Journal
JOURNAL OF GLACIOLOGY
Volume 57, Issue 205, Pages 817-831Publisher
INT GLACIOL SOC
DOI: 10.3189/002214311798043852
Keywords
-
Funding
- European Union [212250]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The Altels hanging glacier in Switzerland broke off on 11 September 1895. The ice volume of this catastrophic rupture was estimated as 4 x 10(6) m(3), the largest icefall event ever observed in the Alps. However, the causes of this collapse are not entirely clear. Based on previous studies, we reanalyzed this break-off event, with the help of a new numerical model, initially developed by Faillettaz and others (2010) for gravity-driven instabilities. The simulations indicate that a break-off event is only possible when the basal friction at the bedrock is reduced in a restricted area, possibly induced by the storage of infiltrated water within the glacier. Further, our simulations reveal a two-step behavior: (1) a first quiescent phase, without visible changes, with a duration depending on the rate of change in basal friction; (2) an active phase with a rapid increase of basal motion over a few days. The general lesson obtained from the comparison between the simulations and available observations is that detectable precursors (crevasse formation and velocity increase) of the destabilization process of a hanging glacier, resulting from a progressive warming of the ice/bed interface towards a temperate regime, will appear only a few days prior to the break-off.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available