Articles | Volume 10, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-605-2022
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-10-605-2022
Research article
 | 
24 Jun 2022
Research article |  | 24 Jun 2022

Alpine rock glacier activity over Holocene to modern timescales (western French Alps)

Benjamin Lehmann, Robert S. Anderson, Xavier Bodin, Diego Cusicanqui, Pierre G. Valla, and Julien Carcaillet

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Cited articles

Amschwand, D., Ivy-Ochs, S., Frehner, M., Steinemann, O., Christl, M., and Vockenhuber, C.: Deciphering the evolution of the Bleis Marscha rock glacier (Val d'Err, eastern Switzerland) with cosmogenic nuclide exposure dating, aerial image correlation, and finite element modeling, The Cryosphere, 15, 2057–2081, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-15-2057-2021, 2021. 
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Balco, G., Stone, J. O., Lifton, N. A., and Dunai, T. J.: A complete and easily accessible means of calculating surface exposure ages or erosion rates from 10Be and 26Al measurements, Quatern. Geochronol., 3, 174–195, https://doi.org/10.1016/J.QUAGEO.2007.12.001, 2008. 
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Short summary
Rock glaciers are some of the most frequently occurring landforms containing ice in mountain environments. Here, we use field observations, analysis of aerial and satellite images, and dating methods to investigate the activity of the rock glacier of the Vallon de la Route in the French Alps. Our results suggest that the rock glacier is characterized by two major episodes of activity and that the rock glacier system promotes the maintenance of mountain erosion.
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