Earth Surface Dynamics
Earth Surface Dynamics
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Articles | Volume 11, issue 6
Articles | Volume 11, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-1251-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-11-1251-2023
© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Articles | Volume 11, issue 6
Research article
 | Highlight paper
 | 
08 Dec 2023
Research article | Highlight paper |  | 08 Dec 2023

Alpine hillslope failure in the western US: insights from the Chaos Canyon landslide, Rocky Mountain National Park, USA

Matthew C. Morriss, Benjamin Lehmann, Benjamin Campforts, George Brencher, Brianna Rick, Leif S. Anderson, Alexander L. Handwerger, Irina Overeem, and Jeffrey Moore

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Multiple techniques are used to monitor the collapse of an Alpine landslide in the United States. It is shown that the landslide was moving rapidly pre-failure. Given that the frequency of extreme events is likely to increase with future climate change, additional monitoring of Alpine regions is essential to limit hazards from future Alpine mass movements.
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Short summary
In this paper, we investigate the 28 June 2022 collapse of the Chaos Canyon landslide in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, USA. We find that the landslide was moving prior to its collapse and took place at peak spring snowmelt; temperature modeling indicates the potential presence of permafrost.  We hypothesize that this landslide could be part of the broader landscape evolution changes to alpine terrain caused by a warming climate, leading to thawing alpine permafrost.
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