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Vampire rock avalanches of January 2008 and 2003, Southern Alps, New Zealand

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Abstract

Rock avalanches fell from Vampire (2,645 m) Peak in the Southern Alps of New Zealand during January 2008. There were no direct witnesses, casualties or damage to infrastructure. Field observations indicate about 150,000 m3 (±50,000) of indurated greywacke collapsed retrogressively from a 73° slope between 2,380 and 2,520 m. Debris fell 800 m down Vampire’s south face and out 1.7 km across Mueller Glacier, with a 27.5° angle of reach. The resulting 300,000 m2 avalanche deposit contains three distinct lobes. The national seismograph network recorded two pulses of avalanche-type shaking, equivalent in amplitude to a M L 2.4 tectonic earthquake, for 60 s on Monday 7 January at 2349 hours (NZDT); then 45 s of shaking at M L 2.5 on Sunday 13 January at 0923 hours (NZDT). Deposit lobes are inferred to relate directly with shaking episodes. The avalanche fell across the debris from an older avalanche, which was also unwitnessed and fell from a different source on Vampire’s south face between February and November 2003. The 2003 avalanche involved 120,000 m3 (±40,000) of interlayered sandstone and mudstone which collapsed from a 65° slope between 2,440 and 2,560 m, then fell 890 m down across Mueller Glacier at a 24° angle of reach. Prolonged above-freezing temperatures were recorded during January 2008, but no direct trigger has been identified. The event appears to be a spontaneous, gravitationally induced, stress failure.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Greg King (Helicopter Line), Jamie Scott (Franz-Fox Helicopter Services), Department of Conservation (Don Bogie, Ray Bellringer), Brian Ferris, Mauri McSaveney and Graham Hancox (GNS Science). Photographs of Don Bogie, Sally Jackson, Andy Palman and Trevor Chinn were invaluable. Air temperature and rainfall data were obtained from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Sciences (NIWA) climate database (http://cliflo.niwa.co.nz). Funding was provided through the New Zealand GeoNet project (http://www.geonet.org.nz/) immediate response function, the Foundation of Research Science and Technology (FRST), and GNS Science.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. GNS Science, Private Bag 1930, Dunedin, New Zealand

    S. C. Cox

  2. Geography Department, Canterbury University, Private Bag 4800, Christchurch, New Zealand

    S. K. Allen

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  1. S. C. Cox
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  2. S. K. Allen
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Correspondence to S. C. Cox.

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Cox, S.C., Allen, S.K. Vampire rock avalanches of January 2008 and 2003, Southern Alps, New Zealand. Landslides 6, 161–166 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10346-009-0149-4

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