Search

We present and analyze a rockfall catalog from an active landslide complex in Brienz/Brinzauls of the Swiss Alps, collected with a new Doppler radar system. This radar system provides a complete and continuous time series of rockfall events with volumes of 1 m 3 and greater since 2018 and serves as automatic traffic control for an important main road. In the period between January 2018 and October 2022, 6743 events were detected, which is 2 orders of magnitude higher activity than in stable continental cliffs. A few percent of all rockfall events reached the shadow area, which hosts an important road and agricultural area. The Doppler radar data set allows us to investigate the triggering factors quantitatively. We found that the background rockfall activity is controlled by seasonal climatic triggers. In winter, more rockfalls are observed during thawing periods, whereas in summer the rockfall activity increases with hourly rainfall intensity. We also found that, due to the geological setting in an active landslide complex, increased rockfall activity occurs clustered in space and time, triggered by local displacement hotspots. Thus, monitoring spatial and temporal variations of slope displacement velocity is crucial for detailed rockfall hazard assessment in similar geological settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present and analyze a rockfall catalog from an active landslide complex in Brienz/Brinzauls of the Swiss Alps, collected with a new Doppler radar system. This radar system provides a complete and continuous time-series of rockfall events with volumes of 1 m³ and bigger since 2018 and serves as automatic traffic control for an important cantonal road. In the period between January 2018 and September 2022, 6743 events were detected, which is two orders of magnitude higher 5 activity than in stable continental cliffs. A few percent of all rockfall events reached the shadow zone, which hosts an important road and agricultural area. The Doppler radar data set allows us to investigate the triggering factors quantitatively. We found that the background rockfall activity is controlled by seasonal climatic triggers. In winter, more rockfalls are observed during thawing periods, whereas in summer the rockfall activity increases with hourly rainfall intensity. We also found that due to the geological setting in an active landslide complex, increased rockfall activity occurs clustered in space and time, triggered 10 by local displacement hotspots. Thus, monitoring spatial and temporal variations of slope displacement velocity is crucial for detailed rockfall hazard assessment in similar geological settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Six hydraulic shearing experiments have been conducted in the framework of the In-situ Stimulation and Circulation experiment within a decameter-scale crystalline rock volume at the Grimsel Test Site, Switzerland. During each experiment one out of two different shear zone types were hydraulically reactivated. An extensive monitoring system of sensors recording seismicity, pressure and strain was spatially distributed in eleven boreholes around the injection locations. As a result of the stimulation, the near-wellbore transmissivity increased up to three orders in magnitude, while jacking pressures of the stimulated structures reduced during most of the experiments. Transmissivity change, jacking pressure and seismic activity were different for the two shear zone types, suggesting that the shear zone characteristics govern the seismo-hydro-mechanical response. The elevated fracture-fluid-pressures associated with the stimulations propagated mostly along the stimulated shear zones. The absence of high-pressure signals away from the injection point for most experiments (except two out of six experiments) is interpreted as channelized flow within the shear zones. The observed deformation field within 15 m-20 m from the injection point is characterized by variable extensional and compressive strain, produced by fracture normal opening and/or slip dislocation, as well as stress redistribution related to these processes. At greater distance from the injection location, strain measurements indicate a volumetric compressive zone, in which the strain magnitude decreases with increasing distance. This compressive strain signals are interpreted as a poro-elastic far-field response to the emplacement of fluid volume around the injection interval. The exceptional hydro-mechanical data reveal that the overall stimulation effected volume is significantly larger than implied by the seismicity cloud, and can be subdivided into a primary stimulated and secondary effected zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bedrock aquifers in alpine catchments are important regional sources of freshwater. Data regarding bedrock groundwater-recharge processes are scarce and governing dynamics are poorly understood. The main datasets used to constrain regional groundwater recharge and flow, so far, have been based on indirect methods (environmental isotopes, river discharge rates, tunnel inflows). Here, a unique dataset is presented of long-term pore-water-pressure measurements from five deep boreholes situated in the upper reaches of a mountain slope at 1,500–2,300 m above sea level. In addition to multilevel pore pressure records, a detailed analysis of the hydrogeological conditions in the Alpine catchment is provided, along with the results from investigations of groundwater recharge mechanisms in response to variations in climatic conditions and hydraulic rock-mass properties. The recorded pressure data show annual pressure variations with amplitudes of 5–45 m and responses within a few days to summer rainstorms in the available depth range of 45–277 m below ground surface. One-dimensional analytical pore-pressure diffusion models and numerical infiltration models were applied to investigate pore-pressure dynamics and water-table variations. The model results reproduced the following parameters for the uppermost 100-m-thick layer: the observed amplitudes, rates and delays of pressure increase with porosities of 0.05–0.1%, specific storage of 5E-5 to 5E-7 m-1, and hydraulic diffusivities of 1E-1 to 1E-3 m2/s. Boreholes located in high-diffusivity areas (strongly fractured bedrock below coarse slope debris) had the strongest pressure variations and were most sensitive to weather conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Large catastrophic rock slope failures are difficult to predict because the underlying mechanisms causing slope accelerations are difficult to study under in-situ conditions. For slope failures with compound basal rupture planes, not only fracture propagation and slip in the basal rupture surface, but also within the landslide body control the displacement evolution and time-to-failure. The Preonzo instability complex in southern Switzerland failed several times since 2002 and offers a unique opportunity to study these mechanisms under in-situ conditions. The largest failure at Preonzo occurred in May 2012 and was conditioned by large slope parallel (NN E -SSW) fracture zones, which are intersected by NE and SW and E-W striking faults creating diverging lateral boundaries. Whereas in the head scarp region oblique and flexural toppling along pre-existing fracture sets is the prevailing mechanism, sliding of either planar or wedge type is the preferred kinematic mode facilitated by the new discontinuities developed within the basal rupture surfaces. These dominating mechanisms, leading to a classical rock slope collapse, could only be revealed in retrospect. We compare fracture patterns in stable ground (tectonic and unloading fractures) with new fractures related to rock slope failure observed on basal rupture surfaces and in the head scarp. Simplified mechanical and kinematic analyses show that old pre-existing tectonic fractures cannot accommodate substantial deformations under the in-situ stress conditions and propagate/connect through curved wing cracks forming at high angles. This situation favors the development of new nearly slope parallel fractures, which are interpreted as synthetic P-shears along localized shear zones. Fractographic markings on these fractures indicate a continuous and relatively fast formation, which presumably has taken place during a period of about 60 years prior to catastrophic failure. This detailed description of the multi-stage evolution of slope failure at Preonzo represents a unique data set for future numerical studies of progressive failure in crystalline rocks. Highlights • Structural evolution of retrogressive failures with fracture orientation change • Interplay of pre-existing fractures and progressive failure in basal rupture planes • Multi-stage kinematic analyses reveal change in kinematics of a retrogressive slope • Possible analogies of tectonic shear zones with fracture reactivation + propagation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Switzerland, the Opalinus Clay is under consideration as a potential host rock for deep geological storage of nuclear waste. The Swiss concept involves high-level waste containers emplaced in small-diameter drifts of roughly 3 m. At the Mont Terri Underground Rock Laboratory, a short mine-by experiment (EZ-B) was executed in 2005 with the objective of characterising the excavation-induced damage through an interpretation of integrated field data. The damage zone was found to consist of two parts. Fracture mapping from drillcores and televiewer images revealed a thin inner zone of macroscopic fracturing (20 cm) and devoid of borehole instabilities as well as coinciding with the lowest P-wave characteristics (normalised amplitudes and velocities). The outer zone (50-80 cm) was defined by increasing P-wave characteristics and evidence of borehole instabilities. Supplementing the data interpretation, a simplified numerical elastic stress analysis indicated that the rock mass in the sidewalls and upper western haunch are the most susceptible to spalling. In these regions, stress levels only just reach a spalling limit around 0.05 in the inner fractured zone, suggesting that the zone of macro-fracturing around the niche is not significant. It is postulated that the physical manifestation of the relatively weak bedding plane strength is dominated by bedding-perpendicular displacement as opposed to bedding-parallel shear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper represents a summary about our research projects conducted between 2003 and 2015 related to the mechanical behaviour of Opalinus Clay at Mont Terri. The research summarized covers a series of laboratory and field tests that address the brittle failure behaviour of Opalinus Clay, its undrained and effective strength, the dependency of petro-physical and mechanical properties on total suction, hydro-mechanically coupled phenomena and the development of a damage zone around excavations. On the laboratory scale, even simple laboratory tests are difficult to interpret and uncertainties remain regarding the representativeness of the results. We show that suction may develop rapidly after core extraction and substantially modifies the strength, stiffness, and petro-physical properties of Opalinus Clay. Consolidated undrained tests performed on fully saturated specimens revealed a relatively small true cohesion and confirmed the strong hydro-mechanically coupled behaviour of this material. Strong hydro-mechanically coupled processes may explain the stability of cores and tunnel excavations in the short term. Pore-pressure effects may cause effective stress states that favour stability in the short term but may cause longer-term deformations and damage as the pore-pressure dissipates. In-situ observations show that macroscopic fracturing is strongly influenced by bedding planes and faults planes. In tunnel sections where opening or shearing along bedding planes or faults planes is kinematically free, the induced fracture type is strongly dependent on the fault plane frequency and orientation. A transition from extensional macroscopic failure to shearing can be observed with increasing fault plane frequency. In zones around the excavation where bedding plane shearing/shearing along tectonic fault planes is kinematically restrained, primary extensional type fractures develop. In addition, heterogeneities such as single tectonic fault planes or fault zones substantially modify the stress redistribution and thus control zones around the excavation where new fractures may form. [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]

We evaluate the dynamic response of the large (around five million cubic meters) unstable rock slope at Randa, Switzerland, based on ground-motion recordings during small earthquakes. Seismic measurements revealed strong polarization of the wavefield in the direction of maximum slope displacement with spectral amplification factors ∼5 within the unstable area. Results further highlighted resonant frequencies of both the large unstable rock mass and individual blocks within it. Block vibration was confirmed by phase analysis of in situ displacement measurements from two bounding tension fractures during a small earthquake. Numerical simulation using a discontinuous elastic model showed that the presence of steeply-dipping compliant fractures is crucial for recreating the observed site response. Such fractures are common in rock slope instabilities and are here shown to contribute to polarization and amplification of seismic shaking, site effects that are rarely considered for hard rock slopes and which may influence the potential for earthquake-triggered failure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT The subsurface temperature field of a rock slope is a key variable influencing both bedrock fracturing and slope stability. However, significant unknowns remain relating to the effect of air and water fracture flow, which can rapidly transmit temperature changes to appreciable depths. In this work, we analyze a unique set of temperature measurements from an alpine rock slope at ~2400 m a.s.l. in southern Switzerland. The monitored area encompasses part of an active slope instability above the village of Randa (VS) and is traversed by a network of open cracks, some of which have been traced to >80 m depth. We first describe distributed temperature measurements and borehole profiles, highlighting deep steady temperatures and different transient effects, and then use these data to approximate the conductive temperature field at the site. In a second step, we analyze the impact of air and water circulation in deep open fractures on the subsurface thermal field. On multiple visits to the study site in winter, we consistently noted the presence of warm air vents in the snowpack following the trace of deep tension cracks. Measurements showed that venting air changed temperature gradually from ~3 to 2 °C between December and May, which is similar to the rock temperature at around 50 m depth. Comparison with ambient air temperature suggests that winter conditions favor buoyancy-driven convective air flow in these fractures, which acts to cool the deep subsurface as the rock gives up heat to incoming air. The potential impact of this process on the local thermal field is revealed by a disturbed temperature profile in one borehole and transient signals observed at depths well below the thermal active layer. Seasonal water infiltration during snowmelt appears to have little impact on the temperature field in the monitored area. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inflow data from 23 tunnels and galleries, 136 km in length and located in the Aar and Gotthard massifs of the Swiss Alps, have been analyzed with the objective (1) to understand the 3-dimensional spatial distribution of groundwater flow in crystalline basement rocks, (2) to assess the dependency of tunnel inflow rate on depth, tectonic overprint, and lithology, and (3) to derive the distribution of fracture transmissivity and effective hydraulic conductivity at the 100-m scale. Brittle tectonic overprint is shown to be the principal parameter regulating inflow rate and dominates over depth and lithology. The highest early time inflow rate is 1,300 l/s and has been reported from a shallow hydropower gallery intersecting a 200-m wide cataclastic fault zone. The derived lognormal transmissivity distribution is based on 1,361 tunnel intervals with a length of 100 m. Such interval transmissivities range between 10−9 and 10−1 m2/s within the first 200–400 m of depth and between 10−9 and 10−4 m2/s in the depth interval of 400–1,500 m below ground surface. Outside brittle fault zones, a trend of decreasing transmissivity/hydraulic conductivity with increasing depth is observed for some schistous and gneissic geological units, whereas no trend is identified for the granitic units. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In 1991, the steep slope above the village of Randa in southern Switzerland failed during two successive rockslide events three weeks apart. The failures, which resulted in the release of approximately 30×106 m3 of material, occurred in fractured gneissic rock whose principal foliation, faults and fracture zones dip into the slope. Above the scarp of the second rockslide, the mountain continues to move at rates of up to 2 cm/year. In an attempt to understand failure mechanisms in fractured crystalline rock masses, we have carried out a comprehensive multidisciplinary study that included detailed geological mapping, borehole logging and imaging, and surface and borehole geophysical surveys. An integrated interpretation of the resultant data has revealed the presence of three prominent fault- and fracture zone sets that define the internal structure of the rock mass. Some faults and fracture zones could be traced up to 85 m into the subsurface using borehole radar reflection methods. The dips of the faults and fracture zones estimated from surface mapping matched those from radar reflection and borehole televiewer surveys. No evidence was found for significant faults or persistent weakness planes that paralleled the 1991 rockslide failure surfaces. Instead, the new observations were consistent with dominant failure mechanisms that involve the progressive development of major shear and brittle fracture zones and the eventual destruction of intact rock bridges immediately prior to catastrophic collapse. This integrated study provides the first reliable model of the 3-D fault structure associated with and contributing to a large rock slope instability in a brittle crystalline rock mass. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Rock slopes next to the tongue of the Great Aletsch Glacier, Switzerland are characterized by rapid environmental adjustment to non-glacial conditions. This study investigates and describes in detail the historic development of the largest rock slope instability in this area, called Moosfluh Landslide. We study in detail the structure, evolution and stability since the end of the Little Ice Age (LIA) until September 2016 and discuss their relationships with the evolution of the Great Aletsch Glacier since the Lateglacial period. In 2016 around 50 m of glacial ice thickness were left at the Moosfluh Landslide toe, where in 1850 glacial ice was >400 m thick. The changing stability conditions at the interface with the melting valley glacier are studied based on novel balanced cross sections and kinematic model of the Moosfluh Landslide dominated by toppling phenomena in metamorphic rock. The morphology and evolution of this landslide since the LIA are investigated with multi-temporal landslide maps based on aerial digital photogrammetry (ADP) applied to historic images since 1961. Internal deformation at Moosfluh is accommodated by shear slip along uphill-facing foliation and fault planes, and by extensional faulting forming tension cracks and graben-structures at the landslide head. Together with Digital Image Correlation (DIC) and total station monitoring (TPS) the Moosfluh Landslide displacement history was reconstructed, evidencing post-Egesen landslide displacements and an acceleration of movements since the LIA and especially since 2007. The displacement rates increase from few mm per year until the nineties to several meter per day in September 2016. Different kinematic models have been tested and changes in the Moosfluh rock slope stability in response to retreating glacial ice and changing groundwater conditions was explored with limit-equilibrium analysis of the stepped planar block toppling model of Goodman and Bray (1976). For the observed conditions and a toppling joint friction angle of 19° the simulated factor of safety drops non-linearly from the LIA maximum (1.12) to the year 2007 (1.02), when the height of ice above the valley bottom melted down to 100 m. This study illustrates with unprecedented detail the time scales, displacement magnitudes and structural evolutions of a large toppling mode slope instability in a paraglacial setting. The long-term cumulative slope displacements between the Egesen stadial and the LIA are of the same magnitude as the cumulative displacements between the LIA and the year 2016. As large portions of the studied slope underwent multiple retreats and advances of the Great Aletsch Glacier during the Lateglacial and Postglacial period, the observed onset of large slope displacements should be related to incremental damage (slip weakening and weathering) occurring along steeply dipping toppling fractures during the LIA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Moosfluh slope, located in the vicinity of the current tongue of the Great Aletsch glacier, Switzerland, hosts one of the largest active instabilities of the European Alps. Despite at this location accelerated slope displacement has been detected over the past decade, the rapid evolution observed between September and November 2016, locally reaching tens of meters, was largely unexpected. During this "crisis phase", the rock mass experienced substantial internal deformation mainly composed of toppling, formation of tensile scarps, and basal sliding. The large internal deformation caused also several local failure events in the form of single block falls and/or rock mass collapses of moderate size. Here we focus on the post-crisis, i.e. the period going between spring 2017 until today. The deformation occurring at the Moosfluh slope is still consistent and rock failure events are regularly going on, however, not in a dramatic fashion as observed in fall 2016. We show the results obtained by jointly investigating satellite, airborne, and ground based imagery, exploiting optical and radar sensors, as well as the data recorded from a local seismic network. In particular, we focus on the joint analysis of the information obtained from the optical imagery acquired with high temporal frequencies and the seismic waveforms associated to rock failure events. The combined remote sensing and geophysical dataset presented here is unique, and allows for a detailed interpretation of the rapid spatial and temporal rock mass disintegration in an alpine slope. Our results are of interest to understand mutual influences between predisposing slope instability factors (i.e., mainly due to geological, structural, and geomorphological conditions), and external driving factors (i.e., seismicity and meteo-climatic effects) on the progressive evolution of rock mass, specifically at the Moosfluh slope but also in similar case scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fractured rock-masses deform in response to changes in pore pressure. In alpine catchments, groundwater flow dynamics is generally dominated by strong recharge signal from snowmelt infiltration in spring / early summer and in early winter, and punctuated by large rainstorms in snow-free periods. In crystalline rock slopes, infiltration occurs along discontinuities, such as faults and joints. Under constant normal stress joint apertures increase non-linearly during pore pressure increase, increasing the volume of saturated rock masses and leading to surface deformation. The latter can be measured with high-resolution geodetic monitoring systems and remote sensing methods such as DInSAR.In this work, we discuss temporal and spatial variations of reversible ground surface deformation measured in the Aletsch region, Switzerland. The study area is situated in the vicinity of the tongue of the Great Aletsch Glacier, central Swiss Alps, in the gneissic and granitic bedrock of the Aar massif. The valley (1550 to 2300 m.a.s.l.), is roughly oriented parallel to the main Alpine foliation (NE-SW) and to major fault zones. Total annual precipitation is less than 1 m/y, but snow depth frequently reaches 2 m during winter, with strong spatial variability. We use a network of 4 continuous Global Positioning System (cGPS) stations and 90 reflectors linked to 2 total stations (TPS), operating since 2014, to track deformation at millimetric to centimetric scale. We use weather and hydrological data from surrounding stations to estimate the timing of infiltration.At some locations in our study area we observe peak-to-peak magnitude of seasonal deformation over 2 cm, whereas other areas show no significant seasonal deformation. Measured displacement vectors are generally oriented towards the valley center in spring, when deformation rates are the highest (>0.5 mm/d). The start of the high-rate of deformation period also varies spatially. The South-facing slope starts deforming around 20 days earlier than the North-facing slope. The vertical component of motion is generally smaller than the horizontal one, and often below the noise level. Finally, we discuss possible factors (e.g. topography and slope orientation, discontinuities' orientation and density, lithology, groundwater recharge magnitudes and durations) that might influence the spatial and temporal variations of reversible deformation on the slopes adjacent to the tongue of the Great Aletsch Glacier. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Surface subsidence associated with the construction of a headrace tunnel in the Swiss Alps at more than 2000m above sea level (a.s.l.) has been detected at two locations with satellite differential Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) interferometry. At the first location, a subsidence trough of about 4cm in the satellite line-of-sight direction following the headrace tunnel axes has been measured between August 1995 and August 1996. Similar values from SAR data of ascending and descending orbits indicate displacements in the vertical direction of the movement. In the second case, a symmetric cone of depression with a maximum displacement of about 4cm between 1995 and 1997 has been observed above the tunnel. Differences in the results from satellite SAR data of ascending and descending orbits indicate that the direction of displacement in this second case was not entirely vertical. Large-scale consolidation associated with pore-pressure reduction in the rock mass arising from tunnel drainage at about 200–400m depth beneath the topographical surface is believed to be the contributing mechanism (Zangerl et al., 2008a, 2008b). Evidence for this process is based on pore pressure recordings in nearby deep wells. In both areas, the subsidence was followed by a small uplift of about one centimeter between 1997 and 1999, after the tunnel was cased with permeable concrete segments. This partial recovery is also visible in pore pressure records and can be related to the elastic components of rock mass deformation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The monitoring of slope displacements over time provides the basis for most rockslide early warning systems, yet the prediction of catastrophic failure from these records is highly problematic and tenuous, especially if the underlying kinematics and instability mechanism are poorly understood. An example is the moving slope above the town of Randa in the Swiss Alps. This slope is considered typical of those in crystalline rock that lacks a natural, highly persistent, weakness plane dipping towards the valley that can serve as a through-going detachment surface for kinematic release. In Part I (the companion paper to this), the findings from a comprehensive geological and geophysical investigation to image the internal structures of the unstable rock mass were presented. In this paper we develop a kinematic model that describes the pattern of displacement vectors for the rock mass along these structures, both on surface and at depth. The displacements were estimated from 5 years of data from an extensive monitoring system which included surface geodetic and crackmeter measurements, borehole inclinometer and extensometer measurements (up to 120 m depth), and microseismicity. The results showed that the displacement field is highly heterogeneous. Internal deformation is accommodated by both shear and opening-mode dislocation of faults and fracture zones which dip moderately to steeply into the slope. Microseismicity is most intense near the front of the scarp where surface translation in large part reflects the toppling of blocks accommodated by slip along the steeper dipping fractures. The small displacement rates at the study site of up to 2 cm/year coupled with a modest deviation of up to 15° from vertical of the boreholes posed severe problems for the estimation of horizontal displacements from the inclinometer data. We describe the error analysis of these data in some detail since it is relevant for similar installations elsewhere. Conclusions drawn from this work highlight the importance of integrating various types of data in order to better understand the complex block-kinematic processes whose evolution governs the long-term progressive failure of unstable rock slopes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Valley glaciers have traditionally been expected to significantly influence the stability and movement rates of adjacent paraglacial landslides. However, detailed studies related to the mechanical and displacement interactions between glacier ice and unstable rock slopes are very rare. Here we present a detailed in-situ investigation of the spatial variations of the displacement field of the Great Aletsch Glacier in the surroundings of a large active instability, i.e., the Moosfluh Landslide, a Deep-Seated Gravitational Slope Deformation, with superimposed large (1–5 million m3) secondary rockslides formed during fall 2016. We performed repeat UAV-based photogrammetric surveys during ~3 days (74 h) and applied Digital Image Correlation techniques to record high-resolution surface displacement vector fields of the landslide, stable slopes and adjacent glacier. Our results show that the secondary rockslide adjacent to the glacier is composed of two parts of 1.5 and 2.8 million m3 volume respectively, showing significant differences in mean displacement velocities (0.4 and 0.9 m in 74 h respectively, excluding rapid movements from detached blocks). Both rockslide compartments induce clear deflections of the glacier flow field, moving with a maximum velocity of about 0.3 to 0.4 m in 74 h. This influence is highest near the ice-contact boundary and decreases within a distance of about 100–200 m from the rock slope instability. We investigate the viscous forces at the landslide/glacier contact using a straightforward analytical model for an incompressible rockslide block sliding along a planar, cohesionless surface into ice. These forces are then applied to a slope stability model based on the limit equilibrium concept, representing the real geometry at the interface boundary to quantitatively explore the true buttressing effects of valley glaciers on an already moving slope instability. We show that the viscous ice deformation plays an important role in mediating the displacement velocities of landslides in unstable conditions, while, on the other hand, the slope support from the valley glacier has very little influence on the stability of the investigated rockslides. As most valley glaciers are currently strongly retreating due to global warming, uncovering significant numbers of pre-LIA slope instabilities, this detailed investigation provides important hints on their potential displacement behavior. Understanding the factors controlling landslide velocity is of great importance for hazard analyses and early warning. Hence, this study has implications beyond academic interest, e.g., for the planning and operation of alpine infrastructure, such as cable cars or hydropower systems. • We monitor glacier displacement fields at contacts to stable slopes and an active rockslide. • Distortions of glacier displacements fields extend over 100-200 m. and correlate with variations in rockslide velocity. • A simplified analytical model with viscous ice forces can reproduce observed rockslide velocities. • Limit equilibrium analyses demonstrate negligible effect of glacial debuttressing on mature rockslide stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In February 2017, a total of six in-situ hydraulic shearing (HS) experiments were conducted in the framework of the decameter scale In-situ Stimulation and Circulation (ISC) project in crystalline rocks at the Grimsel Test Site, Switzerland. During these experiments, three ductile (containing very few distinct fractures) and three brittle-ductile (containing multiple fractures) shear zones were the target for high-pressure fluid injections. The injected fluid volume was ~1 m³ per experiment. The experiment volume has an overburden of ~480 m and the maximum principal stress is dipping 40° towards East with a magnitude of 13 MPa. In this contribution, we present the observations and preliminary interpretations of the hydromechanical rock mass response during the different experiments and compare them to the target shear zone type. To monitor the hydromechanical response, six boreholes were drilled into the rock mass. Three of them are dedicated to pressure monitoring in seven intervals covering the target shear zones. In the other three boreholes, a total of sixty longitudinal Fiber-Bragg Grating strain sensors were installed. These sensors have a base length of one meter and are installed across intact rock, fractures or shear zones. During most of the HS experiments, the near-wellbore injectivity was successfully increased to a magnitude that is similar for all experiments. The same was observed for the near-wellbore transmissivity. For both parameters, a stronger increase was observed at the ductile shear zones, where the initial parameter magnitudes were smaller. The jacking pressure was reduced during most experiments and the induced slip dislocation at the injection point was in the range of 0.5 - 1.5 mm. We observed a pressure increase up to a radial distance of ~16 m from the injection well during all experiments. Further away from injection location the pressure monitoring data suggest poro-elastic effects. Pressure fronts that were expected to propagate along the target shear zone were only observed during two experiments. The strain monitoring revealed a zone of transient variable deformation (i.e., mix of compression and extension) close to the injection location and a compressive zone further away from the injection location. The extent of the variable zone seems to depend on the target shear zone type and is larger for the ductile shear zone. During the experiments, a meter scale Poisson effect was directly measured in the rock mass. Additionally, the formation of new fractures was detected.Our data highlight the complexity of the rock mass and fracture response during a decameter scale hydraulic stimulation and provide a basis for the development of future large scale hydromechanical-coupled numerical models of stimulation experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we characterize changes in 10–20 year old Excavation Damaged Zones (EDZs) at the Mont Terri Underground Rock Laboratory (URL) in St. Ursanne, Switzerland. Opalinus Clay has been chosen as a potential host rock for Switzerland's high- and low-level nuclear waste. Hence, evaluating its integrity with regards to changes in EDZ extent over time is critical in assessing the safety performance of a repository. Changes in the EDZ can originate from self-sealing processes, which result in closure of fractures over time and lead to decreased permeability in EDZs and a higher degree of repository safety. Our experiment sites at the Mont Terri URL are the galleries 08 and 98, excavated in 2008 and 1998 by a road header in the direction perpendicular to bedding strike. We completed seven, 27–35 m long seismic refraction profiles along the two galleries. The four profiles in gallery 08 have previously been tested shortly after excavation and results from this previous investigation were re-processed. Two profiles in gallery 98 were carried out at the lower sidewalls and one line was completed in the crown. Borehole investigations focused on the drilling, mapping, and geophysical (electrical resistivity tomography, seismic interval velocity, and seismic cross-hole surveys) and optical televiewer (OPTV) logging of ten short (4.5–6.0 m), horizontal boreholes. These boreholes extended at least 1 m beyond the expected EDZ depth in each gallery.We found that EDZ extents, given as the radial distance from the tunnel wall, measured by absolute p-wave velocities (vp) decreased by 0–1.0 m from 2008 to 2018, with an average decrease of 0.5 m, along the seismic refraction lines in gallery 08. Most, but not all, areas experienced increases in vp from 2008 to 2018. Increases in vp demonstrate a return towards intact seismic properties and might indicate sealing has occurred in these areas. However, important localized areas of vp decreases also occurred, with one profile in gallery 08 showing a vp decrease in the direction perpendicular to bedding in almost 80% of the investigated rock volume. In gallery 98, vp values are generally higher than in gallery 08 in both the bedding-perpendicular and bedding-parallel directions and EDZ depths based upon absolute vp values range from 1.0 m to greater than 3.5 m in the direction parallel to bedding and 2.5–3.0 m perpendicular to bedding. OPTV and rock core structural analyses showed EDZ fractures in the first 2.2 m of the boreholes in gallery 08, and the first 0.7 m of the boreholes in gallery 98. The inferred frequency of EDZ fractures varies from 0 to 9 fractures/m, indicating a very heterogeneous EDZ distribution for both galleries, which is in disagreement with our refraction results.Laboratory tests on selected drill core fracture samples are planned to investigate the exact sealing processes which might have occurred over the 10–20 year period since excavation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]