Das Projekt "ERA.Net-RUS: Weathering and landscape evolution in fragile alpine and subarctic regions" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. Chemical weathering of rocks is extremely important for the generation of soils, for the evolution of landscape, and as a main source of inorganic nutrients for plant growth and therefore for life. Due to climate warming, additional areas will become ice-free and subject to weathering and soil formation. Large parts of the European Alps and Russia including the Altai mountains of Asia were glaciated during the last ice age. Glaciers and periods of glaciation have a significant impact on global weathering. Proglacial environments are important for the understanding of global CO2 cycling on glacial/interglacial timescales as they made up a significant amount of the global land surface during the Quaternary due to the advance and retreat of glaciers and ice sheets. Consequently, the currently occurring worldwide climate changes are fuelling a growing interest in the effect that the state factors such as climate, parent material, topography, organisms and time are having on the landscape and consequently soil evolution. The concept of the factors for soil formation is enjoying a broad renaissance as the worlds people become aware of how the rich resources of soils and ecosystems are being wasted. Consequently, weathering mechanisms as a scientific topic have gained much in importance over the last two decades. The alteration mechanisms are nonetheless poorly understood and further research is required to explain soil and landscape evolution and their response to changing environmental conditions. A main gap in knowledge exists about the velocity of (clay) mineral transformations or formations in soils or material starting to be a soil in high alpine and arctic climate zones. Especially little is known about the initial stages of weathering and soil formation, i.e. during the first decades to centuries of soil genesis. Two different kinds of soil production functions are discussed in literature: a) soil evolution and consequently weathering can be modelled using a humped function which means that soil production and weathering is maximised at a certain time or b) models using an exponential function are often applied. Accordingly, production and weathering exponentially decreases with time. Due to the two different soil production concepts, soil formation and weathering can have both a slow or high reactivity at the initial stage. A challenge is now to test the applicability of the existing soil production functions and as yet unknown forms to different kinds of situations. A main aim of the proposed collaboration and scientific exchange is to compare existing and new datasets (where the main applicants have access to) on weathering and soil evolution in the Alps (Swiss and Italian Alps), the Altai mountains (Siberia, Russian Altai) and the Polar Urals (the Ural Mountains, Russia). In addition, datasets from the Wind River Range (Rocky Mountains, USA) will be available. (abridged text)
Das Projekt "Snowmelt runoff modelling in mountain environments under changing climate conditions (SnowClim)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. Rain-on-snow events with combined snow melting and rainfall is a frequent cause of floods in Europe. Reflecting possible long-term changes in climate conditions, there is the question of climate change impacts on the runoff regime at the regional and local scale. An important part of the research in mountain areas is therefore the issue of possible future changes in snow and glacier melt regimes. The main objective of this project is to contribute to research on processes connected with snow accumulation and melting as a factor of flood risk in the context of changing environment and climate change. The main focus will be possible future changes in snowpack using regional climate models (RCM) and impacts on runoff regime of mountainous basins. The project solution will lean on up-to-date hydrological and geoinformation methods and tools, which are presently applied for modelling the runoff from melting snow. The research will be carried out in selected middle-large basins in Switzerland and in the Czech Republic. Modelling the evolution of the snowpack (snow cover area, snow water equivalent, snowpack duration etc.) will be made by means of energy balance and temperature-index modelling techniques. Simulations using results from RCMs models will be made in order to simulate possible future changes of above mentioned snowpack.
Das Projekt "Soil and Alpine landscape evolution since the Lateglacial and early/mid Holocene in Val di Sole (Trentino, Italy)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. Fast climate changes have occurred in the Lateglacial and early Holocene period. The investigation of this time span therefore gives precise insight into the sensitivity of Alpine areas regarding fast changing environmental conditions. The investigation generally focuses at dating selected Alpine sites of distinct landform surfaces with several absolute and relative methods with the aim to establish an absolute chronology of surfaces, to correlate several dating methods and to improve every ones. The investigation area is in Trentino (Northern Italy). Special emphasis is given to the Lateglacial and early Holocene period. We use several methods (absolute and relative techniques) for dating. A main focus is addressed to moraines and surfaces using soils as an indicator of landscape history. Moraines will be suitable sites for soil investigations where soil chemical and mineralogical techniques can be compared to the absolute age dating techniques. Special aims of the work will be: - 10Be in soil as an age indicator (developing method on Trentino soils and in other sites (e.g. Swiss Alps)) - Dating with 14C and charcoal analyses - Deciphering landscape history in small catchments in Val di Sole using relative and absolute dating techniques. A cross-check of exposure dating, radiocarbon ages and relative methods will allow an extended interpretation, mutual control of the applied methods and a more accurate estimate of possible error sources. A so-calibrated methodology may later also be applied on other characteristic cold-mountain deposits such as debris flows or rock-fall deposits. The whole set of newly developed dating methodologies opens most interesting perspectives for chronological work about late-glacial and Holocene landscape evolution in climate-sensitive high-mountain areas.
Das Projekt "Measuring and modelling of the energy fluxes in the permafrost active layer (Thermal offset)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. The spatial distribution patterns of mountain permafrost is important because of the sensitivity of the upper permafrost layers with respect to decadal climatic changes. In high mountain areas, large variations of topography and thus, permafrost-related factors such as snow cover and the heterogeneity of surface material requires a form of spatial modelling to achieve a realistic picture of permafrost occurrences. Both in the Alps and the Scandinavian Mountains we have realised that knowledge of the thermal fluxes within the active layer is essential for a better understanding of the actual distribution of permafrost. Especially in view to climate change, the coupling of atmosphere with ground thermal models is only possible by an impoved understanding of the processes within the active layer. This project seeks to establish a network of ten shallow bore holes in the Eastern Swiss Alps, measuring the thermal regime in the active layer ('thermal offset'). The application of the thermal offset concept allows the distributed mapping of the mean annual top permafrost temperature, which allows us to estimate spatially distributed permafrost depths by applying standard heat conduction theory. This permits quantitatively better estimates for evaluating impact of climate warming on permafrost distribution in high-alpine environments. This project is carried out in close co-operation with the University of Oslo, Norway.
Das Projekt "Investigation of soil chronosequences of the Wind River Range (Wyoming) using geochemical mass balances and numerical dating techniques" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. Glaciers are significant agents of physical and chemical erosion; for example, the mechanical denudation of glaciated valleys in Alaska and Norway is an order of magnitude greater than that in equivalent non-glaciated basins. Knowledge about weathering rates and mineral transformation processes is fundamental in analysing the release of nutrients to ecosystems. Element losses and geochemical properties along a chronosequence in high alpine areas of the Wind River Range will be determined empirically. Samples from moraines in 3 separate regions of the mountains (high alpine above 3000m, montane forest below 3000m, and sagebrush steppe below 2100m) along 3 transects (north, middle, and southern) will be studied. Each locality consists of a catena (crest, backslope, toeslope). Stocks of organic matter will be assessed for all sites. Additionally, we focus on the time-dependent evolution of organic matter quality by applying a chemical and the physical density fractionation technique. The chemical and physical fractionation techniques will insight into the development of stable and labile organic matter and into interactions of organic matter with the mineral phase.
Das Projekt "People and Resource Dynamics in Mountain Watersheds of the Hindu Kush-Himalayas (PARDYP)" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. The Human Geography Division contributes to the scientific support of PARDYP in the field of socio-economic issues of natural resource management. PARDYP (People and Resource Dynamics Project) is a regional research project (operational in Pakistan, India, Nepal and China) based at ICIMOD (International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development) in Kathmandu, and is funded by SDC and IDRC. The project concentrates on livelihood strategies and access to natural resources. It is not only the physical availability that enables people in rural areas to sustain their livelihoods. The institutional setup (in form of laws, rules and traditions) is even more relevant in shaping the access to natural resources like forests and water. Access is understood here as the 'capability to profit' from a specific resource. With the methodological tool of comparative livelihood surveys in three countries, it is aimed to identify distinctions and similarities of livelihood strategies in remote areas of the Himalaya, including non-natural resource based activities like labour migration and trade.
Das Projekt "Frozen rock walls and climate change: transient 3-dimensional investigation of permafrost degradation" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. Permafrost in European mountains has warmed by 0.5-0.8 °C in the upper tens of meters during recent decades. This effect is connected to changes in atmospheric conditions and, in view of projected climatic change, likely to intensify in the future. A temperature-dependent reduction in rock-wall stability is hypothesised as well as demonstrated in theory and laboratory experiments. The hot summer of 2003 provided additional strong evidence for the relation of rock fall and climate change via permafrost thaw. Rock faces generally react with much quicker thaw than gentle slopes, where a high ice content can absorb much latent heat and thus slow thaw processes. The effect of 2003 was probably largely related to thaw at the permafrost table, few meters below the rock surface. However, the reaction of permafrost also includes the thermal response at greater depth that is delayed by years, decades or centuries. The corresponding knowledge basis, however, is still limited and quantitative treatment of the involved processes constitutes a primary scientific challenge in high-mountain research. The most urgent topics of research are: a) the characteristics of temperature-related instability (e.g. re-analysis of events); and b) the location of sensitive and critical zones that exhibit corresponding temperature changes (e.g. delineation of potentially hazardous zones). For both, knowledge about the temperature distribution and evolution at the surface as well as in the subsurface of rock walls is required. The special challenges in this new field of research are: a) 3-dimensional heat flow in mountain topography; b) changes in surface conditions (e.g. degrading ice faces); and c) conditions in the subsurface that could result in a thermal offset causing lower mean annual temperatures at depth than at the surface. The proposed project investigates permafrost degradation in steep mountain slopes focusing on the above three challenges. Due to the complex nature and expense of measurements, the research approach concentrates on: 1) provision of appropriate numerical models to determine 3-dimensional temperature fields in the subsurface in complex topography including energy balance at the surface and heat transfer both in the snow cover and the ground; 2) model validation using data measured near the surface as well as in shallow and deep boreholes of the PERMOS-network and the European PACE-transect; 3) numerical experimentation using idealised test cases to determine the 2- and 3-dimensional effects of permafrost degradation; and 4) transfer of experimental results to real observations, all of this leading to a synthesis of findings. Most of the required models and algorithms as well as research strategies are published and available to the project together with corresponding know-how. Equally, much of the data required for validation is available at no cost and only few measurements need to be conducted within this project. (abridged text)
Das Projekt "Schneckenbach - Runoff formation and groundwater recharge in a mountains headwater catchment with pronounced anthropogenic land-use change" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. In the Schneckenbach catchment (annual precipitation 1800 mm, 800-1050 m asl, S facing) the planned construction of a large reservoir for power production will have a significant impact on the hydrology of the catchment. The recharge zone of several wells (some are collected for public water supply) will partly or completely covered by the technical construction of a reservoir on the top of a mountain. The groundwater recharge for this region has been assessed with different methods resulting in quite different numbers of annual groundwater recharge. Partly this discrepancy could be due to an underestimation of annual precipitation, partly due to different amounts of rainfall directly transformed into runoff during a storm. In this project we aim to better understand storm runoff formation and to assess groundwater recharge. Emphasis will be placed on anthropogenic impacts such as tunnel construction, land-surface change (forest to dam/road consisting of boulder /asphalt) and reduction of recharge zones.
Das Projekt "Analysis and Spatial Modelling of Permafrost Distribution in Cold-Mountain Areas by Integration of Advanced Remote Sensing Technology" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. Glaciers and permafrost in cold mountain areas are especially sensitive with respect to changes in atmospheric temperature because of their proximity to melting conditions. The 20th century has seen striking changes in glacierized areas of mountain ranges and, hence, in the extension of glacial and periglacial mountain belts all over the world, causing a corresponding shift in geomorphodynamic processes. In the event of future accelerated warming, the cryosphere components of Alpine environments would most likely evolve at high rates beyond the limits of historical and holocene variability ranges. Such a development would necessarily lead to pronounced disequilibria in the water cycle, in mass wasting processes and sediment flux as well as in growth conditions of vegetation. By consequence, living conditions for humans and animals will likely be affected as well. Empirical knowledge would have to be replaced increasingly by improved process understanding and robust computer models for economic planning, hazard mitigation, landscape protection etc. Thereby, high priority has to be placed on application of modern know-how and technologies for preparing corresponding assessments in combination with improved knowledge about the evolution of glacier- and permafrost-related processes based on appropriate monitoring programmes. An energy balance model that calculates surface and ground temperatures from climatic data has recently been developed in the project area (Corvatsch, Upper Engadin) based on a 3-year time series from a microclimatological station. For the successful spatial application and further development of this one-dimensional model, accurate spatial data fields of key surface characteristics are needed. The development of process-based permafrost models is closely connected to the improvement of statistical models that will be applicable in areas where less information is available. For these models, accurate knowledge of vegetation abundance represents a sensitive independent indicator to be used in evaluation as well as a valuable parameter if included. The present project for the first time employs and explores airborne hyperspectral remote sensing as a source of quantitative spatial information for analysis and numerical modelling of permafrost distribution and evolution in an especially well documented test area of the Swiss Alps. The potential to accurately quantify snow-free albedo and sparse vegetation cover in rugged topography makes hyperspectral remote sensing a promising data source. Collaboration of the Physical Geography Division and Remote Sensing Laboratories (RSL) is expected to help in reducing the gap that commonly exists between development of new sensors and technology and their application in research. The application of established remote sensing techniques and, if necessary, their adaptation to high mountain environments, provides a measurable data-basis for this study. (abridged text)
Das Projekt "TEMPS-B: Ground ice and water content estimation and integrative analysis of mountain permafrost monitoring elements" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Universität Zürich, Geographisches Institut durchgeführt. Subproject B of the SNF-sinergia project TEMPS 'The Evolution of Mountain Permafrost in Switzerland' aims at a process-oriented understanding of the landform-specific sensitivity of mountain permafrost (bedrock terrain, talus slopes, rock glaciers and ice-cored moraines) to climate anomalies by performing a joint analysis of a comprehensive set of surface and subsur- face temperature, geophysical, meteorological and kinematic monitoring data from already established permafrost sites in the Swiss Alps. The project will focus on gaining a better understanding of the landform-specific dominant fac- tors responsible for changes in ice and water contents. Based on geophysical surveys and high-resolution geophysical monitoring, it is planned to systematically determine (i) the 4-phase (rock/air/ice/water) fractional composition of the ground on different landforms, (ii) their temporal changes, and (iii) their relation to changes of thermal and meteorological parameters at the same sites. A particular focus will be on analyzing the relation between the temporal changes in geophysi- cal properties of the subsurface to concurrent changes in the movement rates of rock gla- ciers to investigate the role of snow melt and groundwater for rock glacier movement.
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