Abstract
ABSTRACT The 16th of June 1818, the failure of the Giétro glacier in the Swiss Alps provoked an outburst flood that devastated the Bagnes valley, causing 34 deaths and major damages to buildings, road system, hydraulic infrastructures and crops. This disaster had a major impact on the economy of the valley and created a great movement of solidarity. It remains today a well-known historical natural disaster. In order to reconstruct the course of the wave and to map the flood, we used an interdisciplinary approach by crossing historical and geomorphological data. We first compiled and mapped the large number of historical data available in the local and state archives. These data were then completed by geomorphological observations made on the field and on numerical documents. The resulting map presents the spatial extent of the flood and water depths. This article shows the validity of interdisciplinary approaches for reconstructing past natural disasters.
Highlights
In mountain areas, water-related events, such as floods and debris flows, are among the most common hazards that the local populations are facing
Glacial lake outburst floods represent a specific type of flood, caused by the failure of an ice or moraine dam impounding a lake, provoking the sudden discharge of the water body (Clague & O’Connor, 2015; Harrison et al, 2018)
The map presents the spatial extent of the flood provoked by the Giétro outburst flood from the ice dam up to the junction with the Rhone River (See Main map)
Summary
Water-related events, such as floods and debris flows, are among the most common hazards that the local populations are facing. Glacial lake outburst floods represent a specific type of flood, caused by the failure of an ice or moraine dam impounding a lake, provoking the sudden discharge of the water body (Clague & O’Connor, 2015; Harrison et al, 2018). The onset of the phenomenon may be ‘hidden’ in remote areas. Glacial lake outburst floods can have large impact on the morphology of the valleys, by provoking strong erosion in some places and the deposition of huge amounts of sediments in others locations, including large boulders (Cenderelli & Wohl, 2003; Costa, 1983; Kershaw et al, 2005). The marks in the landscape can potentially be preserved several decades or centuries after the event (e.g. Baker, 2002; Rudoy, 2002)
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