Analysis of a 20 m. Firn Pit on the Kesselwandferner (Ötztal Alps)

Abstract

AbstractThe firn stratification in the accumulation area of an alpine glacier was studied in a 20 m. deep, vertical pit dug in the summer of 1963 on the Kesselwandferner (3,240 m. above sea-level in the Ötztal Alps). The firn is traversed by ice layers up to 25 cm. in thickness which have been formed by the damming up and freezing of melt water. Firn density increases with depth. At a depth of 13 m. (8 yr. old firn) the density reaches 0.80 g./cm.3as a mean value of one annual net accumulation. Excluding the ice layers, the firn reaches a density of 0.82 g./cm.3in a 10 yr. old layer at a depth of 16 m. The firn stratification in relation to seasons was studied by analyses of the pollen content in the lower part of the pit, beginning with the horizon “late summer 1954”. The late summer horizons obtained from the firn stratification were confirmed by the pollen analyses.