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Probably not. Most alpine valleys were carved by glaciers and have a characteristic U-shaped profile. When you get a landslide into a glacial valley, it hits th
by AlotOfReading 1mo ago
Probably not. Most alpine valleys were carved by glaciers and have a characteristic U-shaped profile. When you get a landslide into a glacial valley, it hits the relatively flat floor and breaks itself apart. The valleys themselves are usually wide enough that they don't dam either. The alps also have significantly less relief than the Himalayas.
The valley where the floods occurred in Nepal has a V-shape, and the peaks around it have much more relief. It's much easier for a large landslide to fill the bottom, creating a dam that can burst, or just continue down the valley without wasting all its energy on a broad flat plain at the bottom. The upper valley immediately below the cliff face that toppled was also a glacial U-shaped valley though, so this speculation might need adjustment as more work is done.
It's worth emphasizing just how much less monitored and dangerous Nepal's mountains are though. The (greater) Himalayas are unlike any other mountain ranges I've ever seen.
- mncharity 1mo ago> The valley where the floods occurred in Nepal has a V-shape https://earth.google.com/web/@28.34107217,85.43477356,2834.64843382a,30014.16790257d,35y,43.91969489h,54.5245525t,360r/data=CgRCAggBQgIIAEoNCP___________wEQAA?authuser=0 https://earth.google.com/web/@28.34107217,85.43477356,2834.6...
- AlotOfReading 1mo agoDidn't realize google earth's performance had gotten that bad, but yeah, you can clearly see the V shape there. You can see the U shape in the hanging valleys on the higher slopes as well as further up where the main waterway originates, but whatever form the lower regions might have had after the last LGM has been reshaped by erosion.