Remote thermal detection of exfoliation sheet deformation.

A growing body of research indicates that rock slope failures, particularly from exfoliating cliffs, are promoted by rock deformations induced by daily temperature cycles. Although previous research has described how these deformations occur, full three-dimensional monitoring of both the deformations and the associated temperature changes has not yet been performed. Here we use integrated terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) and infrared thermography (IRT) techniques to monitor daily deformations of two granitic exfoliating cliffs in Yosemite National Park (CA, USA). At one cliff, we employed TLS and IRT in conjunction with in situ instrumentation to confirm previously documented behavior of an exfoliated rock sheet, which experiences daily closing and opening of the exfoliation fracture during rock cooling and heating, respectively, with a few hours delay from the minimum and maximum temperatures. The most deformed portion of the sheet coincides with the area where both the fracture aperture and the temperature variations are greatest. With the general deformation and temperature relations established, we then employed IRT at a second cliff, where we remotely detected and identified 11 exfoliation sheets that displayed those general thermal relations. TLS measurements then subsequently confirmed the deformation patterns of these sheets showing that sheets with larger apertures are more likely to display larger thermal-related deformations. Our high-frequency monitoring shows how coupled TLS and IRT allows for remote detection of thermally induced deformations and, importantly, how IRT could potentially be used on its own to identify partially detached exfoliation sheets capable of large-scale deformation. These results offer a new and efficient approach for investigating potential rockfall sources on exfoliating cliffs.

Detection of rock bridges by infrared thermal imaging and modeling.

Characterization of rock discontinuities and rock bridges is required to define stability conditions of fractured rock masses in both natural and engineered environments. Although remote sensing methods for mapping discontinuities have improved in recent years, remote detection of intact rock bridges on cliff faces remains challenging, with their existence typically confirmed only after failure. In steep exfoliating cliffs, such as El Capitan in Yosemite Valley (California, USA), rockfalls mainly occur along cliff-parallel exfoliation joints, with rock bridges playing a key role in the stability of partially detached exfoliation sheets. We employed infrared thermal imaging (i.e., thermography) as a new means of detecting intact rock bridges prior to failure. An infrared thermal panorama of El Capitan revealed cold thermal signatures for the surfaces of two granitic exfoliation sheets, consistent with the expectation that air circulation cools the back of the partially detached sheets. However, we also noted small areas of warm thermal anomalies on these same sheets, even during periods of nocturnal rock cooling. Rock attachment via rock bridges is the likely cause for the warm anomalies in the thermal data. 2-D model simulations of the thermal behavior of one of  the monitored sheets reproduce the observed anomalies and explain the temperature differences detected in the rock bridge area. Based on combined thermal and ground-based lidar imaging, and using geometric and rock fracture mechanics analysis, we are able to quantify the stability of both sheets. Our analysis demonstrates that thermography can remotely detect intact rock bridges and thereby greatly improve rockfall hazard assessment.

Thermal influences on spontaneous rock dome exfoliation.

Rock domes, with their onion-skin layers of exfoliation sheets, are among the most captivating landforms on Earth. Long recognized as integral in shaping domes, the exact mechanism(s) by which exfoliation occurs remains enigmatic, mainly due to the lack of direct observations of natural events. In August 2014, during the hottest days of summer, a granitic dome in California, USA, spontaneously exfoliated; witnesses observed extensive cracking, including a ~8000 kg sheet popping into the air. Subsequent exfoliation episodes during the following two summers were recorded by instrumentation that captured-for the first time-exfoliation deformation and stress conditions. Here we show that thermal cycling and cumulative dome surface heating can induce subcritical cracking that culminates in seemingly spontaneous exfoliation. Our results indicate that thermal stresses-largely discounted in dome formation literature-can play a key role in triggering exfoliation and therefore may be an important control for shaping domes worldwide.

The first hominin of Europe.

The earliest hominin occupation of Europe is one of the most debated topics in palaeoanthropology. However, the purportedly oldest of the Early Pleistocene sites in Eurasia lack precise age control and contain stone tools rather than human fossil remains. Here we report the discovery of a human mandible associated with an assemblage of Mode 1 lithic tools and faunal remains bearing traces of hominin processing, in stratigraphic level TE9 at the site of the Sima del Elefante, Atapuerca, Spain. Level TE9 has been dated to the Early Pleistocene (approximately 1.2-1.1 Myr), based on a combination of palaeomagnetism, cosmogenic nuclides and biostratigraphy. The Sima del Elefante site thus emerges as the oldest, most accurately dated record of human occupation in Europe, to our knowledge. The study of the human mandible suggests that the first settlement of Western Europe could be related to an early demographic expansion out of Africa. The new evidence, with previous findings in other Atapuerca sites (level TD6 from Gran Dolina), also suggests that a speciation event occurred in this extreme area of the Eurasian continent during the Early Pleistocene, initiating the hominin lineage represented by the TE9 and TD6 hominins.