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Published on October 01, 2026

Robust estimation of rock mass volume is a key challenge for rockfall hazard assessment. However, this estimation remains particularly difficult due to the irregular geometry of blocks, the heterogeneity of material mechanical properties, and the poorly constrained boundary conditions, particularly at depth.
A recently proposed approach in the literature [Pazzi et al., 2025] consists of studying the fundamental natural frequency of rock blocks — estimated, for example, from a (…)

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Published on September 26, 2026

At Semeru volcano, dome growth, lava emplacement, and pyroclastic density currents commonly occur over short timescales within sustained eruptive activity, producing rapid and large-amplitude changes in topography and surface deformation. In this type of andesitic system, quantifying these processes remains challenging due to their small temporal and spatial scales and their location in steep summit areas where ground-based measurements are rare.
Here, we show that the combined analysis (…)

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Published on September 18, 2026

The end of the last Ice Age ( 19,000 to 11,700 years ago) was a period of rapid climatic and environmental changes. In the Alps, within a few thousand years, the glaciers went from their last maximum extent, covering the entire Alpine range and extending into the piedmont areas, to small mountain glaciers similar to those found nowadays. There remains considerable uncertainty regarding the chronology and retreat rates of the major Alpine glaciers, particularly in the Northern French Alps, (…)

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Published on September 11, 2026

Nanga Parbat, one of the most impressive peaks in the Himalayas, is also a mountain undergoing profound transformation. Rising to 8,125 metres, this massif provides an exceptional natural laboratory for studying the dynamics of the Earth’s crust.
Researchers from ISTerre and their collaborators combined GNSS measurements with satellite radar data (InSAR) to map the current deformation of the massif.
Their results show that the Nanga Parbat massif is currently rising by several (…)

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Published on September 05, 2026

The study of the (geo)dynamo using numerical codes has been developing for about 30 years ; the first dynamo simulation was published in 1995 [1]. Since then, significant progress has been made in both hardware and software, enabling simulations to reach conditions comparable to those found within planetary and stellar interiors. These numerous improvements have, in particular, made the discipline more accessible, and many research teams have since been able to tackle the simulation of (…)

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Published on July 10, 2026

Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) are sudden releases of water from glacier-fed lakes. They can be triggered by a range of processes, including ice or rock avalanches, moraine failures, etc, and are recognized as among the most destructive cryospheric hazards.
In the Cordillera Blanca, Peru, one of the world’s best-documented GLOF regions, most studies and risk-management strategies have historically focused on large glacial lakes (>0.1 km²), mainly because they store larger volumes of (…)

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Published on July 03, 2026

An international team of geoscientists from ISTerre (CNRS/Université Grenoble Alpes), the University of Alaska Anchorage, and other partner institutions investigated the active fault systems accommodating tectonic strain at the northern edge of the Quito-Latacunga microblock in the high Andes of Ecuador and Colombia.
The boundary between tectonic microblocks in this region has long been challenging to map, with geodetic models suggesting approximately 3 mm/year of right-lateral strain. (…)

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Published on June 25, 2026

Recent research in subduction zones highlights how earthquakes, volcanism, and the deep recycling of Earth’s materials are part of a single connected system. At subduction zones, one tectonic plate sinks beneath another, driving most of the planet’s large earthquakes while also transporting water, carbon, and rocks back into the mantle.
Until recently, observations were mainly limited to land-based networks, leaving offshore fault systems, where the largest earthquakes occur, poorly (…)

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Published on June 12, 2026

Climate warming is profoundly altering high-mountain environments and increasing the likelihood of complex natural hazards. The destabilization of glaciers, mountain slopes, and river systems can trigger cascading events, leading to significant impacts on populations, infrastructure, and ecosystems.
The 2025 collapse in Switzerland’s Lötschental Valley provides a striking example of this evolution. A large rockfall destabilized a glacier, which subsequently collapsed and generated an (…)

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Published on May 04, 2026

A collaborative team of micropaleontologists, geochemists, and physicists from ISTerre (CNRS/Université Grenoble Alpes), CEREGE, Institut Néel, SOLEIL, and Rutgers University provides new insights into the mechanisms of skeletal formation in Nannoconus, an extinct calcareous nannoplankton that played a major role in biocalcification in the Cretaceous seas.
For nearly 35 million years, the skeletons of this genus have contributed massive carbonate accumulations on the seafloor, (…)

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