Back
pdf
Journal article

+ 1 other files

A general theory of rock glacier creep based on in-situ and remote sensing observations

  • Cicoira, Alessandro Department of Geography University of Zurich Switzerland - Department of Geosciences University of Fribourg Switzerland
  • Marcer, Marco Laboratoire EDYTEM, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Université Savoie Mont Blanc Le Bourget‐du‐Lac France
  • Gärtner‐Roer, Isabelle Department of Geography University of Zurich Switzerland
  • Bodin, Xavier Laboratoire EDYTEM, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Université Savoie Mont Blanc Le Bourget‐du‐Lac France
  • Arenson, Lukas U. BGC Engineering Inc. Vancouver BC Canada
  • Vieli, Andreas Department of Geography University of Zurich Switzerland
Show more…
    04.12.2020
Published in:
  • Permafrost and Periglacial Processes. - 2020, vol. 32, no. 1, p. 139-153
bulk creep factor BCF
destabilization
permafrost creep
regional scale
rock glacier dynamics
thickness model
English The ongoing acceleration in rock glacier velocities concurrent with increasing air temperatures, and the widespread onset of rock glacier destabilization have reinforced the interest in rock glacier dynamics and in its coupling to the climate system. Despite the increasing number of studies investigating this phenomenon, our knowledge of both the fundamental mechanisms controlling rock glacier dynamics, and their long‐term behaviour at the regional scale remain limited. We present a general theory to investigate rock glacier dynamics, its spatial patterns and temporal trends at both regional and local scale. To this end, we combine a model to calculate rock glacier thickness with an empirical creep model for ice‐rich debris, in order to derive the Bulk Creep Factor (BCF), which allows to disentangle the two contributions to the surface velocities from (i) material properties and (ii) geometry. Thereafter, we provide two examples of possible applications of this approach at a regional and local scale.
Faculty
Faculté des sciences et de médecine
Department
Département de Géosciences
Language
  • English
Classification
Geology
License
License undefined
Identifiers
Persistent URL
https://folia.unifr.ch/unifr/documents/309209
Other files
Supplementary material
Statistics
Document views: 84 File downloads:
  • cic_gtr.pdf: 187
  • cic_gtr_sm.pdf: 205