Atmospheric warming threatens the untapped glacial archive of Ortles mountain, South Tyrol
AbstractOrtles mountain (3905 m a.s.l.), South Tyrol, Italy, is the highest mountain of the Eastern European Alps, and its upper glacier, Alto dell'Ortles, presents a unique opportunity to obtain the first paleoenvironmental record from an ice core in this area. To study the suitability of this...
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ftopenaccessrep:oai:zenodo.org:121923 2023-10-29T02:37:04+01:00 Atmospheric warming threatens the untapped glacial archive of Ortles mountain, South Tyrol Karl Krainer Lonnie G. Thompson R. Dinale J. Gabrieli Mary E. Davis Carlo Barbante G. Dalla Fontana Luca Carturan Roberto Seppi Paolo Gabrielli V. Zagorodnov Helmut Hausmann 2010-01-01 https://www.openaccessrepository.it/record/121923 https://doi.org/10.3189/002214310794457263 eng eng url:https://www.openaccessrepository.it/communities/itmirror https://www.openaccessrepository.it/record/121923 doi:10.3189/002214310794457263 info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess Aurora Universities Network NEANIAS Atmospheric Research Community Earth-Surface Processes info:eu-repo/semantics/article publication-article 2010 ftopenaccessrep https://doi.org/10.3189/002214310794457263 2023-10-03T22:17:06Z AbstractOrtles mountain (3905 m a.s.l.), South Tyrol, Italy, is the highest mountain of the Eastern European Alps, and its upper glacier, Alto dell'Ortles, presents a unique opportunity to obtain the first paleoenvironmental record from an ice core in this area. To study the suitability of this glacier as a drilling site, in 2009 we performed the first preliminary study of its glaciological characteristics at ˜3830 m a.s.l. The maximum thickness is ˜75 m, and lamination of the exposed ice layers is excellent down to bedrock. Firn and ice lenses were observed in a 10 m shallow core, and the firn/ice transition was below ˜24m. The seasonal chemical signal is clearly preserved only within the uppermost 2008 and 2009 snow/firn. A simple mass-balance model, the incipient 'smoothing' of the chemical record, and the observed ice lenses provide evidence that melting, infiltration and refreezing cycles occurred within the firn layers formed before 2008. Nevertheless, the mass balance of the upper part of Alto dell'Ortles was positive (˜800mma_1) during the last few years. We suggest that an environmental history is likely to be well preserved only within the ice layers formed before ˜1980, when summer air temperature was ˜2°C colder than today in this area. Clearly the continued warming trend predicted to occur over the next few decades, and the consequent increase in frequency and/or intensity of infiltration processes, will endanger the preservation of the glacial archive conserved in the deep ice layers of Ortles mountain. Article in Journal/Newspaper ice core Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN): Open Access Repository Journal of Glaciology 56 199 843 853 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare (INFN): Open Access Repository |
op_collection_id |
ftopenaccessrep |
language |
English |
topic |
Aurora Universities Network NEANIAS Atmospheric Research Community Earth-Surface Processes |
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Aurora Universities Network NEANIAS Atmospheric Research Community Earth-Surface Processes Karl Krainer Lonnie G. Thompson R. Dinale J. Gabrieli Mary E. Davis Carlo Barbante G. Dalla Fontana Luca Carturan Roberto Seppi Paolo Gabrielli V. Zagorodnov Helmut Hausmann Atmospheric warming threatens the untapped glacial archive of Ortles mountain, South Tyrol |
topic_facet |
Aurora Universities Network NEANIAS Atmospheric Research Community Earth-Surface Processes |
description |
AbstractOrtles mountain (3905 m a.s.l.), South Tyrol, Italy, is the highest mountain of the Eastern European Alps, and its upper glacier, Alto dell'Ortles, presents a unique opportunity to obtain the first paleoenvironmental record from an ice core in this area. To study the suitability of this glacier as a drilling site, in 2009 we performed the first preliminary study of its glaciological characteristics at ˜3830 m a.s.l. The maximum thickness is ˜75 m, and lamination of the exposed ice layers is excellent down to bedrock. Firn and ice lenses were observed in a 10 m shallow core, and the firn/ice transition was below ˜24m. The seasonal chemical signal is clearly preserved only within the uppermost 2008 and 2009 snow/firn. A simple mass-balance model, the incipient 'smoothing' of the chemical record, and the observed ice lenses provide evidence that melting, infiltration and refreezing cycles occurred within the firn layers formed before 2008. Nevertheless, the mass balance of the upper part of Alto dell'Ortles was positive (˜800mma_1) during the last few years. We suggest that an environmental history is likely to be well preserved only within the ice layers formed before ˜1980, when summer air temperature was ˜2°C colder than today in this area. Clearly the continued warming trend predicted to occur over the next few decades, and the consequent increase in frequency and/or intensity of infiltration processes, will endanger the preservation of the glacial archive conserved in the deep ice layers of Ortles mountain. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Karl Krainer Lonnie G. Thompson R. Dinale J. Gabrieli Mary E. Davis Carlo Barbante G. Dalla Fontana Luca Carturan Roberto Seppi Paolo Gabrielli V. Zagorodnov Helmut Hausmann |
author_facet |
Karl Krainer Lonnie G. Thompson R. Dinale J. Gabrieli Mary E. Davis Carlo Barbante G. Dalla Fontana Luca Carturan Roberto Seppi Paolo Gabrielli V. Zagorodnov Helmut Hausmann |
author_sort |
Karl Krainer |
title |
Atmospheric warming threatens the untapped glacial archive of Ortles mountain, South Tyrol |
title_short |
Atmospheric warming threatens the untapped glacial archive of Ortles mountain, South Tyrol |
title_full |
Atmospheric warming threatens the untapped glacial archive of Ortles mountain, South Tyrol |
title_fullStr |
Atmospheric warming threatens the untapped glacial archive of Ortles mountain, South Tyrol |
title_full_unstemmed |
Atmospheric warming threatens the untapped glacial archive of Ortles mountain, South Tyrol |
title_sort |
atmospheric warming threatens the untapped glacial archive of ortles mountain, south tyrol |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
https://www.openaccessrepository.it/record/121923 https://doi.org/10.3189/002214310794457263 |
genre |
ice core |
genre_facet |
ice core |
op_relation |
url:https://www.openaccessrepository.it/communities/itmirror https://www.openaccessrepository.it/record/121923 doi:10.3189/002214310794457263 |
op_rights |
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3189/002214310794457263 |
container_title |
Journal of Glaciology |
container_volume |
56 |
container_issue |
199 |
container_start_page |
843 |
op_container_end_page |
853 |
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1781061422843691008 |