Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Insights Into Rock-Ice Avalanche Dynamics By Combined Analysis Of Seismic Recordings And A Numerical Avalanche Mode, Demian Schneider, Perry Bartelt, Jacqueline Caplan-Auerbach, Marc Christen, Christian Huggel, Brian W. Mcardell

Geology Faculty Publications

Rock‐ice avalanches larger than 1 × 10⁶ m³ are high‐magnitude, low‐frequency events that may occur in all ice‐covered, high mountain areas around the world and can cause extensive damage if they reach populated regions. The temporal and spatial evolution of the seismic signature from two events was analyzed, and recordings at selected stations were compared to numerical model results of avalanche propagation. The first event is a rock‐ice avalanche from Iliamna volcano in Alaska which serves as a “natural laboratory” with simple geometric conditions. The second one originated on Aoraki/Mt. Cook, New Zealand Southern Alps, and is characterized …