Warming permafrost and active layer variability at Cime Bianche, Western European Alps
The objective of this paper is to provide a first synthesis on the state and recent evolution of permafrost at the monitoring site of Cime Bianche (3100 m a.s.l.) on the Italian side of the Western Alps. The analysis is based on 7 years of ground temperature observations in two boreholes and seven s...
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ftcopernicus:oai:publications.copernicus.org:tc25931 2023-05-15T13:03:01+02:00 Warming permafrost and active layer variability at Cime Bianche, Western European Alps Pogliotti, P. Guglielmin, M. Cremonese, E. Morra di Cella, U. Filippa, G. Pellet, C. Hauck, C. 2018-09-27 application/pdf https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-647-2015 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/9/647/2015/ eng eng doi:10.5194/tc-9-647-2015 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/9/647/2015/ eISSN: 1994-0424 Text 2018 ftcopernicus https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-647-2015 2020-07-20T16:24:41Z The objective of this paper is to provide a first synthesis on the state and recent evolution of permafrost at the monitoring site of Cime Bianche (3100 m a.s.l.) on the Italian side of the Western Alps. The analysis is based on 7 years of ground temperature observations in two boreholes and seven surface points. The analysis aims to quantify the spatial and temporal variability of ground surface temperature in relation to snow cover, the small-scale spatial variability of the active layer thickness and current temperature trends in deep permafrost. Results show that the heterogeneity of snow cover thickness, both in space and time, is the main factor controlling ground surface temperatures and leads to a mean range of spatial variability (2.5 ± 0.1 °C) which far exceeds the mean range of observed inter-annual variability (1.6 ± 0.1 °C). The active layer thickness measured in two boreholes at a distance of 30 m shows a mean difference of 2.0 ± 0.1 m with the active layer of one borehole consistently deeper. As revealed by temperature analysis and geophysical soundings, such a difference is mainly driven by the ice/water content in the sub-surface and not by the snow cover regimes. The analysis of deep temperature time series reveals that permafrost is warming. The detected trends are statistically significant starting from a depth below 8 m with warming rates between 0.1 and 0.01 °C yr −1 . Text Active layer thickness Ice permafrost Copernicus Publications: E-Journals The Cryosphere 9 2 647 661 |
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Open Polar |
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Copernicus Publications: E-Journals |
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ftcopernicus |
language |
English |
description |
The objective of this paper is to provide a first synthesis on the state and recent evolution of permafrost at the monitoring site of Cime Bianche (3100 m a.s.l.) on the Italian side of the Western Alps. The analysis is based on 7 years of ground temperature observations in two boreholes and seven surface points. The analysis aims to quantify the spatial and temporal variability of ground surface temperature in relation to snow cover, the small-scale spatial variability of the active layer thickness and current temperature trends in deep permafrost. Results show that the heterogeneity of snow cover thickness, both in space and time, is the main factor controlling ground surface temperatures and leads to a mean range of spatial variability (2.5 ± 0.1 °C) which far exceeds the mean range of observed inter-annual variability (1.6 ± 0.1 °C). The active layer thickness measured in two boreholes at a distance of 30 m shows a mean difference of 2.0 ± 0.1 m with the active layer of one borehole consistently deeper. As revealed by temperature analysis and geophysical soundings, such a difference is mainly driven by the ice/water content in the sub-surface and not by the snow cover regimes. The analysis of deep temperature time series reveals that permafrost is warming. The detected trends are statistically significant starting from a depth below 8 m with warming rates between 0.1 and 0.01 °C yr −1 . |
format |
Text |
author |
Pogliotti, P. Guglielmin, M. Cremonese, E. Morra di Cella, U. Filippa, G. Pellet, C. Hauck, C. |
spellingShingle |
Pogliotti, P. Guglielmin, M. Cremonese, E. Morra di Cella, U. Filippa, G. Pellet, C. Hauck, C. Warming permafrost and active layer variability at Cime Bianche, Western European Alps |
author_facet |
Pogliotti, P. Guglielmin, M. Cremonese, E. Morra di Cella, U. Filippa, G. Pellet, C. Hauck, C. |
author_sort |
Pogliotti, P. |
title |
Warming permafrost and active layer variability at Cime Bianche, Western European Alps |
title_short |
Warming permafrost and active layer variability at Cime Bianche, Western European Alps |
title_full |
Warming permafrost and active layer variability at Cime Bianche, Western European Alps |
title_fullStr |
Warming permafrost and active layer variability at Cime Bianche, Western European Alps |
title_full_unstemmed |
Warming permafrost and active layer variability at Cime Bianche, Western European Alps |
title_sort |
warming permafrost and active layer variability at cime bianche, western european alps |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-647-2015 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/9/647/2015/ |
genre |
Active layer thickness Ice permafrost |
genre_facet |
Active layer thickness Ice permafrost |
op_source |
eISSN: 1994-0424 |
op_relation |
doi:10.5194/tc-9-647-2015 https://tc.copernicus.org/articles/9/647/2015/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5194/tc-9-647-2015 |
container_title |
The Cryosphere |
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9 |
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2 |
container_start_page |
647 |
op_container_end_page |
661 |
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1766326409113894912 |