Atmospheric warming threatens the untapped glacial archive of Ortles mountain, South Tyrol
Ortles 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...
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ftunivpadovairis:oai:www.research.unipd.it:11577/2669066 2024-04-14T08:13:04+00:00 Atmospheric warming threatens the untapped glacial archive of Ortles mountain, South Tyrol P. Gabrielli J. Gabrieli R. Dinale K. Krainer H. Hausmann M. Davis V. S. Zagorodnov R. Seppi C. Barbante L. G. Thompson CARTURAN, LUCA DALLA FONTANA, GIANCARLO P., Gabrielli Carturan, Luca J., Gabrieli R., Dinale K., Krainer H., Hausmann M., Davi V. S., Zagorodnov R., Seppi C., Barbante DALLA FONTANA, Giancarlo L. G., Thompson 2010 STAMPA http://hdl.handle.net/11577/2669066 eng eng International Glaciological Society info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000286407400011 volume:56 (199) firstpage:843 lastpage:853 numberofpages:11 journal:JOURNAL OF GLACIOLOGY http://hdl.handle.net/11577/2669066 0.3189/002214310794457263 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-79551703449 Glacier mass balance ice core firn paleoenvironmental record info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2010 ftunivpadovairis 2024-03-21T19:13:58Z Ortles 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 $24 m. 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 ($800 mm a–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 $28C 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 Padua Research Archive (IRIS - Università degli Studi di Padova) |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Padua Research Archive (IRIS - Università degli Studi di Padova) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivpadovairis |
language |
English |
topic |
Glacier mass balance ice core firn paleoenvironmental record |
spellingShingle |
Glacier mass balance ice core firn paleoenvironmental record P. Gabrielli J. Gabrieli R. Dinale K. Krainer H. Hausmann M. Davis V. S. Zagorodnov R. Seppi C. Barbante L. G. Thompson CARTURAN, LUCA DALLA FONTANA, GIANCARLO Atmospheric warming threatens the untapped glacial archive of Ortles mountain, South Tyrol |
topic_facet |
Glacier mass balance ice core firn paleoenvironmental record |
description |
Ortles 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 $24 m. 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 ($800 mm a–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 $28C 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. |
author2 |
P., Gabrielli Carturan, Luca J., Gabrieli R., Dinale K., Krainer H., Hausmann M., Davi V. S., Zagorodnov R., Seppi C., Barbante DALLA FONTANA, Giancarlo L. G., Thompson |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
P. Gabrielli J. Gabrieli R. Dinale K. Krainer H. Hausmann M. Davis V. S. Zagorodnov R. Seppi C. Barbante L. G. Thompson CARTURAN, LUCA DALLA FONTANA, GIANCARLO |
author_facet |
P. Gabrielli J. Gabrieli R. Dinale K. Krainer H. Hausmann M. Davis V. S. Zagorodnov R. Seppi C. Barbante L. G. Thompson CARTURAN, LUCA DALLA FONTANA, GIANCARLO |
author_sort |
P. Gabrielli |
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 |
publisher |
International Glaciological Society |
publishDate |
2010 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/11577/2669066 |
genre |
ice core |
genre_facet |
ice core |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000286407400011 volume:56 (199) firstpage:843 lastpage:853 numberofpages:11 journal:JOURNAL OF GLACIOLOGY http://hdl.handle.net/11577/2669066 0.3189/002214310794457263 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-79551703449 |
_version_ |
1796310957094338560 |