HR: 1340h
AN: H53C-1405    [Abstracts]
TI: Potential Triggering Mechanisms for the 2006-2007 Half Dome Rockfalls, Yosemite National Park, California
AU: * Stock, G M
EM: greg stock@nps.gov
AF: Greg M. Stock, Division of Resources Management and Science, Yosemite National Park, El Portal, CA 95318, United States
AB: Yosemite Valley is one of the most active areas of rockfall in the world, allowing for detailed examination of individual rockfall events. A rockfall database going back to 1857 reveals that more than half of all documented rockfalls were not associated with a recognizable triggering mechanism. Between July 2006 and June 2007, a series of at least eight rockfalls occurred from a single release point on the Northwest Face of Half Dome in eastern Yosemite Valley. The largest of these rockfalls occurred at 18:46 on July 27th, 2007, and had an approximate volume of 735 m³. Interestingly, all of the rockfalls occurred during the summer (June-August), with no apparent activity at the release point during the winter and spring, typically considered peak seasons for rockfall. In addition to mapping rockfall volumes and the distribution of rock debris, I investigated the geologic and hydrologic factors contributing to failure, including bedrock lithology, degree of weathering, joint density and orientation, and release point geometry. I also analyzed a number of potential rockfall triggering mechanisms, including earthquakes, precipitation, freeze-thaw, and thermal stresses. Although a number of factors contributed to weakening of the rock mass, no specific triggering mechanism(s) can be confidently linked to the rockfalls. Rather, the rockfalls likely resulted from progressive strain weakening of an overhanging arch, with initial small rockfalls destabilizing the rock mass to the point that a large failure occurred. The supposition that summertime rockfalls with unrecognized triggers are unusual has been used to support claims that rockfalls below Glacier Point were caused by wastewater discharges, but the 2006-2007 Half Dome rockfalls, which occurred in a wilderness setting, demonstrate that subtle, even unrecognizable, natural processes trigger summertime rockfalls in Yosemite Valley.
DE: 1625 Geomorphology and weathering (0790, 1824, 1825, 1826, 1886)
DE: 1859 Rocks: physical properties
SC: Hydrology [H]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting