Snow accumulation and ice flow at Dôme du Goûter (4300 m), Mont Blanc, French Alps

Vincent, Christian; Vallon, M.; Pinglot, J. F.; Funk, M.; Reynaud, Louis

doi:10.3189/s0022143000035127

Cited by 17 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The Dôme du Goûter glacier bed is very rough with relatively deep, short, and narrow gullies. The ice thickness in this area ranges from 45 m to 140 m. The field methods used to obtain accumulation, velocity and bedrock topography data have been fully described by Vincent et al [1997].…”

Section: Description Of Available Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…and the summit of Mont Blanc (4808 m a.s.l) (Figure 1), have been investigated using field observations and old maps. At the altitude of Dôme du Goûter, the mean annual air temperature is À11°C as inferred from ice temperatures at a depth of 30 m [Vincent et al, 1997;Suter, 2002]. Melting is close to zero and snow accumulation occurs throughout the year [Vincent et al, 1997].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Between 1986 and 2004, several deep ice cores were drilled in the vicinity of Dôme du Goûter for geochemical purposes [e.g., Preunkert et al, 2000;Preunkert et al, 2001]. To interpret these ice cores, respective accumulation rates and ice flow velocities were measured in this area [Vincent et al, 1997]. For this purpose, 20-35 m long stakes were set up between 1993 and 2004 ( Figure 2).…”

Section: Description Of Available Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[6] Radio echo soundings were made in June 1993 and completed in 1999 on Dôme du Goûter ice cap in order to determine the bedrock topography [Vincent et al, 1997 Zurich, 1993;S. Suter, unpublished data, 1999].…”

Section: Description Of Available Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At the altitude of Dôme du Goûter, the mean annual air temperature is À11°C as inferred from ice temperatures at a depth of 30 m [Vincent et al, 1997;Suter, 2002]. Melting is close to zero and snow accumulation occurs throughout the year [Vincent et al, 1997]. Although some melting can occur in summer, it is limited to the top few millimeters of the snow pack.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Very high‐elevation Mont Blanc glaciated areas not affected by the 20th century climate change

et al. 2007

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[1] This paper analyses the impact of climate change over the last 100 years on highelevation glaciated areas of the Mont Blanc range, comprising ice fields covering the top of the Mont Blanc (4808 m) and Dôme du Goûter (4300 m) areas. Surface ablation is negligible for these high-elevation areas and the surface mass balance is mainly controlled by snow accumulation. At Dôme du Goûter, ice fluxes have been calculated through two transversal sections by two independent methods in order to assess long-term surface accumulation. A comparison between these results and recent accumulation observations, together with the strong relationship between valley precipitation and snow accumulation, suggests that surface accumulation rates did not change significantly over the entire 20th century. Moreover, the small ice thickness changes, less than 3 m on the average, observed at Mont Blanc and Dôme du Goûter between 1905 and 2005 clearly reveal that these high-elevation glaciated areas have not been significantly affected by climate change over the last 100 years.

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Section: Description Of Available Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Description Of Available Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Description Of Available Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Very high‐elevation Mont Blanc glaciated areas not affected by the 20th century climate change

et al. 2007

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A 3‐D thermal regime model suitable for cold accumulation zones of polythermal mountain glaciers

et al. 2014

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Analysis of the thermal and mechanical response of high altitude glaciers to climate change is crucial to assess future glacier hazards associated with thermal regime changes. This paper presents a new fully thermo-mechanically coupled transient thermal regime model including enthalpy transport, firn densification, full-Stokes porous flow, free surface evolution, strain heating, surface meltwater percolation, and refreezing. The model is forced by daily air temperature data and can therefore be used to perform prognostic simulations for different future climate scenarios. The set of equations is solved using the finite element ice sheet/ice flow model Elmer/Ice. This model is applied to the Col du Dôme glacier (Mont Blanc area, 4250 m a.s.l., France) where a comprehensive data set is available. The results show that the model is capable of reproducing observed density and velocity fields as well as borehole temperature evolution. The strong spatial variability of englacial temperature change observed at Col du Dôme is well reproduced. This spatial variability is mainly a result of the variability of the slope aspect of the glacier surface and snow accumulation. Results support the use of this model to study the influence of climate change on cold accumulation zones, in particular to estimate where and under what conditions glaciers will become temperate in the future.

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Constraints on the major sources of dissolved organic carbon in Alpine ice cores from radiocarbon analysis over the bomb‐peak period

et al. 2013

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[1] Radiocarbon ( 14 C) has proven to be a powerful tool in distinguishing modern and fossil fuel sources contributing to organic aerosols. By applying this concept to ice core records of the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) fraction, we developed a setup dedicated to the extraction of DOC from Alpine ice core samples for 14 C microanalysis. With respect to the difficulties and limitations of this analytical method, it is shown that a total process blank mass of (6 AE 3) mgC with a 14 C signature of (0.71 AE 0.17) can be obtained, corresponding to a minimum sample size between 200 g for industrial and 800 g for pre-industrial ice. Radiocarbon analyses of eight DOC ice core samples from the high accumulation glacier Col du Dôme (European Alps) were mainly performed over the bomb-peak period. These data, being associated with snow deposition over the summer half-years, show an overall mean fossil contribution of (25 AE 9) %. Adaptation of the DO 14 C values to the atmospheric 14 CO 2 record revealed that the biogenic input to ice core DOC is associated with a fast recycling biospheric component, likely linked to a turnover time of less than 3 years.Citation: May, B., D. Wagenbach, H. Hoffmann, M. Legrand, S. Preunkert, and P. Steier (2013), Constraints on the major sources of dissolved organic carbon in Alpine ice cores from radiocarbon analysis over the bomb-peak period,

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Snow accumulation and ice flow at Dôme du Goûter (4300 m), Mont Blanc, French Alps

Cited by 17 publications

References 14 publications

Very high‐elevation Mont Blanc glaciated areas not affected by the 20th century climate change

Very high‐elevation Mont Blanc glaciated areas not affected by the 20th century climate change

A 3‐D thermal regime model suitable for cold accumulation zones of polythermal mountain glaciers

Constraints on the major sources of dissolved organic carbon in Alpine ice cores from radiocarbon analysis over the bomb‐peak period

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