Erin Bessette-Kirton (Former Employee)
Science and Products
Potential Landslide Paths and Implications for Tsunami Hazards in Glacier Bay, Alaska – An Initial Investigation
Glacier Bay and its inlets are a popular destination for cruise ships and passenger boats; about 540,000 people visited Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve (GBNPP) in 2017. A typical tour of the Bay traverses the entire length up to the glacier calving viewpoints in the Johns Hopkins and Tarr Inlets. A 2018 article “Landslides and Giant Waves” by the National Park Service (NPS) states, “...
Preliminary Analysis of Satellite Imagery and Seismic Observations of the Nuugaatsiaq Landslide and Tsunami, Greenland
Disclaimer
This information is preliminary or provisional and is subject to revision. It is being provided to meet the need for timely science to assess ongoing hazards. The information has not received final approval by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and is provided on the condition that neither the USGS nor the U.S. Government shall be held liable for any damages...
Mountain Permafrost, Climate Change, and Rock Avalanches in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
Release Date: JUNE 18, 2018
We usually hear about landslides and avalanches that are caused by large amounts of rainfall, the shaking from earthquakes, or a volcanic eruption, but we may be hearing more about avalanches caused by the (seemingly innocuous) melting of ice in the coming years.
A 36-year record of rock avalanches in the Saint Elias Mountains of Alaska, with implications for future hazards
Glacial retreat and mountain-permafrost degradation resulting from rising global temperatures have the potential to impact the frequency and magnitude of landslides in glaciated environments. Several recent events, including the 2015 Taan Fiord rock avalanche, which triggered a tsunami with one of the highest wave runups ever recorded, have called...
Bessette-Kirton, Erin K.; Coe, Jeffrey A. Mobility characteristics of landslides triggered by Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico
Mobility is an important element of landslide hazard and risk assessments yet has been seldom studied for shallow landslides and debris flows in tropical environments. In September 2017, Hurricane Maria triggered > 70,000 landslides across Puerto Rico. Using aerial imagery and a lidar digital elevation model (DEM), we mapped and characterized...
Bessette-Kirton, Erin K.; Coe, Jeffrey A.; Schulz, William; Cerovski-Darriau, Corina; Einbund, Mason Muir An initial assessment of areas where landslides could enter the West Arm of Glacier Bay, Alaska and implications for tsunami hazards
Tsunamis generated by landslides in Glacier Bay are uncommon, but have potential to be extraordinarily destructive when they occur. This article identifies areas that are susceptible to landslides that could generate tsunamis and discusses approaches to characterize hazard and risk from these events.
Coe, Jeffrey A.; Schmitt, Robert G.; Bessette-Kirton, Erin The 2016 Lamplugh rock avalanche, Alaska: Deposit structures and emplacement dynamics
Supraglacial landslides result from the catastrophic failure of periglacial rock slopes and deposit large volumes of rock and ice onto the glacier surface. The most remarkable features of these landslides are their prominent long flowbands and a high mobility that exceeds that of their counterparts in other environments. Based on field surveys,...
Dufresne, A.; Wolken, G.; Hibert, C; Bessette-Kirton, Erin; Coe, Jeffrey A.; Geertsema, M.; Ekström, G A 4000-year history of debris flows in north-central Washington State, U.S.A.: Preliminary results from trenching and surficial geologic mapping at the Pope Creek fan
Long-term records of the magnitude and frequency of debris flows on fans are rare, but such records provide critical information needed for debris-flow hazard and risk assessments. This study explores the history of debris flows on a fan with seasonally inhabited cabins at Pope Creek along the Entiat River about 48 km upstream from the town of...
Coe, Jeffrey A.; Bessette-Kirton, Erin; Slaughter, Stephen; Rengers, Francis K.; Contreras, Trevor A.; Michelson, Katherin A; Taylor, Emily; Kean, Jason W.; Jacobacci, Kara; Hanson, Molly A An evaluation of debris-flow runout model accuracy and complexity in Montecito, CA: Towards a framework for regional inundation-hazard forecasting
Numerous debris-flow inundation models have been applied retroactively to noteworthy events around the world. While such studies can be useful in identifying controlling factors, calibrating model parameters, and assessing future hazards in specific study areas, model parameters tailored to individual events can be difficult to apply regionally....
Bessette-Kirton, Erin; Kean, Jason W.; Coe, Jeffrey A.; Rengers, Francis K.; Staley, Dennis M. Landslides triggered by Hurricane Maria: Assessment of an extreme event in Puerto Rico
Hurricane Maria hit the island of Puerto Rico on 20 September 2017 and triggered more than 40,000 landslides in at least three-fourths of Puerto Rico’s 78 municipalities. The number of landslides that occurred during this event was two orders of magnitude greater than those reported from previous hurricanes. Landslide source areas were commonly...
Bessette-Kirton, Erin; Cerovski-Darriau, Corina; Schulz, William; Coe, Jeffrey A.; Kean, Jason W.; Godt, Jonathan W.; Thomas, Matthew A.; Hughes, K. Stephen Using stereo satellite imagery to account for ablation, entrainment, and compaction in volume calculations for rock avalanches on Glaciers: Application to the 2016 Lamplugh Rock Avalanche in Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska
The use of preevent and postevent digital elevation models (DEMs) to estimate the volume of rock avalanches on glaciers is complicated by ablation of ice before and after the rock avalanche, scour of material during rock avalanche emplacement, and postevent ablation and compaction of the rock avalanche deposit. We present a model to account for...
Bessette-Kirton, Erin; Coe, Jeffrey A.; Zhou, Wendy Increasing rock-avalanche size and mobility in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska detected from 1984 to 2016 Landsat imagery
In the USA, climate change is expected to have an adverse impact on slope stability in Alaska. However, to date, there has been limited work done in Alaska to assess if changes in slope stability are occurring. To address this issue, we used 30-m Landsat imagery acquired from 1984 to 2016 to establish an inventory of 24 rock avalanches in a 5000-...
Coe, Jeffrey A.; Bessette-Kirton, Erin; Geertsema, Marten Increasing rock-avalanche size and mobility in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska detected from 1984 to 2016 Landsat imagery
In the USA, climate change is expected to have an adverse impact on slope stability in Alaska. However, to date, there has been limited work done in Alaska to assess if changes in slope stability are occurring. To address this issue, we used 30-m Landsat imagery acquired from 1984 to 2016 to establish an inventory of 24 rock avalanches in a 5000-...
Coe, Jeffrey A.; Bessette-Kirton, Erin; Geertsema, M. Inventory of rock avalanches in western Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, Alaska, 1984-2016: a baseline data set for evaluating the impact of climate change on avalanche magnitude, mobility, and frequency
The effects of climate change have the potential to impact slope stability. Negative impacts are expected to be greatest at high northerly latitudes where degradation of permafrost in rock and soil, debuttressing of slopes as a result of glacial retreat, and changes in ocean ice-cover are likely to increase the susceptibility of slopes to...
Bessette-Kirton, Erin; Coe, Jeffrey A.
Potential Landslides and Tsunami Hazards in Glacier Bay, Alaska
USGS landslide scientists recently completed an investigation that provides an initial assessment of areas where landslides could enter the water of Glacier Bay and generate tsunamis.