Glacier algae foster ice-albedo feedback in the European Alps
The melting of glaciers and ice sheets is nowadays considered a symbol of climate change. Many complex mechanisms are involved in the melting of ice, and, among these processes, surface darkening due to organic material on bare ice has recently received attention from the scientific community. The p...
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ftunivroma3iris:oai:iris.uniroma3.it:11590/468648 2024-04-28T08:19:44+00:00 Glacier algae foster ice-albedo feedback in the European Alps Di Mauro, B. Garzonio, R. Baccolo, G. Franzetti, A. Pittino, F. Leoni, B. Remias, D. Colombo, R. Rossini, M. Di Mauro, B. Garzonio, R. Baccolo, G. Franzetti, A. Pittino, F. Leoni, B. Remias, D. Colombo, R. Rossini, M. 2020 https://hdl.handle.net/11590/468648 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61762-0 eng eng info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000562117600003 volume:10 issue:1 journal:SCIENTIFIC REPORTS https://hdl.handle.net/11590/468648 doi:10.1038/s41598-020-61762-0 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-85082004290 info:eu-repo/semantics/article 2020 ftunivroma3iris https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61762-0 2024-04-02T16:59:54Z The melting of glaciers and ice sheets is nowadays considered a symbol of climate change. Many complex mechanisms are involved in the melting of ice, and, among these processes, surface darkening due to organic material on bare ice has recently received attention from the scientific community. The presence of microbes on glaciers has been shown to decrease the albedo of ice and promote melting. Despite several studies from the Himalaya, Greenland, Andes, and Alaska, no quantitative studies have yet been conducted in the European Alps. In this paper, we made use of DNA sequencing, microscopy and field spectroscopy to describe the nature of glacier algae found at a glacier (Vadret da Morteratsch) of the European Alps and to evaluate their effect on the ice-albedo feedback. Among different algal species identified in the samples, we found a remarkable abundance of Ancylonema nordenskioeldii, a species that has never previously been quantitatively documented in the Alps and that dominates algal blooms on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Our results show that, at the end of the ablation season, the concentration of Ancylonema nordenskioeldii on the glacier surface is higher than that of other algal species (i.e. Mesotaenium berggrenii). Using field spectroscopy data, we identified a significant correlation between a reflectance ratio (750nm/650nm) and the algae concentration. This reflectance ratio could be useful for future mapping of glacier algae from remote sensing data exploiting band 6 (740nm) and band 4 (665nm) of the MultiSpectral Instrument (MSI) on board Sentinel-2 satellite. Here we show that the biological darkening of glaciers (i.e. the bioalbedo feedback) is also occurring in the European Alps, and thus it is a global process that must be taken into account when considering the positive feedback mechanisms related to glacier melting. Article in Journal/Newspaper glacier glacier glaciers Greenland Ice Sheet Alaska Anagrafe della Ricerca d'Ateneo (Universitá degli studi Roma Tre) Scientific Reports 10 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Anagrafe della Ricerca d'Ateneo (Universitá degli studi Roma Tre) |
op_collection_id |
ftunivroma3iris |
language |
English |
description |
The melting of glaciers and ice sheets is nowadays considered a symbol of climate change. Many complex mechanisms are involved in the melting of ice, and, among these processes, surface darkening due to organic material on bare ice has recently received attention from the scientific community. The presence of microbes on glaciers has been shown to decrease the albedo of ice and promote melting. Despite several studies from the Himalaya, Greenland, Andes, and Alaska, no quantitative studies have yet been conducted in the European Alps. In this paper, we made use of DNA sequencing, microscopy and field spectroscopy to describe the nature of glacier algae found at a glacier (Vadret da Morteratsch) of the European Alps and to evaluate their effect on the ice-albedo feedback. Among different algal species identified in the samples, we found a remarkable abundance of Ancylonema nordenskioeldii, a species that has never previously been quantitatively documented in the Alps and that dominates algal blooms on the Greenland Ice Sheet. Our results show that, at the end of the ablation season, the concentration of Ancylonema nordenskioeldii on the glacier surface is higher than that of other algal species (i.e. Mesotaenium berggrenii). Using field spectroscopy data, we identified a significant correlation between a reflectance ratio (750nm/650nm) and the algae concentration. This reflectance ratio could be useful for future mapping of glacier algae from remote sensing data exploiting band 6 (740nm) and band 4 (665nm) of the MultiSpectral Instrument (MSI) on board Sentinel-2 satellite. Here we show that the biological darkening of glaciers (i.e. the bioalbedo feedback) is also occurring in the European Alps, and thus it is a global process that must be taken into account when considering the positive feedback mechanisms related to glacier melting. |
author2 |
Di Mauro, B. Garzonio, R. Baccolo, G. Franzetti, A. Pittino, F. Leoni, B. Remias, D. Colombo, R. Rossini, M. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Di Mauro, B. Garzonio, R. Baccolo, G. Franzetti, A. Pittino, F. Leoni, B. Remias, D. Colombo, R. Rossini, M. |
spellingShingle |
Di Mauro, B. Garzonio, R. Baccolo, G. Franzetti, A. Pittino, F. Leoni, B. Remias, D. Colombo, R. Rossini, M. Glacier algae foster ice-albedo feedback in the European Alps |
author_facet |
Di Mauro, B. Garzonio, R. Baccolo, G. Franzetti, A. Pittino, F. Leoni, B. Remias, D. Colombo, R. Rossini, M. |
author_sort |
Di Mauro, B. |
title |
Glacier algae foster ice-albedo feedback in the European Alps |
title_short |
Glacier algae foster ice-albedo feedback in the European Alps |
title_full |
Glacier algae foster ice-albedo feedback in the European Alps |
title_fullStr |
Glacier algae foster ice-albedo feedback in the European Alps |
title_full_unstemmed |
Glacier algae foster ice-albedo feedback in the European Alps |
title_sort |
glacier algae foster ice-albedo feedback in the european alps |
publishDate |
2020 |
url |
https://hdl.handle.net/11590/468648 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61762-0 |
genre |
glacier glacier glaciers Greenland Ice Sheet Alaska |
genre_facet |
glacier glacier glaciers Greenland Ice Sheet Alaska |
op_relation |
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/wos/WOS:000562117600003 volume:10 issue:1 journal:SCIENTIFIC REPORTS https://hdl.handle.net/11590/468648 doi:10.1038/s41598-020-61762-0 info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/scopus/2-s2.0-85082004290 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-61762-0 |
container_title |
Scientific Reports |
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10 |
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1 |
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1797583074523873280 |