Rockfall often seems to occur spontaneously without an obvious cause. Monitoring of a granitic cliff reveals that cyclical temperature variations can subtly act to slowly and incrementally damage hard rock until failure is inevitable.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Relevant articles
Open Access articles citing this article.
-
Elastic modulus evolution of rocks under heating–cooling cycles
Scientific Reports Open Access 14 August 2020
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 12 print issues and online access
$259.00 per year
only $21.58 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on SpringerLink
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
References
do Amaral Vargas, E. Jr., Velloso, R. Q., Chávez, L. E., Gusmão, L. & Palmeiro do Amaral, C. Rock Mech. Rock Eng. 46, 123–134 (2013).
Eberhardt, E., Stead, D. & Coggan, J. S. Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. 41, 69–87 (2004).
Collins, B. D. & Stock, G. M. Nature Geosci. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2686 (2016).
Leith, K., Moore, J. R., Amann, F. & Loew, S. J. Geophys.Res. Earth Surf. 119, 62–81 (2014).
Martel, S. J. Geophys. Res. Lett. 33, L01308 (2006).
Stock, G. M. et al. Historical Rock Falls in Yosemite National Park, California (1857–2011) (U. S. Geological Survey Data Series 746, 2013); http://pubs.usgs.gov/ds/746/
Gischig, V. S., Moore, J. R., Evans, K. F., Amann, F. & Loew, S. J. Geophys. Res. Earth Surf. 116, F04011 (2011).
Gunzburger, Y., Merrien-Soukatchoff, V. & Guglielmi, Y. Int. J. Rock Mech. Min. Sci. 42, 331–349 (2005).
Hasler, A., Gruber, S. & Beutel, J. J. Geophys. Res. 117, F01016 (2012).
Luethi, R., Gruber, S. & Ravanel, L. Geogr. Ann. A 97, 753–767 (2015).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Gischig, V. Cracking cliffs feel the heat. Nature Geosci 9, 344–345 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2698
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo2698
This article is cited by
-
Decay function and damage strain model of fresh sandstone subjected to freeze–thaw cycles
Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment (2023)
-
A study on in situ measurements of carbonate rock mass degradation in the water-level fluctuation zone of the Three Gorges Reservoir, China
Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment (2021)
-
Elastic modulus evolution of rocks under heating–cooling cycles
Scientific Reports (2020)
-
Volcanic Geoheritage of Landslides and Rockfalls on a Tropical Ocean Island (Western Samoa, SW Pacific)
Geoheritage (2019)