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Large Rock Avalanches: A Kinematic Model

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Abstract

Rock avalanches constitute geodynamic phenomena of great beauty and extraordinary power, but at the same time they usually mean destruction of life found in their way. Therefore, it is of prime importance to acquire information on the dynamics of such debris streams so that their kinematic behavior can be evaluated in regions where they present a potential risk to human life and life in general. The energy loss due to dissipative interaction is greater than previously estimated. Starting with the energy conservation equation, one formula for the overall frictional loss, and another for the movement velocity of the predicted trajectory of a potential rock avalanche body is estimated.

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Acknowledgements

The author gratefully acknowledges Dr. Stella M. Poma (Universidad de Buenos Aires) who encouraged me to write and present this work; Dr. Víctor A. Ramos (Universidad de Buenos Aires) and Ph.D. Suzanne M. Kay (Cornell University) for their valuable reviews and fruitful comments. The author also thanks Mr. Hernán Viavattene (Universidad de Morón) for his unconditional help in building the figures and tables, and Prof. Viviana Vivono for her valuable help in the translation of this article.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ciencias Geológicas, Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Pabellón 2, 1428 Ciudad Universitaria, Buenos Aires, Argentina

    Oscar Marcos Zambrano

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  1. Oscar Marcos Zambrano
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Correspondence to Oscar Marcos Zambrano.

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Zambrano, O.M. Large Rock Avalanches: A Kinematic Model. Geotech Geol Eng 26, 283–287 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-007-9164-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10706-007-9164-1

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