Temperature and Accumulation of High Altitude Firn in the Alps

Abstract

Data on temperature and accumulation of high altitude firn in the Alps are compiled and discussed. Firn temperature varies with incoming radiation (slope aspect) at a given altitude. The altitudinal gradient of temperature in highly permeable firn bodies appears to be about twice as high as the mean lapse rate of air temperature. “Cold infiltration” takes place above about 3500 m a.s.l. Firn temperatures on the highest peaks are around -15°C. Accumulation (net balance) also decreases with increasing altitude from about 3m H2O at 3500 m a.s.1. to around 0.5 m H2O at wind exposed sites between 4300 and 4800 m a.s.l. Probably this is strongly due to wind erosion and topographical effects. However, temperature and accumulation not only appear to be interrelated, but also seem to be positively correlated to the heat applied to the surface. Assuming the observed altitudinal gradients have remained constant in time, it can be estimated that high altitude firn bodies have become considerably warmer since the last century. CO2-induced atmospheric warming could lead to a drastic change in (he mass turnover and flow activity of high glaciers, in wind-exposed places where wind erosion of the snowpack becomes a controlling factor of accumulation.