Projects / Programmes
Past climate change and glaciation at the Alps-Dinarides junction
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 1.06.06 |
Natural sciences and mathematics |
Geology |
Regional geology |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 1.05 |
Natural Sciences |
Earth and related Environmental sciences |
glaciers, climate change, numerical modelling, Alps, Dinarides, Last Glacial Cycle
Data for the last 5 years (citations for the last 10 years) on
April 1, 2023;
A3 for period 2017-2021
Data for ARRS tenders (
04.04.2019 – Programme tender,
archive
)
| Database |
Linked records |
Citations |
Pure citations |
Average pure citations |
| WoS |
146 |
1,679 |
1,305 |
8.94 |
| Scopus |
215 |
2,444 |
1,844 |
8.58 |
Researchers (12)
Organisations (3)
Abstract
Former mountain glaciers are important analogues for understanding contemporary ice masses and their future interactions with climate. Formerly glaciated mountain landscapes are also important archives for the study of climate change during the Quaternary. The European Alps are one of the regions where geological markers of past glaciations are most abundant and well-studied. The same is, however, not true for the south-eastern corner of the Alps and neighbouring northern Dinarides, despite the fact that here the glacial history has been studied since the late nineteenth century. Several discrepancies exist among palaeoglaciological maps generated by different authors. There are also large disagreements between these empirical reconstructions and numerically modelled simulations, which predict excessive ice cover over the entire south-eastern Alps. In this project, we will improve our understanding of past climate-glacier dynamics at the Alps-Dinarides junction by combining field and model-based approaches. In particular, we will explore the spatio-temporal patterns of glacier fluctuations during the Last Glacial Cycle, the influence of different bed geology on subglacial conditions and glacier dynamics, and the past climate conditions driving the growth and recession of glaciers. In Work Package 1, we will produce a palaeoglaciological map of glacier extensions for key time slices, which will rely on critically assessed geomorphological and geological information and new geochronological data from ice margin locations. All glacial data will be stored in an open access GIS database. In Work Package 2, we will use the open-source Parallel Ice Sheet Model (PISM) to simulate glacier dynamics through the Last Glacial Cycle over the south-eastern Alps and northern Dinarides. Representative regional climate data will be used as an input to the model, whereas the chronologically well-constrained Tagliamento end moraine system in northeast Italy will be used as a benchmark area to test the model for palaeoclimate forcing. In addition, we will develop a new package to the existing model that will allow us to explore the influence of rock permeability on subglacial hydrology and glacier basal motion. This part of the study draws on new empirical results from glaciers demonstrating that vertical karstic outflow below the ice can effectively remove the seasonal speed variation of glaciers resting on well-karstified carbonate rock. The latter is the prevailing bedrock type over the modelled domain. In Work Package 3, we will quantify the degree of fit between empirical and numerical reconstructions of glaciers to find the optimum model simulation. Finally, we will infer past climate conditions both from the best-fit simulation and from independently reconstructed gridded equilibrium line altitudes. Overall, this project will deliver new findings about how Pleistocene and Holocene glaciers shaped the landscape and how they reacted to past climate variability. The results have potential implications for studies of present-day and future response of glaciers to global environmental change.
