| Title | Recent (1975-2003) changes in the Miage debris-covered glacier tongue (Mont Blanc, Italy) from analysis of aerial photos and maps |
| Author | Diolaiuti, G.; D'Agata, C.; Meazza, A.; Zanutta, A.; Smiraglia, C. |
| Author Affil | Diolaiuti, G., Universita di Milano, Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra "A. Desio", Milan, Italy. Other: Universita di Bologna, Italy |
| Source | Geografia Fisica e Dinamica Quaternaria (Testo Stampato), 32(1), p.117- 127, ; 12th Belgium-France-Italy-Romania geomorphological meeting, Savona, Italy, Sept. 26-29, 2007, edited by P.R. Federici. Publisher: Comitato Glaciologico Italiano, Turin, Italy. ISSN: 0391- 9838 |
| Publication Date | 2009 |
| Notes | In English. 50 refs. GeoRef Acc. No: 296644 |
| Index Terms | climate; climatic change; geomorphology; glacier tongues; glaciers; photogrammetry; remote sensing; France--Mont Blanc; aerial photography; Alps; Cenozoic; climate change; debris; deglaciation; digital terrain models; Europe; France; glacial features; Haute-Savoie France; Holocene; landform evolution; Miage Glacier; Mont Blanc; Quaternary; Savoy Alps; sedimentary cover; Western Alps; Western Europe |
| Abstract | The present study aims at identifying any changes in volume and thickness of the Miage Glacier tongue (Mont Blanc Massif, Italy) during the period 1975-2003. The Miage glacier developed the largest part of its debris cover over the last century, now found mostly between the glacier terminus (about 1850 m a.s.l.) and the upper ablation tongue (c. 2400 m a.s.l.) on a surface area of c. 4 km2. The period examined (1975-2003) addresses climate conditions which were glacier-favourable (around the 1980s), as well as glacier-unfavourable (since the early to mid-1990s), thus contributing to an understanding of the behaviour of debris covered glaciers under a changing climate. The analysis was based on the comparison between digital elevation models (DEMs), derived from historical records, specifically maps (1975; scale 1:10,000) and photogrammetric surveys (1991 and 2003, scale 1:15,000). The results show a general glacier volume loss (-16.640×106 m3) from 1975 to 2003; nevertheless if we focus on the two time sub-windows (i.e.: 1975-1991 and 1991- 2003) opposite trends are found: in the period 1975-1991 the volume variation of the Miage Glacier was about +19.25×106 m3, in the period 1991-2003, on the other hand, a volume decrease of about 36.2×106 m3 occurred. Analysis shows that volume changes were strongly influenced by the supraglacial debris coverage which on Miage glacier tongue modulates the magnitude and rates of buried ice ablation. |
| Publication Type | conference paper or compendium article |
| Record ID | 64001781 |