Internal structure of rock glaciers in Altai (The case of talus rock glacier in Dzhelo River Valley)

In 2019, a comprehensive study of the internal structure of the talus rock glacier in the Dzhelo River valley was carried out (North-Chuya Range). The identification of the internal structure was performed using electrical resistivity tomography and GPR sounding. In order to compare the internal structure of the rock glacier with its surface morphology, we carried out aerial photography and constructed a digital terrain model. The study revealed that the depth of the rock-ice core varies from 2.5-3 m to 10 m, and the thickness ranges from 7 m to 30 m. The consolidation cores of the rock-ice material are confined to inter-ridge depressions in the rock glacier body. The potential volume of a rock-ice core is 800 thousand m3, which is 53% of the rock glacier total volume, the ice volume in the rock-ice core can be as much as 400 thousand m3.