Articles | Volume 18, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1669-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-1669-2024
© Author(s) 2024. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Invited perspective article
| 
09 Apr 2024
Invited perspective article |
| 09 Apr 2024
| 09 Apr 2024
Discriminating viscous-creep features (rock glaciers) in mountain permafrost from debris-covered glaciers – a commented test at the Gruben and Yerba Loca sites, Swiss Alps and Chilean Andes
Wilfried Haeberli
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Department of Geography, University of Zurich, 8057 Zurich, Switzerland
Lukas U. Arenson
BGC Engineering, Suite 500 – 980 Howe Street, Vancouver, BC V6Z 0C8, Canada
Julie Wee
Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
Christian Hauck
Department of Geosciences, University of Fribourg, 1700 Fribourg, Switzerland
Nico Mölg
ENVEO, Fürstenweg 176, 6020 Innsbruck, Austria
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Martin Hoelzle, Christian Hauck, Tamara Mathys, Jeannette Noetzli, Cécile Pellet, and Martin Scherler
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Bernd Etzelmüller, Justyna Czekirda, Florence Magnin, Pierre-Allain Duvillard, Ludovic Ravanel, Emanuelle Malet, Andreas Aspaas, Lene Kristensen, Ingrid Skrede, Gudrun D. Majala, Benjamin Jacobs, Johannes Leinauer, Christian Hauck, Christin Hilbich, Martina Böhme, Reginald Hermanns, Harald Ø. Eriksen, Tom Rune Lauknes, Michael Krautblatter, and Sebastian Westermann
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Adrian Wicki, Per-Erik Jansson, Peter Lehmann, Christian Hauck, and Manfred Stähli
Hydrol. Earth Syst. Sci., 25, 4585–4610, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-4585-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/hess-25-4585-2021, 2021
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Soil moisture information was shown to be valuable for landslide prediction. Soil moisture was simulated at 133 sites in Switzerland, and the temporal variability was compared to the regional occurrence of landslides. We found that simulated soil moisture is a good predictor for landslides, and that the forecast goodness is similar to using in situ measurements. This encourages the use of models for complementing existing soil moisture monitoring networks for regional landslide early warning.
Christian Halla, Jan Henrik Blöthe, Carla Tapia Baldis, Dario Trombotto Liaudat, Christin Hilbich, Christian Hauck, and Lothar Schrott
The Cryosphere, 15, 1187–1213, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1187-2021, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-1187-2021, 2021
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In the semi-arid to arid Andes of Argentina, rock glaciers contain invisible and unknown amounts of ground ice that could become more important in future for the water availability during the dry season. The study shows that the investigated rock glacier represents an important long-term ice reservoir in the dry mountain catchment and that interannual changes of ground ice can store and release significant amounts of annual precipitation.
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Short summary
Rock glaciers in ice-rich permafrost can be discriminated from debris-covered glaciers. The key physical phenomenon relates to the tight mechanical coupling between the moving frozen body at depth and the surface layer of debris in the case of rock glaciers, as opposed to the virtually inexistent coupling in the case of surface ice with a debris cover. Contact zones of surface ice with subsurface ice in permafrost constitute diffuse landforms beyond either–or-type landform classification.
Rock glaciers in ice-rich permafrost can be discriminated from debris-covered glaciers. The key...
