A massive rock and ice avalanche caused the 2021 disaster at Chamoli, Indian Himalaya
Dan H. Shugar, Mylène Jacquemart, David Shean, Shashank Bhushan, Kavita Upadhyay, Ashim Sattar, Wolfgang Schwanghart, Sara K. McBride, Maximillian Van Wyk de Vries, Martin Mergili, Adam Emmer, César Deschamps‐Berger, Morgan McDonnell, Rakesh Bhambri, Simon Allen, Étienne Berthier, Jonathan L. Carrivick, John J. Clague, М.Д. Докукин, Stuart Dunning, Holger Frey, Simon Gascoin, Umesh K. Haritashya, Christian Huggel, Andreas Kääb, Jeffrey S. Kargel, Jeffrey L. Kavanaugh, Pascal Lacroix, David N. Petley, Summer Rupper, Mohd Farooq Azam, Simon J. Cook, A. P. Dimri, Martin Eriksson, Daniel Farinotti, Joel Fiddes, Kaushal Raj Gnyawali, Stephan Harrison, M. Jha, Michèle Koppes, Amit Kumar, Silvan Leinss, Ulfat Majeed, Suraj Mal, Arnab Muhuri, Jeannette Noetzli, F. Paul, Irfan Rashid, Kalachand Sain, Jakob Steiner, Felipe Ugalde, C. Scott Watson, Matthew Westoby
Abstract
cubic meters of rock and glacier ice collapsed from the steep north face of Ronti Peak. The rock and ice avalanche rapidly transformed into an extraordinarily large and mobile debris flow that transported boulders greater than 20 meters in diameter and scoured the valley walls up to 220 meters above the valley floor. The intersection of the hazard cascade with downvalley infrastructure resulted in a disaster, which highlights key questions about adequate monitoring and sustainable development in the Himalaya as well as other remote, high-mountain environments.