New Pieces to the Flims-Tamins Rockslide Puzzle

The huge Flims rockslide in the Swiss Alps has been the focus of scientific study for over 100 years, whereas a nearby rockslide at Tamins that occurred only slightly earlier, is understudied. Field investigations of the Tamins rockslide has provided new insights in its history, as well as that of the Flims rockslide. These investigations, complemented by interpretation of LiDAR imagery, has allowed us to document the sequence of postglacial events in the Vorderrhein river valley. We confirm the hypothesis that the Flims rockslide induced a large debris stream that transported huge volumes of liquefied alluvium, as well as large rafts of rock slide debris (Toma hills), many kilometers both down the Vordderrhein and up the Hinterrhein, its major tributary. The older Tamins rockslide partially impeded and was overrun by the debris stream, dividing it into two lobes.