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Fan X, Yunus AP, Yang YH, Siva Subramanian S, Zou C, Dai L, Dou X, Narayana AC, Avtar R, Xu Q, Huang R. Imminent threat of rock-ice avalanches in High Mountain Asia. THE SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT 2022; 836:155380. [PMID: 35489509 DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2021] [Revised: 04/14/2022] [Accepted: 04/14/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Upsurge of glacier-related hazards in High Mountain Asia (HMA) has been evident in recent years due to global warming. While many glacial-related hazards are instantaneous, some large landslides were preceded by slow gravitational deformation, which can be predicted to evade catastrophes. Here, we present robust evidence of historical deformation in 2021 Chamoli rock-ice avalanche of Himalaya using space imaging techniques. Multi-temporal satellite data provide evidence of a precursor event in 2016 and expansion of a linear fracture along joint planes, indicating 2021 rock-ice avalanche is a retrogressive wedge failure. The deformation history shows that the fracture propagated at a velocity of ~0.07 m day-1 until September 2020, and with an accelerated velocity (~0.14 m day-1 on average) lately. Analysis of recent similar cases in HMA supported our inference on global warming-induced glacier retreat and thermomechanical effects in enhancing the weakening of fractured rock masses in tectonically active mountain belts. Recent advances in Earth observation and seismic monitoring system can offer clues to the location and timing of impending catastrophic failures in high mountain regions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xuanmei Fan
- State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, People's Republic of China.
| | - Ali P Yunus
- Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Mohali, Mohali, Punjab 140306, India.
| | - Ying-Hui Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, People's Republic of China
| | - Srikrishnan Siva Subramanian
- Centre of Excellence in Disaster Mitigation and Management, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee, Roorkee, Uttarakhand 247667, India
| | - Chengbin Zou
- State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, People's Republic of China
| | - Lanxin Dai
- State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, People's Republic of China
| | - Xiangyang Dou
- State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, People's Republic of China
| | - Allu Chinna Narayana
- Center for Earth and Space Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad 500 046, India
| | - Ram Avtar
- Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-0810, Japan
| | - Qiang Xu
- State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, People's Republic of China
| | - Runqui Huang
- State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu 610059, People's Republic of China
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