Geomorphology , vol. 186 , pp. 150-161 . https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2012.12.030 |
op_relation |
https://research-portal.st-andrews.ac.uk/en/publications/acf93b10-ba6d-4ab0-a46e-8ff78ffe4721 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geomorph.2012.12.030 |
container_title |
Geomorphology |
container_volume |
186 |
container_start_page |
150 |
op_container_end_page |
161 |
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1811639491160440832 |