Ice aprons on steep high-alpine slopes: insights from the Mont-Blanc massif, Western Alps
Ice aprons are defined as very small ice bodies covering steep rock slopes. They have only been the subject of increased scientific interest for a few years, despite the fact that they are a condition for mountaineering and obvious elements in the high-alpine landscapes. However, very little is know...
Published in: | Journal of Glaciology |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Cambridge University Press
2023
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2023.15 https://doaj.org/article/08353d379961451097f977d4cda17a1d |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:08353d379961451097f977d4cda17a1d |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:08353d379961451097f977d4cda17a1d 2023-11-12T04:18:26+01:00 Ice aprons on steep high-alpine slopes: insights from the Mont-Blanc massif, Western Alps Ludovic Ravanel Grégoire Guillet Suvrat Kaushik Susanne Preunkert Emmanuel Malet Florence Magnin Emmanuel Trouvé Maurine Montagnat Yajing Yan Philip Deline 2023-10-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2023.15 https://doaj.org/article/08353d379961451097f977d4cda17a1d EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143023000151/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2023.15 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/08353d379961451097f977d4cda17a1d Journal of Glaciology, Vol 69, Pp 1275-1291 (2023) Cold ice glacial heritage ice aprons ice melting Mont-Blanc massif Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2023 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2023.15 2023-10-29T00:40:50Z Ice aprons are defined as very small ice bodies covering steep rock slopes. They have only been the subject of increased scientific interest for a few years, despite the fact that they are a condition for mountaineering and obvious elements in the high-alpine landscapes. However, very little is known about their distribution, evolution and physical characteristics. In this paper, we review the existing knowledge on ice aprons, which have almost exclusively been investigated in the Mont-Blanc massif, Western Alps. We supplement this review with novel results from recent surveys of ice aprons. We used a wide array of methodologies, from remote sensing (multi-source imagery) to in situ (stakes and thermal monitoring) and laboratory (radiocarbon dating and texture analysis) glaciological investigations. In the Mont-Blanc massif, ice aprons occupy 4.2 km2 within the alpine permafrost zone. Temperature measured at the ice–rock interface is indeed largely negative. Thinness of ice aprons coupled with the cold context implies a quasi-stationary shear regime without basal Sliding. Only ice at the surface can possibly melt in warm periods. After a shrinking period from the end of the Little Ice Age to the mid-to-late-1960s, ice aprons experienced a short period of expansion, followed by an accelerated shrinkage since the beginning of the 21st century. This shrinkage now favours rockfall triggering and poses a serious threat to a glaciological heritage since ice aprons host several-thousand-year-old ice. Finally, we synthesize this information to assess the existing definition of ice aprons, and propose some future research directions. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ice Journal of Glaciology permafrost Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Journal of Glaciology 69 277 1275 1291 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Cold ice glacial heritage ice aprons ice melting Mont-Blanc massif Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
spellingShingle |
Cold ice glacial heritage ice aprons ice melting Mont-Blanc massif Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 Ludovic Ravanel Grégoire Guillet Suvrat Kaushik Susanne Preunkert Emmanuel Malet Florence Magnin Emmanuel Trouvé Maurine Montagnat Yajing Yan Philip Deline Ice aprons on steep high-alpine slopes: insights from the Mont-Blanc massif, Western Alps |
topic_facet |
Cold ice glacial heritage ice aprons ice melting Mont-Blanc massif Environmental sciences GE1-350 Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 |
description |
Ice aprons are defined as very small ice bodies covering steep rock slopes. They have only been the subject of increased scientific interest for a few years, despite the fact that they are a condition for mountaineering and obvious elements in the high-alpine landscapes. However, very little is known about their distribution, evolution and physical characteristics. In this paper, we review the existing knowledge on ice aprons, which have almost exclusively been investigated in the Mont-Blanc massif, Western Alps. We supplement this review with novel results from recent surveys of ice aprons. We used a wide array of methodologies, from remote sensing (multi-source imagery) to in situ (stakes and thermal monitoring) and laboratory (radiocarbon dating and texture analysis) glaciological investigations. In the Mont-Blanc massif, ice aprons occupy 4.2 km2 within the alpine permafrost zone. Temperature measured at the ice–rock interface is indeed largely negative. Thinness of ice aprons coupled with the cold context implies a quasi-stationary shear regime without basal Sliding. Only ice at the surface can possibly melt in warm periods. After a shrinking period from the end of the Little Ice Age to the mid-to-late-1960s, ice aprons experienced a short period of expansion, followed by an accelerated shrinkage since the beginning of the 21st century. This shrinkage now favours rockfall triggering and poses a serious threat to a glaciological heritage since ice aprons host several-thousand-year-old ice. Finally, we synthesize this information to assess the existing definition of ice aprons, and propose some future research directions. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Ludovic Ravanel Grégoire Guillet Suvrat Kaushik Susanne Preunkert Emmanuel Malet Florence Magnin Emmanuel Trouvé Maurine Montagnat Yajing Yan Philip Deline |
author_facet |
Ludovic Ravanel Grégoire Guillet Suvrat Kaushik Susanne Preunkert Emmanuel Malet Florence Magnin Emmanuel Trouvé Maurine Montagnat Yajing Yan Philip Deline |
author_sort |
Ludovic Ravanel |
title |
Ice aprons on steep high-alpine slopes: insights from the Mont-Blanc massif, Western Alps |
title_short |
Ice aprons on steep high-alpine slopes: insights from the Mont-Blanc massif, Western Alps |
title_full |
Ice aprons on steep high-alpine slopes: insights from the Mont-Blanc massif, Western Alps |
title_fullStr |
Ice aprons on steep high-alpine slopes: insights from the Mont-Blanc massif, Western Alps |
title_full_unstemmed |
Ice aprons on steep high-alpine slopes: insights from the Mont-Blanc massif, Western Alps |
title_sort |
ice aprons on steep high-alpine slopes: insights from the mont-blanc massif, western alps |
publisher |
Cambridge University Press |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2023.15 https://doaj.org/article/08353d379961451097f977d4cda17a1d |
genre |
Ice Journal of Glaciology permafrost |
genre_facet |
Ice Journal of Glaciology permafrost |
op_source |
Journal of Glaciology, Vol 69, Pp 1275-1291 (2023) |
op_relation |
https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0022143023000151/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0022-1430 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5652 doi:10.1017/jog.2023.15 0022-1430 1727-5652 https://doaj.org/article/08353d379961451097f977d4cda17a1d |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1017/jog.2023.15 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
69 |
container_issue |
277 |
container_start_page |
1275 |
op_container_end_page |
1291 |
_version_ |
1782335043907092480 |