The role of thermokarst evolution in debris flow initiation (Hüttekar Rock Glacier, Austrian Alps)

Seelig, Simon; Wagner, Thomas; Krainer, Karl; Avian, Michael; Olefs, Marc; Haslinger, Klaus; Winkler, Gerfried

doi:https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-2547-2023

Articles | Volume 23, issue 7

https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-2547-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-2547-2023

© Author(s) 2023. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Articles | Volume 23, issue 7

Research article

|

20 Jul 2023

Research article |

| 20 Jul 2023

The role of thermokarst evolution in debris flow initiation (Hüttekar Rock Glacier, Austrian Alps)

Simon Seelig, Thomas Wagner, Karl Krainer, Michael Avian, Marc Olefs, Klaus Haslinger, and Gerfried Winkler

Supplement

https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-23-2547-2023-supplement

Data sets

Alpine permafrost index map L. Boeckli, A. Brenning, A. Gruber, and J. Noetzli https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.784450

The Austrian rock glacier inventory RGI_1 and the related rock glacier catchment inventory RGCI_1 in ArcGis (shapefile) format T. Wagner, M. Ribis, A. Kellerer-Pirklbauer, K. Krainer, and G. Winkler https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.921629

Spatiotemporal Reanalysis Dataset for Climate in Austria (SPARTACUS) v2.1 Geosphere Austria https://data.hub.zamg.ac.at/dataset/spartacus-v2-1d-1km

Integrated Nowcasting through Comprehensive Analysis Dataset (INCA) Geosphere Austria https://data.hub.zamg.ac.at/dataset/inca-v1-1h-1km

Digital terrain model Government of the province of Tyrol https://www.data.gv.at/katalog/de/dataset/land-tirol_tirolgelnde

Current and historical orthoimagery of Tyrol Government of the province of Tyrol https://www.data.gv.at/katalog/de/dataset/land-tirol_orthofototirol

Historical maps of Tyrol Government of the province of Tyrol https://hik.tirol.gv.at/

Historical digital terrain models Government of the province of Tyrol https://lba.tirol.gv.at/public/karte.xhtml

Model code and software

System for Automated Geoscientific Analyses (SAGA) O. Conrad, B. Bechtel, M. Bock, H. Dietrich, E. Fischer, L. Gerlitz, J. Wehberg, V. Wichmann, and J. Boehner https://sourceforge.net/projects/saga-gis/

R: A language and environment for statistical computing R Core Team https://cran.r-project.org/

Solar irradiance and irradiation model: GRASS GIS~8.0 module "r.sun" J. Hofierka, M. Suri, and T. Huld https://grass.osgeo.org/grass80/manuals/r.sun.html

GRASS GIS 8.0.0 M. Landa, M. Neteler, M. Metz, A. Petrasova, glynnc, B. Hamish, V. Petras, huhabla, H. Cho, L. Delucchi, Pietro, M. Barton, T. Zigo, Y. Chemin, M. Nartišs, ostepok, H. Kudrnovsky, M. Lennert, N. Larsson, S. Blumentrath, L. Kladivova, W. Kyngesburye, aghisla, V. Andrea, D. Jacobson, D. Ovsienko, M. Di Leo, H. Mitasova, C. Tawalika, and C. Haedrich https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5913049

PCIC Implementation of Climdex Routines: R package "climdex.pcic" D. Bronaugh https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/climdex.pcic/

Inter-Event Time Definition: R package "IETD" L. F. Duque https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/IETD/

Mann-Kendall Test, Seasonal and Regional Kendall Tests: R package "rkt" A. Marchetto https://cran.r-project.org/web/packages/rkt/

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Short summary

A rapid sequence of cascading events involving thermokarst lake outburst, rock glacier front failure, debris flow development, and river blockage hit an alpine valley in Austria during summer 2019. We analyze the environmental conditions initiating the process chain and identify the rapid evolution of a thermokarst channel network as the main driver. Our results highlight the need to account for permafrost degradation in debris flow hazard assessment studies.