New glacier evidence for ice-free summits during the life of the Tyrolean Iceman

Abstract Detailed knowledge of Holocene climate and glaciers dynamics is essential for sustainable development in warming mountain regions. Yet information about Holocene glacier coverage in the Alps before the Little Ice Age stems mostly from studying advances of glacier tongues at lower elevations...

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Autores principales:	Pascal Bohleber, Margit Schwikowski, Martin Stocker-Waldhuber, Ling Fang, Andrea Fischer
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Nature Portfolio 2020
Materias:	Medicine R Science Q
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/57aff04fcb3a4593a1b9503f804e708c
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:57aff04fcb3a4593a1b9503f804e708c2021-12-02T13:34:00ZNew glacier evidence for ice-free summits during the life of the Tyrolean Iceman10.1038/s41598-020-77518-92045-2322https://doaj.org/article/57aff04fcb3a4593a1b9503f804e708c2020-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-77518-9https://doaj.org/toc/2045-2322Abstract Detailed knowledge of Holocene climate and glaciers dynamics is essential for sustainable development in warming mountain regions. Yet information about Holocene glacier coverage in the Alps before the Little Ice Age stems mostly from studying advances of glacier tongues at lower elevations. Here we present a new approach to reconstructing past glacier low stands and ice-free conditions by assessing and dating the oldest ice preserved at high elevations. A previously unexplored ice dome at Weißseespitze summit (3500 m), near where the “Tyrolean Iceman” was found, offers almost ideal conditions for preserving the original ice formed at the site. The glaciological settings and state-of-the-art micro-radiocarbon age constraints indicate that the summit has been glaciated for about 5900 years. In combination with known maximum ages of other high Alpine glaciers, we present evidence for an elevation gradient of neoglaciation onset. It reveals that in the Alps only the highest elevation sites remained ice-covered throughout the Holocene. Just before the life of the Iceman, high Alpine summits were emerging from nearly ice-free conditions, during the start of a Mid-Holocene neoglaciation. We demonstrate that, under specific circumstances, the old ice at the base of high Alpine glaciers is a sensitive archive of glacier change. However, under current melt rates the archive at Weißseespitze and at similar locations will be lost within the next two decades.Pascal BohleberMargit SchwikowskiMartin Stocker-WaldhuberLing FangAndrea FischerNature PortfolioarticleMedicineRScienceQENScientific Reports, Vol 10, Iss 1, Pp 1-10 (2020)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Medicine R Science Q
spellingShingle	Medicine R Science Q Pascal Bohleber Margit Schwikowski Martin Stocker-Waldhuber Ling Fang Andrea Fischer New glacier evidence for ice-free summits during the life of the Tyrolean Iceman
description	Abstract Detailed knowledge of Holocene climate and glaciers dynamics is essential for sustainable development in warming mountain regions. Yet information about Holocene glacier coverage in the Alps before the Little Ice Age stems mostly from studying advances of glacier tongues at lower elevations. Here we present a new approach to reconstructing past glacier low stands and ice-free conditions by assessing and dating the oldest ice preserved at high elevations. A previously unexplored ice dome at Weißseespitze summit (3500 m), near where the “Tyrolean Iceman” was found, offers almost ideal conditions for preserving the original ice formed at the site. The glaciological settings and state-of-the-art micro-radiocarbon age constraints indicate that the summit has been glaciated for about 5900 years. In combination with known maximum ages of other high Alpine glaciers, we present evidence for an elevation gradient of neoglaciation onset. It reveals that in the Alps only the highest elevation sites remained ice-covered throughout the Holocene. Just before the life of the Iceman, high Alpine summits were emerging from nearly ice-free conditions, during the start of a Mid-Holocene neoglaciation. We demonstrate that, under specific circumstances, the old ice at the base of high Alpine glaciers is a sensitive archive of glacier change. However, under current melt rates the archive at Weißseespitze and at similar locations will be lost within the next two decades.
format	article
author	Pascal Bohleber Margit Schwikowski Martin Stocker-Waldhuber Ling Fang Andrea Fischer
author_facet	Pascal Bohleber Margit Schwikowski Martin Stocker-Waldhuber Ling Fang Andrea Fischer
author_sort	Pascal Bohleber
title	New glacier evidence for ice-free summits during the life of the Tyrolean Iceman
title_short	New glacier evidence for ice-free summits during the life of the Tyrolean Iceman
title_full	New glacier evidence for ice-free summits during the life of the Tyrolean Iceman
title_fullStr	New glacier evidence for ice-free summits during the life of the Tyrolean Iceman
title_full_unstemmed	New glacier evidence for ice-free summits during the life of the Tyrolean Iceman
title_sort	new glacier evidence for ice-free summits during the life of the tyrolean iceman
publisher	Nature Portfolio
publishDate	2020
url	https://doaj.org/article/57aff04fcb3a4593a1b9503f804e708c
work_keys_str_mv	AT pascalbohleber newglacierevidenceforicefreesummitsduringthelifeofthetyroleaniceman AT margitschwikowski newglacierevidenceforicefreesummitsduringthelifeofthetyroleaniceman AT martinstockerwaldhuber newglacierevidenceforicefreesummitsduringthelifeofthetyroleaniceman AT lingfang newglacierevidenceforicefreesummitsduringthelifeofthetyroleaniceman AT andreafischer newglacierevidenceforicefreesummitsduringthelifeofthetyroleaniceman
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New glacier evidence for ice-free summits during the life of the Tyrolean Iceman

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