NH
Natural Hazards

Rockfall

Same hills, different rules: why urban and rural landslides should not be considered together?

Same hills, different rules: why urban and rural landslides should not be considered together?

Cities are expanding faster than ever, often onto steep and unstable terrain. As urban areas grow, landslides increasingly threaten homes, roads, and critical infrastructure. To manage this risk, scientists produce landslide susceptibility maps, which estimate where landslides are most likely to occur. These maps are widely used by planners and decision-makers. But there is a quiet assumption buil ...[Read More]

Alpine rock instability events and mountain permafrost

Alpine rock instability events and mountain permafrost

Rockfalls, rock slides and rock avalanches in high mountains The terms rockfall, rock avalanche and rockslide are often used interchangeably. Different authors have proposed definitions based on volume thresholds, but the establishment of fixed boundaries can be tricky. Rockfall can be defined as the detachment of a mass of rock from a steep rock-wall, along discontinuities and/or through rock bri ...[Read More]