28-10 Electrical Resistivity Tomography of Ice Volume in Rock Glaciers on Mt. Mestas in Southern Colorado

Session: Geoscience and Hydrogeology in the AI Era: From Predictive Models to Real-Time Applications (Posters)

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This study presents a geophysical investigation of ice volume in rock glaciers on Mt. Mestas in Southern Colorado. Rock glaciers are unique geomorphological alpine landforms, made up of rock debris and subsurface ice mass contained within pore spaces. With an estimated 10,000 rock glaciers across the United States, these ice-rich landforms influence hydrology and weathering processes in alpine regions. Despite their significance in terms of cryosphere climatical indicators, rock glaciers remain widely understudied, leaving gaps in interpretation of their movement kinematics and internal structure and hydrological contributions. While other methods of geophysics, such as ground penetrating radar, have been used to assess these landforms, results are often ambiguous regarding volumetric ice data. This study demonstrates how electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) can be used to image the subsurface ice volume and overall kinematic structure of these landforms. Furthermore, this project couples ERT results with LiDAR-derived elevation models and aerial photogrammetry to accurately delineate the surface morphology in response to ice-rich and relict areas of the rock glacier. By integrating subsurface analysis along with remote sensing, this study not only aims to enhance understanding of rock glacier dynamics at Mt. Mestas but also establishes a reproducible framework for monitoring alpine periglacial environments. The methodologies and insights developed herein lay critical groundwork for in situ geophysical investigations into cryosphere climate sensitivity and hydrological resource contributions of rock glaciers.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

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