Monitoring and process analysis of permafrost creep and failure in changing temperature regimes

• Applicant: Dr. Isabelle Gärtner-Roer
• Subject Area: Physical Geography
• Term: from 2008 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 53470047

The aim of this project is the quantification and analysis of process rates in high mountain permafrost regions in order to describe sensitive indicators for climatic changes within the geosystem. Therefore, distinct landforms representing the occurrence of permafrost conditions (such as rockglaciers and frozen talus slopes) are monitored in different regions of the European Alps over a period of several decades by the application of remote sensing and geodetic methods. The resulting kinematics (horizontal and vertical displacements) as well as spatio-temporal variations thereof are considered in terms of rheology. Distinct changes in process rates or landform failures – probably related to permafrost degradation - are analysed in combination with data on surface and subsurface temperatures, internal structures (e.g., ice content, unfrozen water content), rockwall retreat rates as well as simulations from regional scale climate models. The landforms sensitivity (coupling of atmosphere, surface and underground in terms of temperature fluxes) will be described and interpreted under consideration of the rheological response (kinematics) of the regarded landforms. The contribution of this project to the Bündel “Sensitivity of mountain permafrost to climate change (SPCC)” will be the quantification of ongoing process rates at different sites in the Alps and the analysis of spatio-temporal changes, which allows for the determination of the geosystems reaction to climatic change (sensitivity) and the characterisation of geomorphological indicators.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants