Investigating seasonal and multi-decadal water/ice storage changes in the Murtèl rock glacier using time-lapse gravimetry
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: . Rock glaciers are important features of many alpine hydrological systems. Although their seasonal release of water enhances the resilience of alpine headwater catchments to climate change, measurement of their internal water and ice storage changes remains a challenge. Recent technological and methodological advances have enabled novel applications of time-lapse gravimetry (TLG) to estimate subsurface storage changes. Here, we present the first application of TLG on a rock glacier. We measure seasonal (July–Sept) changes in gravity at the Murtèl rock glacier (Upper Engadine, Switzerland). We employ drone-based photogrammetry to correct for surface mass changes in the form of snow. We also compare the Bouguer anomaly of our 2024 surveys with those from a pioneering 1991 gravimetry study. The seasonal results reveal spatial differences in active layer thaw, with estimated ice storage loss ranging between 11–64 cm water equivalent, while the multi-decadal results suggest zonal decreases in permafrost ice storage. Our study provides new insights into rock glacier–groundwater processes and illustrates how TLG can be employed to measure cryospheric and hydrogeological processes in permafrost and periglacial landforms.
Source: The cryosphere
Authors: Landon J. S. Halloran, Dominik Amschwand
Institutions: University of Neuchâtel, Universität Innsbruck
Language: English
Subfield: Atmospheric Science
Field: Earth and Planetary Sciences
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Climate action
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,574
Funders: National Science Foundation, Instituto Nacional de investigação Agrária e Veterinária, Branco Weiss Fellowship – Society in Science, Schweizerischer Nationalfonds zur Förderung der Wissenschaftlichen Forschung, University of New South Wales, Università degli Studi di Padova, Université de Fribourg
OpenAlex ID: W4413831922