New seismic station installed in the Mont Blanc massif

On Friday, April 17, the Geophysical Instrumentation Service (SIG) of ISTerre (Baptiste Camus, Arthur Perrin and Benjamin Vial), together with Alex Rolland (Fault Mechanics and Instabilities group Mécanique des Failles et des Instabilités), worked in the Mont Blanc massif to install a new seismic station. This operation is part of the PAPROG project (Action Plan for the Prevention of Glacier- and Periglacial-Origin Hazards), led by Eric Larose. (Fault Mechanics and Instabilities group Mécanique des Failles et des Instabilites).

Located near the Grands Mulets refuge at an altitude of around 3,100 meters, this station will enable the monitoring of the Taconnaz glacier and its surroundings. Situated just a few steps from the Taconnaz seracs (the largest serac wall in the Alps), it aims to study the mechanisms of ice fracturing, while contributing to a better understanding of the progressive warming of high-altitude glaciers and the potential role of liquid water in their deformation and thermal evolution.

In the coming weeks, a second station of the same type will be installed on the Aiguille du Goûter (3,863 m). Together with the station at the Vallot refuge (4,362 m) and other instruments already operated by ISTerre and the SIG in the area, this new installation strengthens a monitoring network now structured at the scale of the Mont Blanc massif.

The densification of this seismic network will improve the detection of low-magnitude events, as well as the accuracy of their location, whether of tectonic origin or linked to glacial and periglacial processes. The collected data will provide valuable insights to address major scientific challenges, particularly those related to climate change in the Alpine massif.

This mission, successfully carried out by Baptiste Camus (High Mountain Mission Leader - COHM), marks an important step forward in monitoring glacier-related hazards and in understanding high-mountain dynamics.

Updated on 28 April 2026