Felix Pfluger (TUM, funded by M³OCCA) and colleagues investigated glacier changes, conducted fieldwork on permafrost at 3200 m asl, rock mechanical laboratory studies (Joseph Steinhauser as part of his Bachelor Thesis) and mechanical modelling on a slope scale to infer permafrost–glacier interactions and their implications for triggering high-volume rock slope failures. Using the Bliggspitze rock slide as a case study (Austria, Tyrol), we demonstrate a new type of rock slope failure mechanism triggered by the uplift of the cold–warm dividing line in polythermal alpine glaciers, a widespread and currently under-explored phenomenon in alpine environments worldwide. The publication features a holistic discussion on the role of meltwater and water infiltration/migration in bedrock enabling the buildup of hydrostatic pressure that eventually triggered the rock slide.
Check it out >here<.