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The hydrogeology of the deep-seated, slowly creeping Klasgarten rockslide in Austria is investigated in this study based on detailed surface and subsurface field data, laboratory analyses, and analytical and numerical simulations. Field data are derived from several deep exploration and monitoring boreholes, an exploration drift located within the rockslide, and geological and geomorphological mapping. Particular attention is given to the pore pressure measurements and their temporal and spatial variability. These pore pressure variations are controlled by a thin layer of clayey fault gouge (representing the basal shear zone of the rockslide), a high-permeability rockslide mass, and moderately fractured paragneissic bedrock. Variably saturated equivalent-continuum hydraulic conductivities and storage properties are derived from packer tests, laboratory tests and optical televiewer images. These data sets are used for two-dimensional numerical groundwater models to study the flow-field and pore-pressure variations caused by the reservoir water-level fluctuations, the transient groundwater infiltration from snowmelt and precipitation along the slope, and the exploration drift. The strongest pressure transients in the rockslide are caused by reservoir level fluctuations and not the natural groundwater recharge, even at substantial distances from the reservoir. The response times are very short and only a minor distance-dependent attenuation is observed. The results of this study are essential to analyse the hydromechanical control of the deformation behaviour of rockslides adjacent to hydropower reservoirs. Further, it helps to understand how the formation of a rockslide can change the original bedrock aquifer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the framework of the Gotthard Base Tunnel Project in the Central Alps, Switzerland, geodetic monitoring networks were installed above the tunnel trajectory in alpine valleys. Natural ground-surface deformation recorded in the years prior to the tunneling excavation was seen to contain an unexpectedly large cyclical component of horizontal strain across the valleys, which was seasonal and appeared to be due to elastic processes. The strain is strongly correlated with snow melt and rainstorm precipitation, suggesting the implied rock-mass deformation is driven by changes in water-table elevation within adjacent mountain slopes. The horizontal strains are of the order of 1-2 · 10, which is close to the design limits that can be accommodated by hydropower arch dams in the study area. This study investigates these processes in detail and describes a new mathematical model (REROD), which is able to accurately reproduce and predict such natural rock-slope displacements. The model implements a transfer-function approach to predict the valley-crossing strains from rainfall and winter snow height data recorded at nearby meteorological stations. It has been used to estimate and remove the natural strain signal from the net recorded deformation so as to resolve the component due to tunneling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]