GÜTSCH (UR)

Inactive rock glacier

Elevation: 2180-2240 m - Massif: Uri Alps (Oberalp) - Commune: Göschenen (UR)

The so-called Gütsch rock glacier is a tiny, mono-lobate feature superimposing a much larger (older) relict rock glacier. It is located in the uppermost Riental Alp, northward of the Stöckli summit. Inventorying slope movements in the mid-2000s using satellite interferometry data (InSAR), despite an apparent inactive state (apparent absence of motion) and an almost unusually low elevation, the rock glacier was detected as moving at a velocity of about 1 cm/month in summertime. In situ terrestrial surveying started in 2010.

• Measurements and observations

  Thermal (ground surface temperature : GST)
  Geodetic (GNSS)

• Figures

  

  Measured horizontal flow field (mean annual velocity).

   

   

  

  Annual horizontal surface velocity. Mean of a set of points in the selected parts of the rock glacier.

   

   

  

  Daily ground surface temperature (GST) in selected measurement locations on the rock glacier.

   

   

  

  Mean annual ground surface temperature (MAGST) in selected measurement locations on the rock glacier.

   

   

  

  Contribution of the Ground Freezing and Ground Thawing Indexes to the mean annual ground surface temperature (MAGST) on a set of selected locations (n) on the rock glacier. Or : how cold was the winter and how warm was the summer at the surface of the rock glacier ?

   

   

  

  Mean annual dates of the start and end of the snowmelt period (zero curtain phase). Mean of n sensors localized on permafrost terrain.

   

   

• Collaboration
• Publications