Abstract
The thermal regime in steep and snow-free rock slopes is crucial for understanding rock slope stability, frost weathering and the associated material production in steep mountain areas. In this study, we model heat flow and explore the hypothesis that strong thermal gradients are maintained in transition areas between snow-free rock walls and snow-covered talus slopes. The results of our 2D heat transfer modelling experiments indicate that, under the assumption of snow-free steep rock walls, conductive heat flow can cool the upper parts of an adjacent talus slope with low conductivity and induce strong thermal gradients in the solid bedrock. The modelled conductive cooling effect may be relevant for both frost weathering processes and subsequent geomorphological implications and for the thermal regime of complex surface material in rock wall-talus systems in alpine areas.
Highlights
Steep rock walls are spectacular, but common features in mountain regions associated with environments related to glaciations (U-shaped valley sides, cirque walls), tectonic processes or river incisions (e.g., Steiger et al, 2016)
With our simplified numerical study of the thermal regime in steep snow-free rock walls, we have demonstrated that thermal gradients associated with frost weathering and evolution of landscapes may be recognized in a simplified 2D numerical study of conductive heat flow in steep rock walls
Our numerical simulations indicate that thermal gradients are maintained in transition areas between snow-free rock walls and snow-covered talus slopes
Summary
Steep rock walls are spectacular, but common features in mountain regions associated with environments related to glaciations (U-shaped valley sides, cirque walls), tectonic processes or river incisions (canyons) (e.g., Steiger et al, 2016). Climatic processes determine the rock wall thermal regime, which in turn influences weathering processes that decrease the rock wall stability and give rise to source areas for rock falls and rock avalanches (e.g., Gruber and Haeberli, 2007; Krautblatter et al, 2013). As a precondition for rock slope instabilities in steep terrain, frost weathering and bedrock weakening are important processes (Hasler et al, 2012; Krautblatter et al, 2012). These processes have been extensively investigated in the field (Matsuoka, 2008), in the laboratory (Murton et al, 2006) and through numerical modeling (Hales and Roering, 2007).
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