Investigating cold based summit glaciers through direct access to the glacier base: a case study constraining the maximum age of Chli Titlis glacier, Switzerland
Cold glaciers at the highest locations of the European Alps have been investigated by drilling ice cores to retrieve their stratigraphic climate records. Findings like the Oetztal ice man have demonstrated that small ice bodies at summit locations of comparatively lower altitudes may also contain ol...
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COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH
2018
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Online Access: | https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/46454/ https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/46454/1/tc-12-401-2018.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-401-2018 https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.fa2fdc84-d532-4181-9dc6-fd34f601b624 |
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ftawi:oai:epic.awi.de:46454 2024-09-15T18:12:02+00:00 Investigating cold based summit glaciers through direct access to the glacier base: a case study constraining the maximum age of Chli Titlis glacier, Switzerland Bohleber, Pascal Hoffmann, Helene Kerch, Johanna Sold, Leo Fischer, Andrea 2018 application/pdf https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/46454/ https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/46454/1/tc-12-401-2018.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-401-2018 https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.fa2fdc84-d532-4181-9dc6-fd34f601b624 unknown COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/46454/1/tc-12-401-2018.pdf Bohleber, P. , Hoffmann, H. , Kerch, J. orcid:0000-0002-7200-6837 , Sold, L. and Fischer, A. (2018) Investigating cold based summit glaciers through direct access to the glacier base: a case study constraining the maximum age of Chli Titlis glacier, Switzerland , The Cryosphere, 12 (1), pp. 401-412 . doi:10.5194/tc-12-401-2018 <https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-401-2018> , hdl:10013/epic.fa2fdc84-d532-4181-9dc6-fd34f601b624 EPIC3The Cryosphere, COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH, 12(1), pp. 401-412, ISSN: 1994-0424 Article isiRev 2018 ftawi https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-401-2018 2024-06-24T04:19:47Z Cold glaciers at the highest locations of the European Alps have been investigated by drilling ice cores to retrieve their stratigraphic climate records. Findings like the Oetztal ice man have demonstrated that small ice bodies at summit locations of comparatively lower altitudes may also contain old ice if locally frozen to the underlying bedrock. In this case, constraining the maximum age of their lowermost ice part may help to identify past periods with minimum ice extent in the Alps. However, with recent warming and consequent glacier mass loss, these sites may not preserve their unique climate information for much longer. Here we utilized an existing ice cave at Chli Titlis (3030 m), central Switzerland, to perform a case study for investigating the maximum age of cold-based summit glaciers in the Alps. The cave offers direct access to the glacier stratigraphy without the logistical effort required in ice core drilling. In addition, a pioneering exploration had already demonstrated stagnant cold ice conditions at Chli Titlis, albeit more than 25 years ago. Our englacial temperature measurements and the analysis of the isotopic and physical properties of ice blocks sampled at three locations within the ice cave show that cold ice still exists fairly unchanged today. State-of-the-art micro-radiocarbon analysis constrains the maximum age of the ice at Chli Titlis to about 5000 years before present. By this means, the approach presented here will contribute to a future systematic investigation of cold-based summit glaciers, also in the Eastern Alps. Article in Journal/Newspaper ice core The Cryosphere Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) The Cryosphere 12 1 401 412 |
institution |
Open Polar |
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Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar- and Marine Research (AWI): ePIC (electronic Publication Information Center) |
op_collection_id |
ftawi |
language |
unknown |
description |
Cold glaciers at the highest locations of the European Alps have been investigated by drilling ice cores to retrieve their stratigraphic climate records. Findings like the Oetztal ice man have demonstrated that small ice bodies at summit locations of comparatively lower altitudes may also contain old ice if locally frozen to the underlying bedrock. In this case, constraining the maximum age of their lowermost ice part may help to identify past periods with minimum ice extent in the Alps. However, with recent warming and consequent glacier mass loss, these sites may not preserve their unique climate information for much longer. Here we utilized an existing ice cave at Chli Titlis (3030 m), central Switzerland, to perform a case study for investigating the maximum age of cold-based summit glaciers in the Alps. The cave offers direct access to the glacier stratigraphy without the logistical effort required in ice core drilling. In addition, a pioneering exploration had already demonstrated stagnant cold ice conditions at Chli Titlis, albeit more than 25 years ago. Our englacial temperature measurements and the analysis of the isotopic and physical properties of ice blocks sampled at three locations within the ice cave show that cold ice still exists fairly unchanged today. State-of-the-art micro-radiocarbon analysis constrains the maximum age of the ice at Chli Titlis to about 5000 years before present. By this means, the approach presented here will contribute to a future systematic investigation of cold-based summit glaciers, also in the Eastern Alps. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Bohleber, Pascal Hoffmann, Helene Kerch, Johanna Sold, Leo Fischer, Andrea |
spellingShingle |
Bohleber, Pascal Hoffmann, Helene Kerch, Johanna Sold, Leo Fischer, Andrea Investigating cold based summit glaciers through direct access to the glacier base: a case study constraining the maximum age of Chli Titlis glacier, Switzerland |
author_facet |
Bohleber, Pascal Hoffmann, Helene Kerch, Johanna Sold, Leo Fischer, Andrea |
author_sort |
Bohleber, Pascal |
title |
Investigating cold based summit glaciers through direct access to the glacier base: a case study constraining the maximum age of Chli Titlis glacier, Switzerland |
title_short |
Investigating cold based summit glaciers through direct access to the glacier base: a case study constraining the maximum age of Chli Titlis glacier, Switzerland |
title_full |
Investigating cold based summit glaciers through direct access to the glacier base: a case study constraining the maximum age of Chli Titlis glacier, Switzerland |
title_fullStr |
Investigating cold based summit glaciers through direct access to the glacier base: a case study constraining the maximum age of Chli Titlis glacier, Switzerland |
title_full_unstemmed |
Investigating cold based summit glaciers through direct access to the glacier base: a case study constraining the maximum age of Chli Titlis glacier, Switzerland |
title_sort |
investigating cold based summit glaciers through direct access to the glacier base: a case study constraining the maximum age of chli titlis glacier, switzerland |
publisher |
COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/46454/ https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/46454/1/tc-12-401-2018.pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-401-2018 https://hdl.handle.net/10013/epic.fa2fdc84-d532-4181-9dc6-fd34f601b624 |
genre |
ice core The Cryosphere |
genre_facet |
ice core The Cryosphere |
op_source |
EPIC3The Cryosphere, COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH, 12(1), pp. 401-412, ISSN: 1994-0424 |
op_relation |
https://epic.awi.de/id/eprint/46454/1/tc-12-401-2018.pdf Bohleber, P. , Hoffmann, H. , Kerch, J. orcid:0000-0002-7200-6837 , Sold, L. and Fischer, A. (2018) Investigating cold based summit glaciers through direct access to the glacier base: a case study constraining the maximum age of Chli Titlis glacier, Switzerland , The Cryosphere, 12 (1), pp. 401-412 . doi:10.5194/tc-12-401-2018 <https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-401-2018> , hdl:10013/epic.fa2fdc84-d532-4181-9dc6-fd34f601b624 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-12-401-2018 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
container_volume |
12 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
401 |
op_container_end_page |
412 |
_version_ |
1810449630814535680 |