Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Tomas Panek, Michal Brezny, Stephan Harrison, Elisabeth Schoenfeldt, Diego Winocur
Summary: The distribution of landslides in deglaciated mountains can be opposite to traditional assumptions, with larger landslides concentrated in less tectonically active and drier areas.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Hanne Hendrickx, Gaelle Le Roy, Agnes Helmstetter, Eric Pointner, Eric Larose, Luc Braillard, Jan Nyssen, Reynald Delaloye, Amaury Frankl
Summary: High mountain environments are increasingly affected by rockfall-related hazards, driven by climate change. Studying rockfall in these environments is challenging due to the inaccessibility of mountain ridges and complex controlling factors. This study presents a detailed investigation of a rock wall in the Swiss Alps using various data collection methods. The dataset is unique as it started before the destabilization of the rock wall, providing insights into precursory indicators of large-scale events.
EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS
(2022)
Article
Geography, Physical
Yanni Gunnell, Sylvain Blondeau, David Jarman
Summary: Rock slope failure (RSF) plays a significant role in the Southern Carpathians, indicating the prevailing process domains, tectonic regimes, and climatic variations. The study reveals that both metamorphic bedrock and other lithologies are susceptible to RSF, with a higher occurrence in fluvial contexts rather than glacial ones. The main drivers of RSF in this region are fluvial incision and tectonic uplift.
Article
Geography, Physical
Ian S. Evans
Summary: Cirques are more likely the result of glacial erosion than rock-slope failure, as evidenced by their close relation with climate. The altitude of cirque floors varies greatly between windward and leeward sides of mountain systems, with a lower limit depending on snowfall. Cirques are typically found on the poleward or leeward slopes of mountain ranges, similar to the distribution of modern small glaciers.
EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Geological
Zhongping Yang, Qian Zhao, Xinrong Liu, Zhiming Yin, Yalong Zhao, Xuyong Li
Summary: This article investigates the temporal and spatial evolution process of overlying karst mountain instability caused by mining using the case of a mega landslide in Pusa, Nayong County, Guizhou Province, China on 8.28. The complete process of rock strata fracture and slope instability under both descending and ascending mining conditions is reproduced through similitude model experiments. The failure process of slope collapse controlled by deep and large karst fissures is summarized based on the key motion features of overburden deformation and fracture evolution. The change law of overburden pressure and displacement during the mining process is analyzed, and the failure mode of slope collapse is proposed.
ROCK MECHANICS AND ROCK ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Mathematics
Lu Chen, Xiangxi Yu, Ron Luo, Ling Zeng, Hongtao Cao
Summary: In this study, landslide disasters in a mountain mining area were analyzed, and the engineering geological and instability reason were investigated. A numerical simulation of a high steep rock slope disturbed by a room and pillar mine was established to analyze the failure process and reveal the characteristics of deformation and sliding. The results showed that the pillar played an important role in maintaining the slope stability, and the failure process can be divided into four stages.
Article
Environmental Sciences
F. Bearzot, N. Colombo, E. Cremonese, U. Morra di Cella, E. Drigo, M. Caschetto, S. Basirico, G. B. Crosta, P. Frattini, M. Freppaz, P. Pogliotti, F. Salerno, A. Brunier, M. Rossini
Summary: This study investigates the effects of the discharge from an intact rock glacier on a high-elevation stream in the NW Italian Alps. Despite draining only 39% of the watershed area, the rock glacier contributes a large amount of discharge to the stream, particularly in late summer and early autumn. Ice melt is not a significant component of the discharge due to the insulating debris mantle. The sedimentological characteristics and internal hydrological system of the rock glacier play a major role in storing and transmitting groundwater.
SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Elisa Mammoliti, Alessandro Pepi, Davide Fronzi, Stefano Morelli, Tiziano Volatili, Alberto Tazioli, Mirko Francioni
Summary: The stability of rock slopes is affected by groundwater flow patterns through the fracture system. Determining the characteristics of fractured rocks is important but challenging. Traditional methods like borehole tests may not be suitable for rockfall-prone areas. This study combines kinematic analysis, DFN modeling, and tracer tests to better understand the flow patterns of groundwater in fractured rocks.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Thomas King, Sergio Vinciguerra, Jodi Burgess, Philip Benson, Luca De Siena
Summary: Identifying deformation and pre-failure mechanisms preceding faulting is crucial for understanding fault mechanics. This study presents a robust derivation of first motion polarity focal mechanism solutions applied to acoustic emission (AE), demonstrating the complex interplay between different types of deformation in rock samples.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH
(2021)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Gen K. Li, Seulgi Moon, Justin T. Higa
Summary: This study investigates the residence time scale of excess topography in the eastern Tibetan mountains. By analyzing different lithologies and rates of erosion and exhumation, it is found that the residence time scale varies with local slope angles but is consistent across different lithologies. The estimated range-scale residence time scale suggests steady-state construction and erosion of excess topography over thousand to million years time scales in this orogen.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2022)
Article
Thermodynamics
Sheng Yang, Mingyi Zhang, Jun Bi, Wansheng Pei, Guanji Li, Renwei Li
Summary: A numerical model is developed to evaluate the long-term thermal stability of embankments in pan-Arctic permafrost regions under the effect of snow drift. The results show that snow accumulates at the toe of the windward slope and the whole leeward side of the embankment. By reducing the slope ratio of the embankment, snow accumulations on both sides are significantly reduced, and the subsoil refreezes more effectively. The use of a crushed-rock revetment embankment with reduced slopes proves to be an applicable and effective structure for ensuring long-term stability in pan-Arctic permafrost regions.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Xuan Zhang, Chun Zhu, Zinan Li, Wansheng Ling, Faming Zhang
Summary: This research focused on the Langjia landslide in Qinghai Province of China to explore the failure mechanism and mode of deep relaxation rockslide in cold and arid areas of the plateau. The main precondition for the landslide was found to be deep relaxation tension cracks, triggered by strong weathering and disintegration of argillaceous cemented conglomerate on the sliding surface. The influence of rainfall, snow melting, and temperature accelerated the development of cracks and weathering process, leading to the formation of a sliding surface of mud rock with gravel.
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Yuke Wang, Musen Han, Bin Li, Yukuai Wan
Summary: This paper proposes a new type of permeable polymer material for grouting anti-seepage reinforcement of dam slopes. The analysis shows that this method can greatly improve the stability of the slope, with good reinforcement effects for medium and low slopes.
CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Xiaoqiang Zhang, Xiong Song, Shunchuan Wu
Summary: In this study, an improved mesh-free particle method called smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) was proposed to analyze the damage and failure process of rock slopes. The plastic factor was introduced and the conservation equations were obtained to better describe the brittle failure mechanism. An effective criterion was proposed based on displacement and time variation to define the factor of safety in SPH simulation.
FRONTIERS IN EARTH SCIENCE
(2023)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Jie-Fang Song, Cai-Ping Lu, Xiu-Feng Zhang, Ying Guo, Hong-Wei Yang
Summary: This work combines numerical models and field observations to study the attenuation of stress waves and crack evolution mechanism in jointed rock masses caused by deep-hole blasting. The study finds that larger joint angles result in larger transmission coefficients and smaller fractal dimensions. Additionally, there is a significant time difference between the peak stress difference and maximum principal stress in the horizontal direction of jointed rock masses, while there is no notable difference in the vertical direction. Furthermore, simulations of an unjointed rock mass and multiple parallel joints reveal that larger joint angles lead to smaller particle peak velocities and amplitude attenuations. As the number of stress waves passing through the joints increases, the amplitudes gradually decrease, with high-frequency amplitudes decreasing more significantly than low-frequency amplitudes.
Article
Engineering, Geological
Ali Aminzadeh, Florian Amann
Summary: This article studies the stresses at the center of a disk made of transversely isotropic rocks in Brazil. It finds that the solution for these stresses depends on the radius of the disk, the applied load, the material orientation, and two dimensionless ratios related to Young's modulus and apparent shear modulus. Finite element simulations are conducted to determine the stresses at the disk center, and an approximate formula is derived from analytical results. The formula is compared to numerical solutions, and simple and practical equations are proposed for estimating the stresses at the center of the disk specimen.
JOURNAL OF ROCK MECHANICS AND GEOTECHNICAL ENGINEERING
(2023)
Retraction
Construction & Building Technology
Manuel Entfellner, Pooya Hamdi, Xiaoyue Wang, Helmut Wannenmacher, Florian Amann
TUNNELLING AND UNDERGROUND SPACE TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Gregor Schmucki, Perry Bartelt, Yves Buhler, Andrin Caviezel, Christoph Graf, Mauro Marty, Andreas Stoffel, Christian Huggel
Summary: Debris flows in mountainous areas are hazardous, but cost-effective long-term studies are rare, resulting in uncertainties in hazard assessment and prevention. This study investigates the use of cost-effective remote sensing techniques to assess mountain torrents and gather accurate long-term information on their evolution.
EARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS
(2023)
Letter
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Aubrey D. Miller, Todd A. N. Redpath, Pascal Sirguey, Simon C. Cox, Perry Bartelt, Don Bogie, Jono P. Conway, Nicolas J. Cullen, Yves Buhler
Summary: An extremely heavy winter storm in July 2022 caused massive alpine mass movements in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, including snow avalanches, debris flows, and erosion caused by rain runoff. The largest avalanche since 1986 occurred in the Kitchener avalanche path, which tested the effectiveness of a diversion berm designed for a 1:100-year event. Results from a lidar survey and numerical modeling provide insights into future hazards posed by intense alpine precipitation, especially on a winter snowpack.
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Rodrigo Caye Daudt, Hendrik Wulf, Elisabeth D. Hafner, Yves Buehler, Konrad Schindler, Jan Dirk Wegner
Summary: In this study, a recurrent convolutional neural network is used to estimate snow depth at a high spatial resolution (10 m GSD), weekly, and over large-scale areas, without the need for ground measurement stations. The proposed method achieves unprecedented results for large-scale, high-resolution snow depth mapping and is evaluated against high-fidelity snow depth maps obtained with airborne photogrammetry. Additionally, well-calibrated uncertainty estimates are provided for each individual snow depth estimate through a probabilistic regression framework.
ISPRS JOURNAL OF PHOTOGRAMMETRY AND REMOTE SENSING
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Havard B. Toft, Karsten Mueller, Jordy Hendrikx, Christian Jaedicke, Yves Buhler
Summary: Accurately predicting snow avalanche runout distances in a deterministic sense is challenging due to the complexity of physical properties involved. In many locations, including Norway, the runout distance is commonly defined using the angle from the starting point to the end of the runout zone (a-angle). By analyzing a large dataset of avalanche events in Switzerland, we found that the a-angles follow a normal distribution with a mean of 33 degrees and a standard deviation of 6.1 degrees. We also discovered that the average gradient from the release area to the beta-point is the most important topographic parameter for predicting a-angles.
COLD REGIONS SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Leon J. Buhrle, Mauro Marty, Lucie A. Eberhard, Andreas Stoffel, Elisabeth D. Hafner, Yves Buhler
Summary: This study successfully created high-resolution snow depth maps over a 5-year period in the Davos region of Switzerland using aerial photogrammetry. The accurate results were obtained through the use of different sensors and image processing techniques, and their accuracy was validated through comparison. The findings of this study can be used for research on seasonal snow dynamics, snow depth distribution in complex terrain, and other applications related to snow depth.
Article
Geography, Physical
Adrian Ringenbach, Peter Bebi, Perry Bartelt, Andreas Rigling, Marc Christen, Yves Buhler, Andreas Stoffel, Andrin Caviezel
Summary: Mountain forests play a significant role in protecting against natural hazards by the presence of dead wood on the forest floor. The accumulation of deadwood in the Alps has increased and is predicted to rise further due to natural disturbances. Experimental studies have shown that mountain forests, with and without deadwood, have a protective effect against rockfall hazards.
EARTH SURFACE DYNAMICS
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Gregor Ortner, Michael Brundl, Chahan M. M. Kropf, Thomas Roosli, Yves Buhler, David N. N. Bresch
Summary: Researchers propose a new approach to assess the spatial distribution of avalanche risk by combining large-scale hazard mapping with a state-of-the-art risk assessment tool. This method can assist decision makers in identifying areas where avalanche hazard mitigation and/or adaptation is needed and display the risk distribution at specific locations.
NATURAL HAZARDS AND EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCES
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Marcia Phillips, Chasper Buchli, Samuel Weber, Jacopo Boaga, Mirko Pavoni, Alexander Bast
Summary: A novel combination of borehole temperature, borehole piezometer and cross-borehole electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) data is used to investigate changing ice and/or water contents in the Schafberg rock glacier. The measurement techniques presented continuously monitor temporal and spatial phase changes to a depth of 12 m and should provide the basis for a better understanding of accelerating rock glacier kinematics and future water availability.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
L. Winhausen, K. Khaledi, M. Jalali, M. Bretthauer, F. Amann
Summary: This study investigates the anisotropic behavior of Opalinus Clay, a selected host rock for nuclear waste disposal in Switzerland, by examining its unconfined compressive and tensile strength, poromechanical response, and effective shear strength. The results reveal that the rock exhibits a directional dependency in its strength properties, with the lowest values observed at specific angles between the bedding orientation and the load direction. The study also shows that the orientation of the bedding plane with respect to the maximum principal stress significantly influences the poromechanical behavior and the effective strength of the rock.
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SOLID EARTH
(2023)
Article
Geography, Physical
Adrian Ringenbach, Peter Bebi, Perry Bartelt, Andreas Rigling, Marc Christen, Yves Buehler, Andreas Stoffel, Andrin Caviezel
Summary: Studying the impact of deadwood on the protective capacity of mountain forests against rockfall is crucial for understanding the effects of climate-induced disturbances. This research introduces an automatic deadwood generator (ADG) to assess the influence of fresh woody storm debris on forest protection. The results show that deadwood can significantly reduce the heights and velocities of rockfall, providing stronger protection than standing trees.
EARTH SURFACE DYNAMICS
(2022)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
John Sykes, Pascal Haegeli, Yves Buehler
Summary: Potential avalanche release area (PRA) modeling is critical for generating automated avalanche terrain maps. This research expands an existing PRA model to incorporate forested terrain using satellite imagery and presents a novel approach for validating the model using local expertise. The study area is a remote portion of the Columbia Mountains in Canada. The implementation of forested terrain and local optimization improves the accuracy of the PRA model in forested terrain.
NATURAL HAZARDS AND EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Lisa Winhausen, Kavan Khaledi, Mohammadreza Jalali, Janos L. Urai, Florian Amann
Summary: This study investigates the failure mode of Opalinus Clay under different stress conditions. The results show a transition from brittle to ductile deformation with increasing stress, and the deformation localizes in distinct shear bands. The study also reveals less dilation in the shear zones at higher stresses.
Article
Geochemistry & Geophysics
Xiaodong Ma, Marian Hertrich, Florian Amann, Kai Broeker, Nima Gholizadeh Doonechaly, Valentin Gischig, Rebecca Hochreutener, Philipp Kaestli, Hannes Krietsch, Michele Marti, Barbara Naegeli, Morteza Nejati, Anne Obermann, Katrin Plenkers, Antonio P. Rinaldi, Alexis Shakas, Linus Villiger, Quinn Wenning, Alba Zappone, Falko Bethmann, Raymi Castilla, Francisco Seberto, Peter Meier, Thomas Driesner, Simon Loew, Hansruedi Maurer, Martin O. Saar, Stefan Wiemer, Domenico Giardini
Summary: The increased interest in subsurface development and associated seismicity requires a better understanding of hydro-seismo-mechanical coupling in fractured rock masses. In order to bridge the knowledge gap between laboratory and reservoir scales, controllable in situ experiments are necessary. The BedrettoLab provides a testing ground for studying the hydro-seismo-mechanical response of fractured crystalline rock masses.
