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Engineering Geology

Rockfall from the eastern flank of the Eiger
Bruno Petroni

Rockfall from the eastern flank of the Eiger (2006): Due to retreat of the Lower Grindelwald glacier and lowering of the ice surface by 200 m since 1860, this rock face became exposed. The changing boundary conditions led to increasing instability until large parts of the wall finally broke away.

Retreat of the Aletsch Glacier

  • Glacier in 1900
  • Glacier in 2005 and today
  • Fissure of the glacier

Steep rock walls exposed during glacier retreat may become unstable and pose a risk of rock fall and landslides. The photos above show dramatic retreat of the Aletsch Glacier since 1900. Current rock slope instabilities in the lower Aletsch region are marked in the photos to the right.

Image of the group Engineering Geology

Our group studies the behavior of rocks at the surface and their mechanical properties. In particular, we are interested in how slope instabilities develop in geological time-scales and how we can improve the prediction of catastrophic events such as rockslides.

Engineering Geology at ETH Zurich
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