Hydro-mechanical interactions of a rock slope with a retreating
temperate valley glacier
Abstract
Rock slope failures often result from progressive rock mass damage which
accumulates over long timescales, and is driven by changing
environmental boundary conditions. In deglaciating environments, rock
slopes are affected by stress perturbations driven by mechanical
unloading due to ice downwasting and concurrent changes in thermal and
hydraulic boundary conditions. Since in-situ data is rare, the different
processes and their relative contribution to slope damage remain poorly
understood. Here we present detailed analyses of subsurface pore
pressures and micrometer scale strain time series recorded in three
boreholes drilled in a rock slope aside the retreating Great Aletsch
Glacier (Switzerland). Additionally, we use monitored englacial water
levels, climatic data, and annually acquired ice surface measurements
for our process analysis. Pore pressures in our glacial adjacent rock
slope show a seasonal signal controlled by infiltration from snowmelt
and rainfall as well as effects from the connectivity to the englacial
hydrological system. We find that reversible and irreversible strains
are driven by hydromechanical effects from diffusing englacial pressure
fluctuations and pore pressure reactions on infiltration events, stress
transfer related to changing mechanical glacial loads from short-term
englacial water level fluctuations and longer-term ice downwasting, and
thermomechanical effects from annual temperature cycles penetrating the
shallow subsurface. We relate most observed irreversible strain (damage)
to mechanical unloading from ice downwasting. Additionally, short-term
stress changes related to mechanical loading from englacial water level
fluctuations and hydromechanical effects from pore pressure variations
due to infiltration events were identified to contribute to the observed
irreversible strain.