On #mountain slopes, we previously found strong feedbacks between #geomorphic processes, #landforms and #plants. But what about #sediments? Do they matter for #biogeomorphic feedbacks? If yes, which sediment properties should we measure and how? Have a look! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
After the heavy thunderstorms, the Spisszug overflowed its banks in St. Niklaus (VS)
Source @walliserbote
Debris flows damaging infrastruture today in
Saas Valley / St Niklaus (VS)
x.com/paedugasser/...
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Recent article and intense photography by #NationalGeographic on #permafrost -related hazards in the Swiss Alps, 2025 - covering the tragedy at #Blatten and potential future failure at #SpitzeStei.
www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/...
Loevestein Castle
A physical geographer's unexpected journey - monitoring fractures in the rampart near the outer moat of one of our most iconic castles! www.uu.nl/en/news/rock...
The front of the Birch Glacier prior to the catastrophic collapse on 28 May 2025. Image from Pomona Media.
On 28 May 2025, the Birch Glacier in Switzerland catastrophically failed, generating a massive landslide that has partially buried Blatten. So what happens next?
eos.org/thelandslide...
Gigantic proportions
Courtesy of pomona.ch/Alain Amherd
Another picture of the event from srf.ch
Swiss Seimological service reports this event as M=3.1 in a very quick first analysis, Cengalo was M=3.0...
What an inaugural post on bsky.app. A (the) major glacier collapse at Bichgletscher/Kleines Nesthorn.
And compared rockfall events to rockfall events from 2016 to 2019 quantified using laserscanning in a previous study.
www.nature.com/articles/s43...
We found that rockfall is mainly driven by frost weathering processes and permafrost rather than glacier retreat.
We measured rockfall for 2019-2023 using structure for motion photogrammetry…
We quantified glacier retreat and the Rothorn cirque Glacier showed an increasing glacier area loss with 0.2 %/year for 1850 to 1973, 2 %/year for 1973 to 2011 and up to 3.7 %/year for the period 2011 to 2023.
New open access paper on headwall erosion of a deglaciating cirque in the Swiss Alps. In our study we found that headwall erosion is driven by frost weathering and permafrost rather than glacier induced rockfall.
@uugeo.bsky.social #glacier #rockfall
doi.org/10.1016/j.ge...
A& B) 2023, D) 1882, E) 1929, F) 1964
The Rothorn Glacier is a Alpine cirque glacier that lost 86 % of its size since 1850. As very small glacier are more sensitive to climate warming, its retreat rate of -3.7%/a is much larger than large European Glaciers.
Prepint: ssrn.com/abstract=513...
#IYGP #VanishingGlaciers #WorldGlaciersDay
In our new paper, we quantified damage by frost weathering in alpine rocks using microCT. With Veerle Cnudde's team at UGhent, we tested the efficacy of different freeze-thaw cycles. Thanks EXCITE Network for funding.
tc.copernicus.org/articles/18/28
Our new paper shows that Holocene warming increases erosion in Alpine rockwalls on the short-term but decreases mountain erosion on the long-term.
doi.org/10.1016/j.ep...
#landslides #glacier #permafrost #weathering #rockfall
