Mt. Fluchthorn’s tallest peak, on the Swiss-Austrian border, collapsed in June.

Experts say peaks in the European Alps and Southern Alps of New Zealand are at risk of collapse, too.

The damage and dangers from mountain collapse disproportionately impact indigenous communities.

On June 11, the main peak of Mt. Fluchthorn, on the border of Austria and Switzerland, collapsed without warning.

Roughly 3.5 million cubic feet of earth tumbled down, filling the valley below with 40 Olympic swimming pools’ worth of rocks, mud, and dirt, LiveScience reported. While no people got hurt, a religious cross marking the summit was destroyed.

Fluchthorn had three peaks, and the main, southern one used to be the tallest. With the south peak collapsed, the middle peak is the new summit at 11,145 feet — the second-highest summit in the Silvretta Alps.

Overall, Mt. Fluchthorn is 60 feet shorter than it was earlier this year, per LiveScience.

Why did the peak collapse? Well, like many mountains in the far north, Fluchthorn had a lot of permafrost — a permanent layer of ice and dirt under the mountain’s surface.

“Permafrost is important because frozen water within the ground holds the ground surface together and prevents it from moving. But when that ice melts, the liquid water can flow away. The ground surface becomes less stable and can move, often very quickly,” said Jasper Knight, a geoscientist at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa.

When a big chunk of mountain moves quickly, like with the mudslide at Fluchthorn, that’s called a mass movement.

“Global warming is causing the permafrost to melt, which is the trigger for these mass movement events to take place,” Knight said.

  • treadful@lemmy.zip
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    1 year ago

    Permafrost was holding a mountain together? I mean, I’ll defer to the “geoscientist” but that’s surprising.

    • superkret@feddit.de
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      1 year ago

      Another geoscientist checking in. I hope that surprise leads you to curiosity and an urge to learn more.
      Cause geosciences are absolutely fascinating.

      • treadful@lemmy.zip
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        1 year ago

        Do you usually call yourself a “geoscientist” or something more specific? I don’t recall hearing that name before.

        • superkret@feddit.de
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          1 year ago

          I have a masters in Geoecology and Environmental Systems Management, focus on Hydrogeology.

          But that’s a bit long.

            • superkret@feddit.de
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              1 year ago

              Geologist and Geoscientist are synonyms, so we’re back at square one.
              Geologist is the traditional term, Geoscientist is used more recently and IMO is a little broader in scope than just rocks.

              • treadful@lemmy.zip
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                1 year ago

                Fair enough, thanks for the replies. Not sure why “geoscientist” sounded so foreign to me when I first read it.