Rockslides
Environmental controls on bedrock fracturing and rockfall production adjacent to the rapidly thinning Schmiedingerkees glacier (Hohe Tauern Range, Austria)
Since 1880 mean annual air temperatures in Austria have risen by 2 °C, more than twice the average global warming of 0.85 °C. Glacier retreat has evolved into one of the most visible consequences of this climatic change in alpine regions. While research has often focused on the effects of melting glaciers on their forefields, interactions between diminishing accumulation zones and oversteepened headwalls have received little attention. Recent findings of a four-year terrestrial laserscanning campaign (2011-2015) monitoring glacial headwalls on or in the area of the Kitzsteinhorn (3.203 m a.s.l.), Hohe Tauern Range, Austria, show the dramatic impact of glacier thinning on adjacent headwalls: 80 % of the detected rockfall volumes were triggered from areas located less than 20 m above the current surface of the adjacent, rapidly thinning Schmiedingerkees cirque glacier. Based on existing, and newly acquired monitoring data, this MSc project will gain first insights into rockfall preconditioning in randklufts and related geomorphological shaping of glacier headwalls.
Supervisor: Dr. Kerry Leith
Co-supervisors : Dr. Matthew Perras, Ingo Hartmeyer (GEORESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft mbH)
The relationship between large-scale geomorphological processes and local slope instabilities affecting transport networks
The construction of transportation routes can markedly increase the risk of rockfalls and landslides in Alpine settings. Where forming road and rail routes involves excavation or the construction of embankments in locations already in a state of critical stability, minor changes to slope geometry or groundwater conditions can have a notable impact on local ground conditions. In this project we will combine a new catalogue of slope instabilities affecting the road and rail networks in Canton Valais with results of a recent study which provides constraint on the geomorphological evolution of rock slopes and river channels in the region. The project will include GIS analysis, and limited fieldwork to ground-truth observations derived from the initial stages of the project. Basic knowledge of Matlab and/or GIS software (ArcGIS / QGIS), and some background in statistics would therefore be useful, though is not essential.
Supervisor: Dr. Kerry Leith
Co-supervisors : Dr. Sean Gallen
Monitoring progressive fracture propagation in response to environmental stress variations
Exceptionally warm summer temperatures in northern Europe during the summer of 2014 were accompanied by active fracturing and small rockbursts from flat-lying postglacial bedrock surfaces on a small Finnish Island. Employing a new portable acoustic emission detection system, this project will investigate the correspondence between key environmental variables (air and rock temperature, humidity, wind, and precipitation), variations in bedrock stress, and active fracture development. Results are expected to be directly applicable to fields ranging from nuclear waste disposal, to rockfall hazard assessment, and paleoclimate research. Tasks for this project will include maintenance of the monitoring system in Finland, geomorphological and engineering geological mapping fractures on the island, processing of acoustic emission, in situ stress, and environmental data, and development of a simple numerical model to explain observations.
Supervisor: Dr. Kerry Leith
Co-supervisors : Dr. Matthew Perras
Constraining the age and source area of the Molveno landslide deposits in the Brenta Group, Trentino Dolomites.
A detailed understanding of prehistoric landslides provides fundamental information on the inherent causes of massive rock slope failures in the Alps. In Trentino, a key issue in assessing hazards from rock wall collapse is determining precisely when the large rock avalanches occurred, thus how recently. With an estimated volume that may be as large as 500 x106 m3, the Molveno (1399 m a.s.l.) landslide is one of the largest in the Trento Dolomites. The main rock avalanche body dammed the gorge between the Molveno Valley to the north and the Nembia Valley to the south forming the Molveno Lake (823 m a.s.l.) (Sauro and Zampieri, 2001; Chinaglia and Fornero, 1995).No geomorphological field mapping of the landslide deposits has been done previously.
The goal of this MSc project is to use detailed field mapping, remote imagery-supported landform interpretation, cosmogenic nuclide surface exposure dating, and runout modeling to understand the Molveno rock avalanche deposits.
Supervisors: PD Dr. Susan Ivy-Ochs, Dr. Kerry Leith, Prof. Silvana Martin (U. Padua)