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Landslides in moraines as triggers of glacial lake outburst floods: example from Palcacocha Lake (Cordillera Blanca, Peru)

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Abstract

Studies focusing on moraine deposits which slide into glacial lakes are scarce, even though they can trigger impact waves responsible for generating glacial lake outburst floods. We focused on landslides in lateral moraines as possible triggers. Detailed geomorphological, geophysical, and satellite radar interferometric investigations of the Palcacocha Lake moraine (Cordillera Blanca, Peru) together with laboratory tests on samples from the site provided data for slope stability calculations using GeoSlope software and hydrodynamic impact wave modeling using the Iber code. We identified landslides that could affect Palcacocha Lake and calculated their stability (factor of safety) under specified conditions, including variable water saturation and earthquake effects. Calculations showed that the moraine slopes are close to the threshold value (Fs = 1) for stability and are especially sensitive to water saturation. The height of impact waves triggered by a landslide in 2003 and the potential wave heights from newly identified, possibly active landslides were calculated, based on landslide volume estimates, detailed lake bathymetry, and basin topography. Results show that potential future landslide-triggered waves could have similar properties to the 2003 impact wave. Evidence gathered in this study suggests that glacial lake outburst floods triggered by landslides from moraines, however, would be probably smaller than floods resulting from other types of slope processes (e.g., ice/rock avalanches) if dam breach is not taken into account. This assumption has to be critically evaluated against site-specific conditions at a given lake and any possible environmental factors, such as climate change or earthquake that may mobilize larger volumes of moraine material.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Czech Science Foundation (Grant No. P209/11/1000), Grant Agency of Charles University (GAUK project no. 70 413; GAUK project no. 730 216), the European Space Agency (S:GLA:MO project), and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) (Proyecto Glaciares). This work was carried out thanks to the support of the long-term conceptual development research organisation RVO: 67985891. ERS and ENVISAT SAR data courtesy of C1F.6504, © ESA. ALOS PALSAR © JAXA. TERRASAR-X data courtesy HYD0562, © DLR. We thank John M. Reynolds for a very detailed and helpful review as well as Matt Rowberry and Christian Huggel for their valuable comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Engineering Geology, Institute of Rock Structure and Mechanics, The Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, V Holešovičkách 41, 182 09, Prague 8, Czech Republic

    J. Klimeš, M. Kusák & F. Hartvich

  2. ARCADIS CZ a.s., Geologická 4, 152 00, Prague 5, Czech Republic

    J. Novotný & I. Novotná

  3. Department of Hydrogeology, Engineering Geology and Applied Geophysics, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Albertov 6, 128 43, Prague 2, Czech Republic

    J. Novotný

  4. Department of Materials and Fluids Science and Technology, University of Zaragoza, María de Luna 3, Edif. Torres Quevedo, 50018, Zaragoza, Spain

    B. Jordán de Urries

  5. Department of Physical Geography and Geoecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Albertov 6, 128 43, Prague 2, Czech Republic

    V. Vilímek, A. Emmer & M. Kusák

  6. Department of the Human Dimensions of Global Change, Global Change Research Institute, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Bělidla 986/4a, 60300, Brno, Czech Republic

    A. Emmer

  7. Gamma Remote Sensing, Worbstrasse 225, 3073, Gümligen, BE, Switzerland

    T. Strozzi

  8. Autoridad Nacional del Agua, Unidad de Glaciología y Recursos Hídricos, Huaráz, Peru

    A. Cochachin Rapre

  9. Department of Geography, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057, Zurich, Switzerland

    H. Frey

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  1. J. Klimeš
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Correspondence to J. Klimeš.

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Klimeš, J., Novotný, J., Novotná, I. et al. Landslides in moraines as triggers of glacial lake outburst floods: example from Palcacocha Lake (Cordillera Blanca, Peru). Landslides 13, 1461–1477 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-016-0724-4

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