Abstract
The retreat of glaciers in response to global warming has the potential to trigger landslides in glaciated regions around the globe. Landslides that enter fjords or lakes can cause tsunamis, which endanger people and infrastructure far from the landslide itself. Here we document the ongoing movement of an unstable slope (total volume of 455 × 106 m3) in Barry Arm, a fjord in Prince William Sound, Alaska. The slope moved rapidly between 2010 and 2017, yielding a horizontal displacement of 120 m, which is highly correlated with the rapid retreat and thinning of Barry Glacier. Should the entire unstable slope collapse at once, preliminary tsunami modeling suggests a maximum runup of 300 m near the landslide, which may have devastating impacts on local communities. Our findings highlight the need for interdisciplinary studies of recently deglaciated fjords to refine our understanding of the impact of climate change on landslides and tsunamis.
Highlights
Global, ongoing glacier retreat is a clear manifestation of a changing climate (e.g., Shakun et al, 2015)
We document the ongoing movement of an unstable slope in Barry Arm, a fjord in Prince William Sound, Alaska
We found that the Barry Arm landslide moved rapidly between 2010 and 2017, while Barry Glacier quickly thinned and retreated from the landslide area
Summary
Global, ongoing glacier retreat is a clear manifestation of a changing climate (e.g., Shakun et al, 2015). Glaciers erode and modify glaciated mountains; they buttress the lower slopes of mountain valleys (Deline et al, 2015; Geertsema & Chiarle, 2013; McColl, 2012; McColl & Davies, 2013). The unsupported valley walls can deform when no longer buttressed by glacier ice (i.e., debuttressing), increasing the chance of slope instabilities (Kos et al, 2016). By virtue of Alaska's steep topography, high tectonic uplift rates, and high rates of temperature increase compared to DAI ET AL
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