StRATEGy
I am joining the doctorate program IRTG-StRATEGy which concentrates on the surface processes, tectonics and georesources. My study area will be the Lago Buenos Aires in Patagonia, where I focus on the climate-tectonic impacts on surface processes. Here low-gradient mega landslides are generated in the glaciated Andean foreland intersecting with morphological landformes. This exhibits an exciting opportunity for exploring the until then rather unknown role of mass wasting in the glacial forelands of the Andes.
Check out the StRATEGy internet page:
Field Trip to Lago Buenos Aires
I used the four month to plan my first own-organized field trip. I have to admit that I was super nervous at the beginning and I couldn´t sleep the night before. I guess I started with a bunch of sleep lack into the field trip. The team also joined my "Co-Strategyst" Gregor Lauer-Dünkelberg, who is also will be part of the CUAA program and who works in the north of Argentina in Salta and Jujuy with paleoseismology, as well as my "Pre-Strategyst" Julia Drewes and her husband who also supported me strongly for my master thesis. Of course my supervisor Diego was on board as well. I had a team of five persons who helped me to get an overview of the landscape.
Midst of September is unfortunately not an optimal time to get your field work done in Patagonia. A lot of people warned me about the strong winds and the minimal chances of flying a drone.
It was not the wind which prevented us from flying, but rather the rain and snow intervened. The area is arid with a mean rainfall of 200 mm/yr. You wouldn´t expect 3 out of 5 days with rain. Nevertheless, strong winds were no crucial factor anymore.
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Join the field trip
Field trips are one of the most exciting parts of our scientific life. This is it what apart us from other sciences. Going into the field, seeing what we study, feeling the air (or not if you are in a mine or caving) and speaking with the local population. Field trips have a great intrinsic motivation and afterwards you are usually fired up. Of course it depends strongly on the outcome of the field trip. That´s why preparation is a keystone for a prosperous and successful field trip.
Lago Buenos Aires (Patagonia)
Often small-scale mass movements are noted on moraines and other glacial depositional forms. This includes solifluction, the development of little cracks and smaller landslides. Landslides in a bigger extent (> 10^6 m³) or not noticed or were mapped in a geomorphological sense as moraine deposits. Ballantyne (2001) explained a general model of paraglacial landscape which includes mass movements as conveyance belts for loose material. The adaption from unstable (paraglacial period) to stable conditions (non-glacial period) can have different time
scales depending on the process (rock-slope failures, rockfall and talus accumulation, accumulation of large alluvial fans, rock slope deformation, modification of drift-mantled slopes, modification of glacier forelands). The literature ground is sparse and knowledge about the fast changing system is sparse too. Data can be collected by taken dating samples (OSL, 14C, cosmogenic nuclide dating) and mapping the area while keeping in mind that deposits which look like moraines can be eventually landslides too. Very controversial is instead the dating of moraines, which are not necessarily stable. Can we really trust cosmogenic dating when the surface was sliding at some point? This is of course not important for every dating site, but we should keep it in mind that not all results show necessarily the maximum age of the moraine. Especially drift-mantled slope processes can reshape the landscape. Glacial debutressing can cause massive mass movements at undercutted slopes and coastal slopes.
Taking the first steps towards data analysis
Programming is comparable to the learning of a new language. Without practice you will lose the vocabulary and grammar. After nearly 6 month (and the loss of a lot of information) I´m starting to analyze the first data of my project. Using the field work information (especially photos) I mapped the mass movements around the Lago Buenos Aires. Separating between rotational landslides, earthflows, complex landslides, landslides without a further categorization and flows without a further categorization. All in all I could detect nearly 290 landslides around the Meseta del Lago Buenos Aires. By combining the shape data with a SRTM DEM with a 30 m resolution I could calculate the slope and roughness of each polygon. The easiest way for me was to use Matlab and especially the Matlab Toolbox TopoToolbox from my colleague Dr. Wolfgang Schwanghart.
After the field trip - a short review
After two weeks in the field I´m happy to be back in Comodoro and to have two days free to relax. Tomas and his team already left to the Check Republic. They have a long travel back and I wish them a safe trip (and a good Currywurst at the airport of Frankfurt). The last two weeks were really exhaustive. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the time we had and I hope to repeat the collaboration next year.
What I can now officially say is that it was a successful trip. Though, the start was difficult the last 1 ½ weeks made up for every problem we had. Be it a delayed package or a not working credit card we solved everything (though sometimes last minute) and could move forward. It was great to work in a team which pushed each other and worked together. We had great moments in the field and grew together during the two weeks. I really like the guys from the Czech Republic now.
Especially Tomas who took his mentor role very seriously and explained me often geomorphological phenomenon’s beside the traditional landslide stuff. He gave me room to develop my own theories and created an atmosphere where I felt taken seriously. Though not everything was right I suggested he did caught on some ideas and supported them. That was really important for me! In the end I felt more included and part of the team. I really hope to have the opportunity to visit Ostrava. He told me a lot about it and I want to see the bears and the mountains and the old industrial zones. Of course I invited him to Potsdam as well and either way we will keep contact during the next month.