2020
DOI: 10.1007/s00767-020-00455-x
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Active rock glaciers as shallow groundwater reservoirs, Austrian Alps

Abstract: Rock glaciers are the most prominent landforms of alpine permafrost and comprise complex shallow aquifer systems in (high) alpine catchments. Recession analyses of groundwater discharge of four active rock glaciers that contain permafrost ground ice show that they have a base flow component of the order of a few liters per second, similar to that of a relict rock glacier in which permafrost ground ice is absent. This is related to an unfrozen (fine-grained) base layer with a thickness of about 10 m. Based on a… Show more

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Cited by 31 publications
(110 citation statements)
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“…Their solute concentrations exhibit an asymptotic behaviour as summer progresses, and drop as a function of snowmelt cycles and rainfall events (Figure 8a). The Solda rock glacier lays on steep slopes and this might promote a quick water routing across a steep sub-permafrost aquifer (according to Wagner et al, 2020). An efficient mixing of this groundwater baseflow with the rainfall/snowmelt water (which has previously crossed the unsaturated layer by lateral flow) would result in the solute dilution that we observed at the spring after rainfall events and snowmelt cycles.…”
Section: Potential Drivers Of Contrasting Hydrological Patterns In Rock Glacier Outflowsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Their solute concentrations exhibit an asymptotic behaviour as summer progresses, and drop as a function of snowmelt cycles and rainfall events (Figure 8a). The Solda rock glacier lays on steep slopes and this might promote a quick water routing across a steep sub-permafrost aquifer (according to Wagner et al, 2020). An efficient mixing of this groundwater baseflow with the rainfall/snowmelt water (which has previously crossed the unsaturated layer by lateral flow) would result in the solute dilution that we observed at the spring after rainfall events and snowmelt cycles.…”
Section: Potential Drivers Of Contrasting Hydrological Patterns In Rock Glacier Outflowsmentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Between the permafrost body and the bedrock an ice-free sediment layer is present, which is 10 -15 m thick. This unfrozen sediment layer is interpreted to represent a shallow groundwater storage responsible for base flow even during winter (Wagner et al, 2020a).…”
Section: Study Areamentioning
confidence: 99%
“…Rock glaciers, moraines and talus slopes as the most important alpine coarse-grained sediment deposits may play a critical role in providing groundwater discharge in alpine catchments (besides highly fractured or karstified bedrock aquifers) that sustain baseflow in larger river systems further downstream (Hayashi, 2020). Intact, particularly active rock glaciers on the one hand may store hydrologically valuable ice volumes (Jones et al, 2018) and on the other hand act as shallow groundwater storages or reservoirs in alpine headwaters (Jones et al, 2019;Wagner et al, 2020a;Winkler et al, 2016Winkler et al, , 2018. To fully recognize the hydrological cycle in alpine regions, shallow groundwater systems such as rock glaciers need to be better understood in the light of climate change as these water storages / buffers are expected to be more resilient than e.g.…”
Section: Introductionmentioning
confidence: 99%
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