Articles | Volume 13, issue 5
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-981-2025
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-13-981-2025
Research article
 | 
08 Oct 2025
Research article |  | 08 Oct 2025

Slow-moving rock glaciers in marginal periglacial environment of Southern Carpathians

Alexandru Onaca, Flavius Sîrbu, Valentin Poncoş, Christin Hilbich, Tazio Strozzi, Petru Urdea, Răzvan Popescu, Oana Berzescu, Bernd Etzelmüller, Alfred Vespremeanu-Stroe, Mirela Vasile, Delia Teleagă, Dan Birtaş, Iosif Lopătiţă, Simon Filhol, Alexandru Hegyi, and Florina Ardelean

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Cited articles

Allen, M. R., Dube, O. P., Solecki, W., Aragón-Durand, F., Cramer, W., Humphreys, S., Kainuma, M., Kala, J., Mahowald, N., Mulugetta, Y., Perez, R., Wairiu, M., and Zickfeld, K.: Framing and Context, in: Global Warming of 1.5 °C, in: An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, edited by: Masson-Delmotte, V., Zhai, P., Pörtner, H.-O., Roberts, D., Skea, J., Shukla, P. R., Pirani, A., Moufouma-Okia, W., Péan, C., Pidcock, R., Connors, S., Matthews, J. B. R., Chen, Y., Zhou, X., Gomis, M. I., Lonnoy, E., Maycock, T., Tignor, M., and Waterfield, T., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK and New York, NY, USA, 49–92, https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009157940.003, 2018. 
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. 
Amschwand, D., Scherler, M., Hoelzle, M., Krummenacher, B., Haberkorn, A., Kienholz, C., and Gubler, H.: Surface heat fluxes at coarse blocky Murtèl rock glacier (Engadine, eastern Swiss Alps), The Cryosphere, 18, 2103–2139, https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-18-2103-2024, 2024. 
Archie, G. E.: The electrical resitivity log as an aid in determining some reservoir characteristics, Petroleum Transactions of American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers (AIME), 146, 54–62, https://doi.org/10.2118/942054-G, 1942. 
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Short summary
This study establishes a methodology for the study of slow-moving rock glaciers in marginal permafrost and provides the basic knowledge for understanding rock glaciers in South East Europe. By using a combination of different methods (remote sensing, geophysical survey, thermal measurements), we found out that, on the transitional rock glaciers, low ground ice content (i.e. below 20 %) produces horizontal displacements of up to 3 cm per year.
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