The rock-avalanche of February 1995 at Claix (French Alps)

Abstract

The sedimentology of a rock-avalanche involving ca. 7·10 3 m 3, that happened on February 1995 at Claix, the French Alps, is analysed here. The talus shows a proximal depression due to the impact of the debris, then a grooved area with few, mainly sandy silt deposits and a downslope accumulation of coarse debris that reaches up to 3 m in thickness. The material underwent mass movement as demonstrated by the steep distal front, the strong fabric strength and the thrust planes. The greatest part of the deposits consists of a clast-supported to partially openwork debris with angular clasts over a sheared matrix-supported basal layer. The largest blocks, often more than 1 m in length, are concentrated at the surface and the front. The overall sedimentological characteristics are similar to those of the small dry grain flows that occur usually on rockfall talus, except for the abundance of fine-grained particles that results from intense cataclasis during flow. It is suggested that the deposits of such medium-scale rock-avalanches, probably not uncommon in seismic regions, may have been confused in previous studies with other slope mechanisms such as debris flow and rockfall.