Two decades of responses (1986-2006) to climate by the Laurichard rock glacier, French Alps

The Permafrost Young Researchers Network (PYRN). Special issue

Auteur(s) et Affiliation(s)



Description :
The Laurichard active rock glacier is the permafrost-related landform with the longest record of monitoring in France, including an annual geodetic survey, repeated geoelectrical campaigns from 1979 onwards and continuous recording of ground temperature since 2003. These data were used to examine changes in creep rates and internal structure from 1986 to 2006. The control that climatic variables exert on rock glacier kinematics was investigated over three time scales. Between the 1980s and the early 2000s, results and discussion about the correlation between surface movement, snow thickness and ground sub-surface temperatures. Finally, unusual surface lowering that accompanied peak velocities in 2004 may be due to a general thaw of the top of the permafrost, probably caused both by two successive snowy winters and by high energy inputs during the warm summer of 2003.


Type de document :
Article de monographie

Source :
Permafrost and periglacial processes, issn : 1045-6740, 2009, vol. 20, n°. 4, p. 331-344, nombre de pages : 14, Références bibliographiques : 1,5 p.

Date :
2009

Editeur :
Pays édition : Royaume-Uni, Chichester, Wiley