Fig. 1: Rockfall activity from a slope affected by thawing permafrost can be recorded in trees growing at the forest fringe. | Nature Geoscience

Fig. 1: Rockfall activity from a slope affected by thawing permafrost can be recorded in trees growing at the forest fringe.

From: Rockfall from an increasingly unstable mountain slope driven by climate warming

Fig. 1: Rockfall activity from a slope affected by thawing permafrost can be recorded in trees growing at the forest fringe.

a, Rockfall at Täschgufer (Swiss Alps) originates from heavily disintegrated, gneissic outcrops (inset) situated in permafrost-dominated environments between 2,900 and 2,450 m asl (black shape). Forest fringe is designated by the green shape. b,c, Dust clouds generated by a larger rockfall at an adjacent site on 8 June 2019 (b) and the subsequent impact on a tree (c). d,e, European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) trees can overgrow rockfall injuries (d) by forming chaotic callus tissue and tangential rows of traumatic resin ducts (e). These anatomical markers are utilized to date past rockfall with sub-seasonal precision. Credit: a, GoogleEarth, Landsat/Copernicus (main photo); Markus Stoffel (inset).

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