Long‐term monitoring of sporadic permafrost at the eastern margin of the European Alps (Hochreichart, Seckauer Tauern range, Austria)
Delineating the spatial extent and the altitudinal lower limit of mountain permafrost is difficult due to complex topo‐climatic and variable ground thermal conditions within short distances. Little information exists regarding sporadic permafrost existence, its thermal characteristics and its long‐t...
Published in: | Permafrost and Periglacial Processes |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2021 |
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ftrepec:oai:RePEc:wly:perpro:v:30:y:2019:i:4:p:260-277 2023-05-15T17:55:27+02:00 Long‐term monitoring of sporadic permafrost at the eastern margin of the European Alps (Hochreichart, Seckauer Tauern range, Austria) Andreas Kellerer‐Pirklbauer https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2021 unknown https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2021 article ftrepec https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2021 2020-12-04T13:30:49Z Delineating the spatial extent and the altitudinal lower limit of mountain permafrost is difficult due to complex topo‐climatic and variable ground thermal conditions within short distances. Little information exists regarding sporadic permafrost existence, its thermal characteristics and its long‐term changes at the eastern margin of the European Alps. To reduce this gap, permafrost monitoring was initiated in 2004 in the Seckauer Tauern mountains, Austria. Research was carried out in the summit region of Mt Hochreichart (2416 m a.s.l.) and at several nearby cirques and valleys, all with rock glaciers. Geomorphic mapping, numerical permafrost modeling, measurements of the bottom temperature of the winter snow cover, continuous ground temperature monitoring, electrical resistivity tomography and optical snow cover monitoring were applied. Results indicate sporadic permafrost occurrence in the summit region with mean annual ground temperatures slightly below 0°C at the surface and −1.4°C at 2.5 m depth. Permafrost lenses also exist in the transition zone between the rock glacier and the talus slope behind attributed to coarse‐grained, blocky material causing additional ground cooling. Thanks to long‐term data, statistically significant trends of atmospheric and ground warming were observed in 2000–2018. Permafrost at this site will presumably disappear within the next few decades. Article in Journal/Newspaper permafrost RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) Permafrost and Periglacial Processes 30 4 260 277 |
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Open Polar |
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RePEc (Research Papers in Economics) |
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Delineating the spatial extent and the altitudinal lower limit of mountain permafrost is difficult due to complex topo‐climatic and variable ground thermal conditions within short distances. Little information exists regarding sporadic permafrost existence, its thermal characteristics and its long‐term changes at the eastern margin of the European Alps. To reduce this gap, permafrost monitoring was initiated in 2004 in the Seckauer Tauern mountains, Austria. Research was carried out in the summit region of Mt Hochreichart (2416 m a.s.l.) and at several nearby cirques and valleys, all with rock glaciers. Geomorphic mapping, numerical permafrost modeling, measurements of the bottom temperature of the winter snow cover, continuous ground temperature monitoring, electrical resistivity tomography and optical snow cover monitoring were applied. Results indicate sporadic permafrost occurrence in the summit region with mean annual ground temperatures slightly below 0°C at the surface and −1.4°C at 2.5 m depth. Permafrost lenses also exist in the transition zone between the rock glacier and the talus slope behind attributed to coarse‐grained, blocky material causing additional ground cooling. Thanks to long‐term data, statistically significant trends of atmospheric and ground warming were observed in 2000–2018. Permafrost at this site will presumably disappear within the next few decades. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Andreas Kellerer‐Pirklbauer |
spellingShingle |
Andreas Kellerer‐Pirklbauer Long‐term monitoring of sporadic permafrost at the eastern margin of the European Alps (Hochreichart, Seckauer Tauern range, Austria) |
author_facet |
Andreas Kellerer‐Pirklbauer |
author_sort |
Andreas Kellerer‐Pirklbauer |
title |
Long‐term monitoring of sporadic permafrost at the eastern margin of the European Alps (Hochreichart, Seckauer Tauern range, Austria) |
title_short |
Long‐term monitoring of sporadic permafrost at the eastern margin of the European Alps (Hochreichart, Seckauer Tauern range, Austria) |
title_full |
Long‐term monitoring of sporadic permafrost at the eastern margin of the European Alps (Hochreichart, Seckauer Tauern range, Austria) |
title_fullStr |
Long‐term monitoring of sporadic permafrost at the eastern margin of the European Alps (Hochreichart, Seckauer Tauern range, Austria) |
title_full_unstemmed |
Long‐term monitoring of sporadic permafrost at the eastern margin of the European Alps (Hochreichart, Seckauer Tauern range, Austria) |
title_sort |
long‐term monitoring of sporadic permafrost at the eastern margin of the european alps (hochreichart, seckauer tauern range, austria) |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2021 |
genre |
permafrost |
genre_facet |
permafrost |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2021 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp.2021 |
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Permafrost and Periglacial Processes |
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30 |
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4 |
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260 |
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277 |
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1766163398124371968 |