On the characteristics and possible origins of ice in rock glacier permafrost

High mountain geomorphology

Auteurs :
HAEBERLI, W.
VONDER MÜHLL, D.
MÄUSBACHER, R.

Description :
The viscous flow patterns characteristic of rock glaciers are caused by the long-term (i.e. Holocene) existence of a thick and continuous perennially frozen layer supersatured with ice. The variability over several orders of magnitude of the electrical DC resistivity indicates that the corresponding ground ice may have multiple origins. The change in DC resistivity probably reflects a) the warming of permafrost through creep movements from colder to warmer areas, and b) the replacement of high-resistivity surface and suprapermafrost ice by low-resistivity subpermafrost ice through dynamic thinning of the active layer and the permafrost.


Type de document :
Article de monographie

Source :
Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie. Supplementband, issn : 0044-2798, 1996, n°. 104, p. 43-57, Collation : Illustration, Références bibliographiques : 51 ref.

Date :
1996

Editeur :
Pays édition : Allemagne, Berlin ; Stuttgart, Borntraeger