Articles | Volume 8, issue 3
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-729-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
https://doi.org/10.5194/esurf-8-729-2020
© Author(s) 2020. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Research article
| Highlight paper
| 
11 Sep 2020
Research article | Highlight paper |
| 11 Sep 2020
| 11 Sep 2020
Current glacier recession causes significant rockfall increase: the immediate paraglacial response of deglaciating cirque walls
Ingo Hartmeyer
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
GEORESEARCH Research Institute, Wals, Austria
Robert Delleske
GEORESEARCH Research Institute, Wals, Austria
Markus Keuschnig
GEORESEARCH Research Institute, Wals, Austria
Michael Krautblatter
Chair of Landslide Research, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany
Andreas Lang
Department of Geography and Geology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
Lothar Schrott
Department of Geography, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Jan-Christoph Otto
Department of Geography and Geology, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria
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Short summary
Climate warming is causing significant ice surface lowering even in the uppermost parts of alpine glaciers. Using terrestrial lidar, we quantify rockfall in freshly exposed cirque walls. During 6-year monitoring (2011–2017), an extensive dataset was established and over 600 rockfall events identified. Drastically increased rockfall activity following ice retreat can clearly be observed as 60 % of the rockfall volume detached from less than 10 m above the glacier surface.
Climate warming is causing significant ice surface lowering even in the uppermost parts of...
