Fig. 2: Destabilisation example at the study site of Pierre Brune (PB). | Communications Earth & Environment

Fig. 2: Destabilisation example at the study site of Pierre Brune (PB).

From: Rock glaciers throughout the French Alps accelerated and destabilised since 1990 as air temperatures increased

Fig. 2: Destabilisation example at the study site of Pierre Brune (PB).

PB is a destabilised rock glacier (a) approaching the peak phase (Phase II to III in Fig. 1). More detailed analysis is provided for PB in Supplementary note 2. Similar results are produced for every site in this study and are available in the Supplementary information. Displacement rates are plotted with the movements of the Laurichard (La) rock glacier for comparison with a non-destabilized landform (b). Destabilisation onsets between 1990 and 1995 in relation to the fast development of crevasses (c). A crevasse was already visible in the area in 1990 and belongs to an earlier destabilisation phase that occurred during the late 1940s. The destabilised mass starts moving faster than the upslope areas, creating a strongly discontinuous deformation pattern and the landform is dynamically disconnected in correspondence of the surface disturbances. While the upslope area presents a behaviour similar to the Laurichard rock glacier (non-destabilised), the downslope mass is still accelerating and reaching much higher displacement rates. © IGN.

Back to article page