Active rock glaciers of the contiguous United States: geographic information system inventory and spatial distribution patterns
2021
Abstract. In this study we present the Portland State University Active Rock
Glacier Inventory ( n=10 332) for the contiguous United States, derived
from the manual classification of remote sensing imagery (Johnson, 2020;
https://doi.org/10.1594/PANGAEA.918585 ). Individually, these active rock
glaciers are found across widely disparate montane environments, but their
overall distribution unambiguously favors relatively high, arid mountain
ranges with sparse vegetation. While at least one active rock glacier is
identified in each of the 11 westernmost states, nearly 88 % are found in
just five states: Colorado ( n=3889 ), Montana ( n=1813 ), Idaho ( n=1689 ), Wyoming ( n=839 ), and Utah ( n=834 ). Mean active rock glacier
area is estimated at 0.10 km 2 , with cumulative active rock glacier area
totaling 1004.05 km 2 . Active rock glaciers are assigned to a three-tier
classification system based on area thresholds and surface characteristics
known to correlate with downslope movement. Class 1 features ( n=7042 ,
average area = 0.12 km 2 ) appear to be highly active, Class 2 features
( n=2415 , average area = 0.05 km 2 ) appear to be intermediately
active, and Class 3 features ( n=875 , average area = 0.04 km 2 )
appear to be minimally active. This geospatial inventory will allow past
active rock glacier research findings to be spatially extrapolated, help
facilitate further active rock glacier research by identifying field study
sites, and serve as a valuable training set for the development of automated
rock glacier identification and classification methods applicable to other
large regional studies.
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