Landslide Photo Collections

Searchable USGS Photo and Multimedia Archive with Ordering Information

In June, 1999, a series of rock falls occurred from the north face of Glacier Point above Camp Curry, Yosemite National Park, California. For more information please see USGS Open-file reports, "Rock-fall Potential in the Yosemite Valley, California", and "Rock falls from Glacier Point above Camp Curry, Yosemite National Park, California" online: http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1999/ofr-99-0578/ and http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/1999/ofr-99-0385/

  • Photograph taken from Royal Arches Route climb from across the canyon by rock climber Lloyd DeForrest while dangling on the rope 2000 feet above the valley floor, in Yosemite National Park, California.
    rocks_falls....
  • Sketch showing progressive propagation of cracks with time in area below rock-fall releases.
    crackv3.gif
  • Photograph looking south at rock-fall release areas below Glacier Point (dashed colored lines indicate individual release areas: blue-11/16/98, brown-5/25/99, red- 6/13/99, yellow 6/15/99). Dark shaded areas indicate water seeps from joints and cracks. Photograph slightly oblique to rock face with approximate scale as indicated.
    releasearea_...
  • Site of rock-fall releases below Glacier Point, Yosemite National Park, California (blue-November 16, 1998; brown-May 25, 1999; red-June 13, 1999; and yellow-June 15, 1999). Dashed line shows area of figure 2c. Photograph taken looking south from helicopter on June 16, 1999.
    releaseav3.j...
  • Photomosaic of releases and area of cracking below Glacier Point. Cracks are shown by red dashed lines. Some selected joints and other structural features are identified by solid red lines for reference. Window notation refers to area of inset exfoliation sheet. Note water seeps over surface of exfoliation sheet J1 issuing from joint set J2 (left).
    crackmapv4.j...
  • Delineation of joint sets (J2-J5); estimates of orientation for joint sets are included in Table 1. Joint set J1 is the plane of the cliff face visible in this photo.
    jointsv1.jpg

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