Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Megalandslides and deglaciation: modelling of two case studies in the Central Andes

Natural Hazards volume 118, pages 1561–1572 (2023)Cite this article

Abstract

Large-volume rock slope failures are one of the main hazards in high mountain glaciated valleys, inducing severe damage to population and infrastructure, representing a high risk for society, ecosystems and infrastructure. The Andes Mountain Range is shaped by glacial activity and therefore by megalandslides due to changes in shear strength and deformation during periods of glaciation and deglaciation, which modify the slope stress state and, along with other processes, induce progressive damage in the rock mass, eventually leading to failure. The study focuses on validating the hypothesis that glacier unloading contributes to these types of landslides. The research numerically modelled the effects of glacier unloading on stress distribution and its potential impact on landslides, particularly using two Chilean cases: The 1987 Estero Parraguirre and the 2018 Yerba Loca rock slides. These models used the Universal Distinct Element Code, along with geological and geotechnical data from previous studies and field observations. The numerical results showed that the combination of shear stress changes due to glacial unloading and structural control from main discontinuities could cause landslides, with the deglaciation of glaciers potentially preparing the slope for catastrophic failure that may occur due to external climatic or tectonic triggers. The results suggest that stress redistribution and damage to the rock mass caused by deglaciation can lead to progressive failure. Further work is needed to understand better the slope failure mechanics to assess the geohazards in the Andes and other mountain regions.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4

References

  • Allen S, Cox S, Owens I (2011) Rock avalanches and other landslides in the central Southern Alps of New Zealand: a regional study considering possible climate change impacts. Landslides 8:33–48

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Antinao JL, Gosse J (2009) Large rockslides in the Southern Central Andes of Chile (32–34.5°S): tectonic control and significance for quaternary landscape evolution. Geomorphology 104:117–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bruckner T, Farías-Barahona D, Fürst JJ, Mergili M, Sepulveda S, Peña H, Casassa G, Braun M (2021) Reconstruction constraints on the Estero Parraguirre ice-rock avalanche in 1987, Central Andes of Chile: new insights from remote sensing and numerical modeling. In: European geosciences union annual conference, p EGU21–13019

  • Burgos K (2022) Study of the 16.12.2017 slope failure in Villa Santa Lucia. Dissertation, Universidad de Chile (in Spanish)

  • Carrasco J, Sepúlveda SA, Lara M, Rosales V (2023) Evidencias de expansión del deslizamiento activo de Yerba Loca, Andes centrales. Rev Asoc Geol Argent 80(2) (in Press)

  • Casassa G, Marangunic C (1993) The 1987 Rio Colorado Rockslide and Debris Flow, Central Andes, Chile. Environ Eng Geosci 3:321–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Charrier R, Iturrizaga L, Carretier S, Regard V (2019) Geomorphologic and glacial evolution of the Cachapoal and Southern Maipo catchments in the Andean Principal Cordillera, Central Chile (34°–35°S). Andean Geol 46:240–278

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cossart E, Braucher R, Fort M, Bourlès DL, Carcaillet J (2008) Slope instability in relation to glacial debuttressing in alpine areas (upper Durance Catchment, Southeastern France): evidence from field data and 10Be cosmic ray exposure ages. Geomorphology 95:3–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Costa JE, Schuster RL (1988) The formation and failure of natural dams. Geol Soc Am Bull 100:1054–1068

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deckart K, Pinochet K, Sepúlveda SA, Pinto L, Moreiras SM (2014) New insights on the origin of the Mesón Alto deposit, Yeso Valley, central Chile: a composite deposit of glacial and landslide processes? Andean Geol 41:248–258

    Google Scholar 

  • DGA (2022) Inventario Público de Glaciares, actualización 2022. Ministerio de Obras Públicas, Dirección General de Aguas. https://dga.mop.gob.cl/Paginas/InventarioGlaciares.aspx

  • Duhart P, Sepúlveda V, Garrido N, Mella M, Quiroz D, Fernández J, Moreno H, Hermosilla G (2019) The Santa Lucia landslide disaster, Chitén-Chile: origin and effects. In: Proceedings of the 7th international conference on debris-flow hazards mitigation, Golden, Colorado

  • Eisenberg A, Pardo M (1988) Report on seismic activity related to debris flow, Estero Parraguirre, Central Chile. Sci Alert Netw Bull 13:15–16

    Google Scholar 

  • Fan X, Xu Q, Alonso-Rodriguez A, Subramanian SS, Li W, Zheng G, Dong X, Huang R (2019) Successive landsliding and damming of the Jinsha River in eastern Tibet, China: prime investigation, early warning, and emergency response. Landslides 16:1003–1020

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geertsema M, Menounos B, Bullard G, Carrivick JL, Clague JJ, Dai C et al (2022) The 28 november 2020 landslide, tsunami, and outburst flood – A hazard cascade associated with rapid deglaciation at Elliot Creek, British Columbia Canada. Geophys Res Lett 49:e2021GL096716. https://doi.org/10.1029/2021GL096716

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grämiger LM, Moore JR, Gischig VS, Ivy-Ochs S, Loew S (2017) Beyond debuttressing: mechanics of paraglacial rock slope damage during repeat glacial cycles. J Geophys Res Earth Surf 122(4):1004–1036. https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JF003967

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grämiger LM, Moore JR, Gischig VS, Loew S, Funk M, Limpach P (2020) Hydromechanical rock slope damage during Late Pleistocene and Holocene glacial cycles in an alpine valley. J Geophys Res Earth Surf. https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JF005494

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gruber S (2012) Derivation and analysis of a high-resolution estimate of global permafrost zonation. Cryosphere 6:221–233

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guthrie RH, Friele P, Allstadt K, Roberts N, Evans SG, Delaney KB, Roche D, Clague JJ, Jakob M (2012) The august 6th 2010 Mount Meager rock slide-debris flow, Coast Mountains, British Columbia: characteristics, dynamics, and implications for hazard and risk assessment. Nat Hazards Earth Syst Sci 12:1277–1294

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hauser A (2002) Rock avalanche and resulting debris flow in Estero Parraquirre and Río Colorado, Región Metropolitana, Chile. Geol Soc Am Rev Eng Geol XV:135–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Itasca (2019) Universal distinct element code, version 7.0 user’s manual. Itasca Consulting Group Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota

    Google Scholar 

  • Lliboutry L (2002) Extension of Glacier de Saint-Sorlin, French Alps, and equilibrium-line altitude during the little ice age. J Glaciol 48:118–124. https://doi.org/10.3189/172756502781831548

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marangunic C (1979) Inventario de Glaciares Hoya del Río Maipo Santiago. Ministerio de Obras Publicas Dirección General de Aguas, Santiago, Chile

    Google Scholar 

  • McColl ST (2012) Paraglacial rock-slope stability. Geomorphology 153–154:1–16

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moreiras SM, Sepúlveda SA (2015) Megalandslides in the Andes of Central Chile and Argentina (32°–34°s) and potential hazards. In: Sepúlveda SA et al (eds) Geodynamic processes in the Andes of Central Chile and Argentina. Geological Society of London, London, pp 329–344

    Google Scholar 

  • Palma (2022) Tridimensional modelling of the Villa Santa Lucia 2017 megalandslide due to progressive failure. In: MSc Thesis in civil engineering, Universidad de Chile (in Spanish)

  • Pellitero R, Rea BR, Spagnolo M, Bakke J, Ivy-Ochs S, Frew CR, Renssen H (2016) GlaRe, a GIS tool to reconstruct the 3D surface of palaeoglaciers. Comput Geosci 94:77–78

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rivillo V (2018). Slope stability analysis of Cerro Rabicano (Cajón del Maipo) affected by a rock slide using numerical modelling. Dissertation, Universidad de Chile (in Spanish)

  • Rosales V. (2022) 2D numerical modelling of slope stability in paraglacial environments: the case of Yerba Loca landslide, Santiago, Region Metropolitana. Dissertation, Universidad de Chile (in Spanish)

  • Sepúlveda SA, Alfaro A, Lara M, Carrasco J, Olea-Encina P, Rebolledo S, Garcés M (2021) An active large rock slide in the Andean paraglacial environment: the Yerba Loca landslide, central Chile. Landslides 18:697–705

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sepúlveda SA, Moreiras SM, Chacón D, Villaseñor T, Jeanneret P, Poblete F (2022) The Pangal landslide complex, Cachapoal basin, central Chile (34°S): an example of a multi-temporal slope instability cluster in the Andes. J S Am Earth Sci 115:103769

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sernageomin - Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería (2019) Remoción en masa en Santuario de la Naturaleza Yerba Loca. Servicio Nacional de Geología y Minería, INF-2019. METROPOLITANA-01, Santiago

  • Thiele R (1980) Hoja Santiago. Región Metropolitana. Carta Geológica de Chile, escala 1: 250.000. Instituto de Investigaciones Geologicas, Santiago

    Google Scholar 

  • Tobar C (2021) 2D slope stability numerical modelling in paraglacial environments: the case of Parraguirre landslides, San Jose de Maipo. Dissertation, Universidad de Chile (in Spanish)

  • Valenzuela L, Varela J (1991) El Alfalfal rock fall and debris flow in Chilean Andes Mountains. In: Proceedings, panamerican conference on soil mechanics and foundation engineering, Viña del Mar, Chile, p 357-371

Download references

Acknowledgements

This work was funded by ANID Fondecyt 1201360 grant (S.S., F.O., M.L.) and Simon Fraser University Faculty Recruitment Grant (S.S.). In addition, the authors thank Shantal Palma and Patricio Gómez (Itasca Chile) for their support in modelling, Sofía Rebolledo, Javiera Carrasco, and Karla Burgos for their collaboration in the fieldwork, and Felipe Ugalde and Alejandro Alfaro for their fruitful discussions on the subject.

Funding

This work was funded by ANID Fondecyt 1201360 grant (S.S., F.O., M.L.) and Simon Fraser University Faculty Recruitment Grant (S.S.).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, BC, Canada

    Sergio A. Sepúlveda

  2. Institute of Engineering Sciences, Universidad de O’Higgins, Rancagua, Chile

    Sergio A. Sepúlveda

  3. Department of Geology, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Sergio A. Sepúlveda, Christian Tobar, Vannesa Rosales & Marisol Lara

  4. Department of Civil Engineering, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Felipe Ochoa-Cornejo

Authors
  1. Sergio A. Sepúlveda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Christian Tobar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Vannesa Rosales
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Felipe Ochoa-Cornejo
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Marisol Lara
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design and participated in field data collection. Computational analyses were performed by CT and VR, supervised by ML, SS and FO. The first draft of the manuscript was written by SS, FO and CT, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors contributed to the confection of the figures. Project management by SS All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sergio A. Sepúlveda.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sepúlveda, S.A., Tobar, C., Rosales, V. et al. Megalandslides and deglaciation: modelling of two case studies in the Central Andes. Nat Hazards 118, 1561–1572 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-023-06067-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11069-023-06067-x

Keywords

search

Navigation