Relationship between geomorphological characteristics, environmental settings and activity of transitional rock glaciers: Insights from a statistical analysis in the French Alps

Abstract Permafrost creep is manifested by the presence of rock glaciers in mountainous areas, which are climatically driven landforms. Under degrading permafrost conditions, these ice‐rich bodies tend to slow down until deactivation through a transition phase. However, the ongoing processes and their associated geomorphic responses remain are still poorly understood. This study aims to better understand the relationship between their activity, topo‐climate conditions, and associated geomorphic responses of transitional rock glaciers. The activity of 520 landforms in the French Alps was assessed through Differential Interferometry Single Aperture Radar (DInSAR). Kinematic attributes were then correlated with topo‐climatic and geomorphic characteristics using statistical exploration (Multiple Correspondence Analysis, MCA) and modelling (Multinomial/Binomial Logistic Regression, MLR/BLR). Results show that 71% of rock glaciers are stabilized or slow‐moving landforms, while 23% exhibit surface velocities greater than 10 cm/year. Both MCA and MLR/BLR highlight that fast‐moving rock glaciers are strongly correlated with higher latitudes, high elevations, steep slopes and convex morphologies, in contrast to slow‐moving rock glaciers. MLR analysis revealed further differences between slow and fast classes. Rock glaciers with velocities <1 cm/year and 1–10 cm/year are located at lower latitudes and elevations, and in regions with unfavourable permafrost conditions. However, the <1 cm/year class is still found on steep slopes, suggesting that these landforms may not contain enough ice to maintain permafrost creep. Rock glaciers with velocities between 1 and 10 cm/year are more likely on smoother slopes, but they also show high occurrence probabilities at high elevations, indicating dynamic deactivation processes. Finally, the 10–30 cm/year class is slightly more probable under unfavourable permafrost conditions, which may suggest ongoing climatic deactivation. High‐speed ranges were also associated with heterogeneous and small‐moving areas within rock glacier systems, suggesting the presence of restricted permafrost conditions within a deactivating system. This finding raises important questions about spatial transitions and the temporal evolution of such kinematic behaviour.