Assigned Session: #AGM28: Generic Meeting Session
Weißseespitze glacier (Eastern Rhaetian Alps): a 6 kyr paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental reconstruction
Abstract ID: 28.7298 | Accepted as Talk | Talk/Oral | 2025-02-28 16:30 - 16:45 | Ágnes‐Heller‐Haus/Small Lecture Room
Azzurra Spagnesi (0)
Bohleber, Pascal (2,3), Barbaro, Elena (4,2), Feltracco, Matteo (2), De Blasi, Fabrizio (4,2), Dreossi, Giuliano (2), Stocker-Waldhuber, Martin (1), Festi, Daniela (5), Gabrieli, Jacopo (4,2), Gambaro, Andrea (2,4), Barbante, Carlo (2,4)
Azzurra Spagnesi (1,2)
Bohleber, Pascal (2,3), Barbaro, Elena (4,2), Feltracco, Matteo (2), De Blasi, Fabrizio (4,2), Dreossi, Giuliano (2), Stocker-Waldhuber, Martin (1), Festi, Daniela (5), Gabrieli, Jacopo (4,2), Gambaro, Andrea (2,4), Barbante, Carlo (2,4)
1,2
(1) Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Innrain, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria
(2) Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Via Torino, 30170, Venice, Italy
(3) Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Handelshafen, 27570, Bremerhaven, Germany
(4) CNR-Institute of Polar Sciences (ISP-CNR), Via Torino, 30170, Venice, Italy
(5) GeoSphere Austria, Department of Geoanalytics and Reference Collections, Hohe Warte, 1190, Vienna, Austria
(2) Department of Environmental Sciences, Informatics and Statistics, Via Torino, 30170, Venice, Italy
(3) Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, Handelshafen, 27570, Bremerhaven, Germany
(4) CNR-Institute of Polar Sciences (ISP-CNR), Via Torino, 30170, Venice, Italy
(5) GeoSphere Austria, Department of Geoanalytics and Reference Collections, Hohe Warte, 1190, Vienna, Austria
For a long time, alpine ice core research focused on a limited number of suitable drilling sites in the Western European Alps. However, the discovery of the Ӧtztal Ice Man highlighted the potential for millennia-old ice preservation even in lower-altitude glaciers of the Eastern Alps. Despite their heightened sensitivity to climate change, glaciers in the Eastern Alps may provide extensive historical records and a wide range of proxies, such as stable water isotopes and various organic and inorganic impurities. A prime example is the Weißseespitze (WSS) summit ice cap (Ӧtztal Alps, 3500 m a.s.l.), where approximately 6000 years of climate history appear to be preserved within just 10 meters of ice. This study presents a comprehensive profile of stable water isotopes (δ18O, δD), major ions (Na+, Cl-, Br-, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, NO3 2-, SO4 2-, NH4+, MSA-), levoglucosan, and microcharcoal obtained from two parallel ice cores drilled at the Weißseespitze ice cap, in 2019 and 2021, respectively. Remarkably, despite ongoing ice loss, the chemical and isotopic signatures appear well-preserved in a record that spans 6.7 ± 0.4 ka cal, from a surface likely older than 1963. This preservation is particularly noteworthy considering that chemical signals of other archives at similar locations have been partially or fully corrupted by meltwater (i.e., Silvretta glacier, Grand Combin glacier, Ortles glacier). In addition, the impurity concentration near the surface shows no signs of anthropogenic contamination at WSS, suggesting the surface dates to the pre-industrial era. This aligns with the preliminary micro- 14 C age model proposed by Bohleber et al. (2020), suggesting that the record may start around the late 17 th century. The 2019 ice core, reaching a depth of 11 m, was analysed at Ca’ Foscari University (UniVe) using a newly implemented Continuous Flow Analysis (CFA) system, enabling high-resolution extraction (down to 1 cm) of levoglucosan, insoluble dust particles, and conductivity data. Concurrently, measurements of water stable isotopes (δ18O, δD) and major ions (e.g., Na+, Cl-, Br-, K+, Mg2+, Ca2+, NO3 2-, SO4 2-, NH4+, MSA-) were performed in discontinuous mode. Meanwhile, an additional parallel core (8.7 m of depth) drilled at the same location in March 2021 provided a microcharcoal record that interestingly showed strongly matching peaks with chemistry data, particularly levoglucosan maxima, found in the 2019 ice core. These findings greatly advanced the paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental reconstruction of the Weißseespitze (WSS) ice cap, opening new opportunities for further statistical analyses and refinements in dating. This effort has been strengthened by a recently established collaboration with the ArTTA group at Heidelberg University, aimed at minimizing uncertainties in the age model.
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