Université de Fribourg

Unraveling the patterns of late Holocene debris-flow activity on a cone in the Swiss Alps: chronology, environment and implications for the future

Stoffel, Markus ; Conus, Delphine ; Grichting, Michael A. ; Lièvre, Igor ; Maître, Gilles

In: Global and Planetary Change, 2008, vol. 60, no. 3-4, p. 222-234

Debris-flow activity on the forested cone of the Ritigraben torrent (Valais, Swiss Alps) was assessed from growth disturbances in century-old trees, providing an unusually complete record of past events and deposition of material. The study of 2246 tree-ring sequences sampled from 1102 Larix decidua Mill., Picea abies (L.) Karst. and Pinus cembra ssp. sibirica trees allowed reconstruction of 123...

Université de Fribourg

400 years of debris flow activity and triggering weather conditions: Ritigraben VS, Switzerland

Stoffel, Markus ; Lièvre, Igor ; Conus, Delphine ; Grichting, Michael A. ; Raetzo, Hugo ; Gärtner, Holger W. ; Monbaron, Michel

In: Arctic Antarctic and Alpine Research, 2005, vol. 37(3), p. 387-395

Three major rainfall events have caused considerable damage in the Valais region (Swiss Alps) since 1987. While important debris flows originating from periglacial environments were recorded during the August 1987 and September 1993 rainfall events, no debris flows occurred in October 2000. This paper aims at putting these large area events and the apparent increase in debris flow frequency into...

Université de Fribourg

Seasonal timing of rockfall activity on a forested slope at Täschgufer (Swiss Alps) – a dendrochronological approach = Saisonale Steinschlagverteilung auf einem bewaldeten Hang im Täschgufer (Schweizer Alpen) – ein dendrochronologischer Ansatz.

Stoffel, Markus ; Lièvre, Igor ; Monbaron, Michel ; Perret, Simone

In: Zeitschrift für Geomorphologie, 2005, vol. 49, no. 1, p. 89-106

Dendrochronology was used to study 25 years of rockfall activity on a forested slope at Täschgufer, Täsch (Swiss Alps). We introduce a new approach by evaluating the initiation of callous tissue and resin duct formation after rockfall occurrence to determine the seasonal timing of events. Results from 270 stem discs of 18 Larix decidua Mill. trees show distinct seasonal differences in...

Université de Fribourg

Analyzing rockfall activity (1600–2002) in a protection forest—a case study using dendrogeomorphology

Stoffel, Markus ; Schneuwly, Dominique M. ; Bollschweiler, Michelle ; Lièvre, Igor ; Delaloye, Reynald ; Myint, Moe ; Monbaron, Michel

In: Geomorphology, 2005, vol. 68(3-4), p. 224

For the first time, dendrogeomorphology has been used to investigate spatial and temporal variations of rockfall activity in a protection forest. We report results of 564 cores from 135 severely injured Larix decidua Mill. trees on the west-facing Täschgufer slope, Swiss Alps. While trees sampled reached an age of 297 years on average, the oldest one attained breast height in AD 1318. For...