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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ftreroch:oai:doc.rero.ch:20150612111756-WW 2023-05-15T13:03:04+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, Christian 2015-06-12T09:19:41Z http://doc.rero.ch/record/255838/files/hau_wpa.pdf eng eng http://doc.rero.ch/record/255838/files/hau_wpa.pdf 2015 ftreroch 2023-02-16T17:26:19Z 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. Other/Unknown Material Active layer thickness Ice permafrost RERO DOC Digital Library |
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RERO DOC Digital Library |
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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. |
author |
Pogliotti, P. Guglielmin, M. Cremonese, E. Morra di Cella, U. Filippa, G. Pellet, C. Hauck, Christian |
spellingShingle |
Pogliotti, P. Guglielmin, M. Cremonese, E. Morra di Cella, U. Filippa, G. Pellet, C. Hauck, Christian 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, Christian |
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 |
2015 |
url |
http://doc.rero.ch/record/255838/files/hau_wpa.pdf |
genre |
Active layer thickness Ice permafrost |
genre_facet |
Active layer thickness Ice permafrost |
op_relation |
http://doc.rero.ch/record/255838/files/hau_wpa.pdf |
_version_ |
1766327685309530112 |