Hidden Earth 2019

From snow to past alpine climate: what ice caves tell us.

30 minute Lecture|Tanguy Racine

Abstract

The infall of snow in open pit caves in an alpine environment sometimes leads to the perennial accumulation of ice underground. These 'cave glaciers' usually also contain macro-fossils, whose dating suggests the preserved ice reaches up to 5000 years old locally.

With the help of an international team of researchers based in Innsbruck, Austria, Tanguy, currently a student at the local university, has visited several of these 'sag-type' caves to investigate their potential for reconstructing a record of past historical climate in the European Alps. The research sites are mainly situated in Austria but also include a Slovenian ice cave.

Tanguy will provide a brief summary of the cave characteristics (geometry, ventilation patterns) that lead to cave glaciation and give an overview of the ice caves currently under study as well as a review of methods used to constrain the age of the ice and potential insights in palaeoclimate research.