Computational corroboration of the flow of rock glaciers against borehole measurements

In this study, we computationally corroborate the flow of rock glaciers against borehole measurements, within the context of a model previously developed (2020). The model is, here, tested against the simulation of the sliding motion of the Murtel-Corvatsch alpine glacier, which is characterized in detail in the literature with internal structure description and borehole deformations measurement. The capability of the model to take into account the composition of the rock glacier, as a mixture of ice and rock and sand grains with the local impact of pressure and heat transfer, results in the accurate detection of the internal sliding. With careful calibration of the model parameters, the computed numerical solution of the model reports a relative error of 1.8% and of 0.3% in the reproduction of the measured shear zone velocity and of the ratio of measured shear zone deformation over top surface deformation, respectively. Furthermore a deeper understanding of the role of the model parameters involved in the simulation of such a process is also gained and we discuss the same in detail.