Recent evolution of Marmolada glacier (Dolomites, Italy) by means of ground and airborne GPR surveys

Abstract

A 10-year-long evolution of ice thickness and volume of the Marmolada glacier is presented.Quantitative measurements have been performed by using two different Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) datasets. A ground-based survey using two different ground-coupled systems equipped with 100 MHz and 35 MHz antennas was performed in 2004. In 2015 the dataset was collected by using a helicopter-borne step frequency GPR equipped with a 100 MHz antenna. Through a critical discussion of the two different methodologies, we show how both approaches are useful to estimate the ice volume within a glacier, as well as its morphological characteristics and changes with time, even if datasets are acquired in different periods of the year.The observed 2004-2014 ice volume reduction of the Marmolada glacier is equal to about 30%, while the area covered by ice decreased by about 22%. The glacier is now split in several separated units. It is very likely that the fragmentation of the Marmolada glacier observed in the period 2004-2014 was accelerated due to irregular karst topography. By applying the observed 2004-2014 ice-melting trend 2 for the future, the Marmolada glacier will likely disappear by the year 2050. Only few isolated very small and thin ice patches will eventually survive due to avalanche feeding at the foot of the northfacing cliffs. However, the Marmolada glacier might behave slightly different compared to glaciers on non-karstic terrains owing to prevalently vertical subglacial karst drainage, though this aspect on glacier behaviour is still not fully understood.

200 years of equilibrium-line altitude variability across the European Alps (1901−2100)

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Holocene glaciation in the mountains of Bulgaria

“…Some studies (Triglav Čekada and Gabrovec 2013; Scotti and Brardinoni 2018;Santin et al 2019) confirm that the smaller is one glacier, the least dependent is it from climate change. Many glaciers in the southern and the eastern Alps have shrunk rapidly throughout the twentieth century, and, when they reached sufficiently small size (e.g.…”

“…In Prokletije, the rapid shrinkage probably occurred also throughout the last century. At other small glaciers of the Southern Alps (Eiskar, Austria, Marmolada, Italy) the rapid reduction is still in progress (Santin et al 2019;Hohenwarter 2013). Evidence has shown that the glacierets in Pirin were in the "small size" stage also in the LIA, and this provides an explanation why they have changed relatively little since.…”

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“…However, we can hypothesize that, at least in some cases, the combined action of the temperature increase and precipitation decrease that occurred after 1980 influenced the evolution of glaciers. According to the present rate of glacier decline, and according to the observed climatic warming trends, the glaciers in the Italian Alps are expected to disappear by 2050 (Santin et al, 2019).…”