Water controls the seasonal rhythm of rock glacier flow

Abstract

Rock glaciers are creeping periglacial landforms experiencing strong acceleration during recent atmospheric warming and raising concerns with regard to their future behaviour and stability. High resolution kinematic observations show strong seasonal and multi-annual variations in rock glacier creep, but the linking mechanisms to environmental forcing remain poorly understood and lack quantitative models. Here we investigate the interaction between rock glacier creep and climatic forcing - temperature and precipitation - by developing a novel conceptual and numerical modelling approach. The model is constrained and the results are compared with data from the Dirru Rock Glacier (Vallis - CH). We are able to reproduce the observed velocity variations both in magnitude and phase on seasonal and inter-annual time scales. We find that water from liquid precipitation and snow melt, rather than air temperature, is the main driver of variations in rock glacier creep. Our results imply that the influence of water on rock glacier creep is fundamental and must be considered when investigating the historic and future evolution of rock glaciers.