Figure 7 - uploaded by Mihaela Triglav Cekada
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Areas covered by the Skuta Glacier measured using the single image interactive orientation acquisition method and field surveys and their comparison with average annual temperatures at an elevation of 2070 m, or the average elevation of the Skuta Glacier.
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The Skuta Glacier in the Kamnik–Savinja Alps (in northern Slovenia) is one of the two remaining glaciers in Slovenia. It is located in a cirque oriented toward the northwest, which shields it from sunlight for most of the year. The glacier lies at an average elevation of 2070m. In recent years, its average area has measured around 1.5 hectares. Mon...
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Context 1
... distinct decrease in the elevation of the upper edge can be observed from the early 1970s to the end of the 1990s. Changes in the glacier definitely reflect the increase in average annual temperatures (Figures 7 and 8). During the period studied, the average annual temperature at the glacier's average elevation increased from approximately −0.2 °C in 1963 to 1.7 °C in 2015. ...
Context 2
... comparison of the Skuta Glacier's area and the average annual temperature after 2003 shows that from 2008 to 2010 the glacier's area increased when the average annual temperatures were below the temperature increase trend line. However, from 2004 to 2005, when the average annual temperatures were also lower than the trend, the area was shrinking (Figure 7). The difference between the two periods results from the differences in the maximum seasonal snow cover depths on the glacier in June (Figure 9). ...
Citations
... The smaller the glacier, the stronger the impact of topography and the better the local conditions for firn and ice preservation. For example, the tiny glaciers (glacierets) Skuta and Montasio occidentale, which are situated in deep depressions and are mainly fed by avalanches, lost only about 30% from their LIA surface area (but underwent considerable thinning) [54,[59][60][61]. ...
Very small glaciers (glacierets) react strongly to climatic variations. This is well expressed in their interannual size changes, which are most evident in autumn, at the end of the glacial mass balance year. This study presents results from the detailed research of two very small glaciers in the highest northern part of the Pirin Mountains of Bulgaria: Snezhnika and Banski suhodol. Systematic size measurements of these firn-ice bodies, which started in the 1990s and have been made simultaneously for a period of 13 years, show large inter-annual amplitudes against the background of a decreasing trend in response to climate warming. However, the relations are not straightforward, which is demonstrated when comparing size changes to climate data, including logger data obtained from glacier vicinity. This fact makes predictions for the changes in the local climate of high mountain cirques still relatively uncertain.
... At present, the Triglav Glacier is one of only two remaining ice masses in Slovenia since the last extensive Pleistocene glaciation (Bavec and Verbič, 2011;Ferk et al., 2017;Triglav-Čekada et al., 2020). The retreat of the glacier has exposed a glaciokarst environment (Figs. 2, S2) comprising a range of erosional (shafts (i.e. ...
... The known extent and behaviour of the Triglav Glacier spans from the Little Ice Age (LIA), the cool-climate anomaly between the Late Middle Ages and the mid-19th century (Grove, 2004;Nussbaumer et al., 2011), to the present (Colucci, 2016;Colucci and Žebre, 2016) and is based on geomorphological remnants, historical records and systematic monitoring since 1946 (Gabrovec et al., 2014). Over the last 100 years, the glacier retreated from ca. 46 ha (extending between 2280 and 2600 m a.s.l.) to ca. 0.5 ha (between 2439 and 2501 m a.s.l.) (Fig. S1), with a downwasting rate of around 0.6 m/yr (Triglav-Čekada and Zorn, 2020). The glacier has thus evolved from the plateau type through glacieret to the present ice-patch type. ...
... The extent of the Triglav Glacier has been measured annually since 1946 and systematically photographed since 1976 (Meze, 1955;Verbič and Gabrovec, 2002;TriglavČekada and Gabrovec, 2008;Triglav-Čekada et al., 2011;Triglav-Cekada and Gabrovec, 2013;Gabrovec et al., 2014;Del Gobbo et al., 2016), using a panoramic non-metric Horizont camera. The photos were transformed from a panoramic to a central projection in order to allow the calculation of the area and estimation of the volume (Triglav-Čekada et al., 2011;Triglav-Čekada and Gabrovec, 2013;Triglav-Čekada and Zorn, 2020). The early measurement technique was by measuring tape and compass, which enabled measurement of the glacier's retreat from coloured marks on the rocks around the glacier (Meze, 1955). ...
The retreat of ice shelves and glaciers over the last century provides unequivocal evidence of recent global warming. Glacierets (miniature glaciers) and ice patches are important components of the cryosphere that highlight the global retreat of glaciers, but knowledge of their behaviour prior to the Little Ice Age is lacking. Here, we report the uranium–thorium age of subglacial carbonate deposits from a recently exposed surface previously occupied by the disappearing Triglav Glacier (southeastern European Alps) that may elucidate the glacier's presence throughout the entire Holocene. The ages suggest the deposits' possible preservation since the Last Glacial Maximum and Younger Dryas. These thin deposits, formed by regelation, are easily eroded if exposed during previous Holocene climatic optima. The age data indicate the glacier's present unprecedented level of retreat since the Last Glacial Maximum and the potential of subglacial carbonates as additional proxies to highlight the extraordinary nature of the current global climatic changes.
The Slovenian climate has undergone significant fluctuations, and an understanding of the past climate is necessary to improve models and recognise long-term patterns. The cryosphere environment, such as ice core samples, provides valuable palaeoclimate data. Palynology and dendroclimatology are also effective ways to study long-term changes in vegetation and reconstruct past climates using pollen and tree proxies. Sediment cores from various locations in Slovenia have been studied to understand past environmental changes. Borehole temperature profiles as well as historical records were also used to reconstruct past climate conditions. Studies have shown specific periods when climatic changes likely played a major role, but a complete timeline of the Slovenian climate throughout the Holocene has not yet been fully developed.
The snowfield in Skedenj under Prisojnik can be observed from one of the most crowded Alpine locations by tourists in Slovenia, from the Lake Jasna. That's why, based on old photographs, postcards and our own photos, we have examined how its surface has changed over time. We looked at the long-term changes over several years, from 1906 to 2022, and the changes within the two melting seasons, i.e., over summers 2021 and 2022. The interactive method of orientation was used to process each photograph, also known as monoplotting. In total we used: 26 photographs or postcards, two Badjura’s maps of the Julian Alps from 1913 and 1922, five orthophotos of Cyclic Aerial Photographing of Slovenia and one national laser scanning from 2014. From 2007 to the present, the area of the snowfield at the end of August or mid-September is between 3 and 0.1 ha. The largest areas between 14.9 and 9.4 ha were measured in the period 1906 to 1956, but for these we do not know if postcards or maps of that time really show the snowfield at the end of the melting season.
The book Preteklost in prihodnost ('The past and the future') is the sixteenth volume in the GIS v Sloveniji (GIS in Slovenia) book series and commemorates its 30th anniversary. The goal of the volume is to present the wide variety of research findings on geographical information systems in Slovenia in recent years. Powerful geoinformatic tools and precise data facilitate research on processes and phenomena, and their modelling. The volume presents project outputs and research results in areas such as geology, geomorphology, hydrology, pedology, agriculture, natural disasters, environmental protection, geography, surveying, archaeology, transport, telecommunication infrastructure, tourism, cultural heritage, education, cartography, geographical names, remote sensing, and others. Readers discover new features regarding the applicability of geographical information systems and learn about interesting research findings in many areas.
The book Preteklost in prihodnost ('The past and the future') is the sixteenth volume in the GIS v Sloveniji (GIS in Slovenia) book series and commemorates its 30th anniversary. The goal of the volume is to present the wide variety of research findings on geographical information systems in Slovenia in recent years. Powerful geoinformatic tools and precise data facilitate research on processes and phenomena, and their modelling. The volume presents project outputs and research results in areas such as geology, geomorphology, hydrology, pedology, agriculture, natural disasters, environmental protection, geography, surveying, archaeology, transport, telecommunication infrastructure, tourism, cultural heritage, education, cartography, geographical names, remote sensing, and others. Readers discover new features regarding the applicability of geographical information systems and learn about interesting research findings in many areas.
The book Preteklost in prihodnost ('The past and the future') is the sixteenth volume in the GIS v Sloveniji (GIS in Slovenia) book series and commemorates its 30th anniversary. The goal of the volume is to present the wide variety of research findings on geographical information systems in Slovenia in recent years. Powerful geoinformatic tools and precise data facilitate research on processes and phenomena, and their modelling. The volume presents project outputs and research results in areas such as geology, geomorphology, hydrology, pedology, agriculture, natural disasters, environmental protection, geography, surveying, archaeology, transport, telecommunication infrastructure, tourism, cultural heritage, education, cartography, geographical names, remote sensing, and others. Readers discover new features regarding the applicability of geographical information systems and learn about interesting research findings in many areas.
V članku so predstavljene posebnosti fotografij, posnetih s pametnimi telefoni in njihov potencial za zbiranje prostovoljnih geografskih informacij. Ločljivost in jasnost fotografij, posnetih s pametnim telefonom, je danes že enakovredna fotografijam posnetih s kompaktnimi digitalnimi fotoaparati, hkrati pa omogočajo sprotno shranjevanje lokacije fotografiranja. Na primeru obdelave posamezne fotografije s pomočjo interaktivne orientacije, so te prednosti ovrednotene z vidika njihovega potenciala za fotogrametrični zajem, ob ažuriranju topografskih kart. Kljub dobrim potencialom, pa na koncu obseg zornega polja fotografije odloča o tem ali bomo iz take fotografije lahko izmerili merske 3R-prostorske podatke. This article presents the characteristics of smartphone images and their potential for collecting the volunteered geographic information. Today the smartphone image quality is equivalent to those taken with compact digital cameras, and they allow the real-time storage of the location from where the image was taken. Taking the example of processing a single image by using interactive orientation, these advantages are evaluated in terms of their potential for photogrammetric measurements when updating topographic maps. Despite the promising potential, the field of view extent of an image ultimately determines whether we will be able to extract metric spatial 3D data from such an image.
The Triglav Glacier in the Julian Alps and the Skuta Glacier in the Kamnik-Savinja Alps are among the south-easternmost glaciers in the Alps. Historical data show that ice masses are undergoing mass loss as the overall climate warms. Glacier ice and cave ice contain a wealth of paleoclimatic information, and rapid sampling is needed if any such information is to be saved before the ice is completely melted. We present the first comprehensive geochemical and water isotope data from glacier ice, meltwater, spring water, and cave ice in the Mount Triglav area and glacier ice from the Skuta Glacier. The samples primarily reflect the initial precipitation signal that has been greatly modified by the input of local CaCO3-rich dust with lesser amounts of marine aerosol and vegetation debris.
Various geodetic and lidar measurements performed on the Triglav Glacier (Julian Alps, Slovenia) make it possible to study not only the extent of the glacier but also changes in its thickness and volume. These measurements also make it possible to calculate the geodetic mass balance of the glacier. Thickness and volume changes were calculated using glacier area measurements from 1952, 1975, and 1992, and annually between 1999 and 2016. The mean thickness decreased from 39.2m in 1952 to 2.45m in 2012. The maximum thickness decreased from 48.3 m in 1952 to 5.2 m in 2007. The mean specific mass balance was calculated for the area of 1 hectare that the glacier covered in 2016. From 1952 to 2016, the annual specific mass balance was −0.45m w.e.a−1.
