Melting Giants – Hintereisferner with glaciologist Lindsey Nicholson
I think it is always important to listen to scientists, as they are specialists in their field of research and know it best. So in August, I had the chance to accompany glaciologist Lindsey Nicholson on a field trip to Hintereisferner to collect data and do field work. Hintereisferner is a typical alpine valley glacier with a long, pronounced tongue.
I think it is always important to listen to scientists, as they are specialists in their field of research and know it best. So in August, I had the chance to accompany glaciologist Lindsey Nicholson on a field trip to Hintereisferner to collect data and do field work. Hintereisferner is a typical alpine valley glacier with a long, pronounced tongue.
The format of this blog post is a little bit different this time. Most of the infos are in the captions of the images. So take your time and read it all. :)
View over the tongue of Hintereisferner towards the valley. The glacier is one of the biggest in Tyrol.
A glacier as a laboratory
Research at the Hintereisferner has a long history. Since over 100 years, glaciologist have observed and analysed the ice giant. That is why it has been classified as one of the key “reference glaciers’” by the World Glacier Monitoring Service. The main focus is on measuring the mass balance of the glacier each year. Scientists of the University of Innsbruck measure the melting of ice, called ablation, during the summer months and the addition of snow on the ice, called accumulation, during the winter. In addition, Hintereisferner is also serving as an Open Air Laboratory.
Meet Lindsey Nicholson
Lindsey has a Ph.D. in Glaciology, is Assistant Professor at the Department of Atmospheric and Cryospheric Sciences (ACINN) at the University of Innsbruck, is a co-founder of Girls on Ice, has worked on glaciers all around the world and has published several academic papers. Together with her colleague Rainer Prinz, she is responsible for the data collection for the mass balance of Hintereisferner.
About half way to Hintereisferner. About 100 years ago this valley was still filled with ice, as Lindsey explains to us.
It's a long way to the glacier, but we can finally see the ice in the distance. In case you are wondering: The wooden sticks are used for the ablation stakes to measure the melting.
In 1979 the glacier ended here, today the end is in the far distance.
At glacier's end.
We are on the glacier, even though it does not look like it. Beneath the layer of rocks is ice. The first several hundred meters of the Hintereisferner's tongue are covered with this debris.
We reached the uncovered ice. Now it's only ice beneath our feet for a few kilometres.
An ablation stake. One stick is two meters long. 5 sticks are connected together and placed in a 10 meter deep hole in the ice. Two sticks have melted out, thus the glacier lost 4 meters of thickness at this location. In November, Lindsey told me that at the last data collection in September 2024, the stick had melted out further, resulting in a total loss of ice thickness of 5.5 metres in just one year.
The loss of ice varies, depending on where you are on the glacier. Of course the ice in lower elevations melts faster. But also the ice close to the mountain slopes on each side of the glacier melts faster.
Lindsey measures how much of an ablation stake has melted out of the ice. By the way, during a hot summer day, between 10 to 20 cm of ice can melt.
All measurements are written down. Every stake has an identification number.
The vastness of Hintereisferner
After a successful first day on the glacier, we hiked up to a small hut, which the University of Innsbruck had installed for the scientists at over 3.000 meters above sea level. It is a basic shelter with no running water and no electricity, however the views over the Hintereisferner are incredible.
The view from the hut.
The next day started earlier. Sunrise over Hintereisferner.
Heading back down to the glacier to redrill ablation stakes and collect data.
Out of balance?
At this point, you might ask yourself, what the heck is a mass balance? Simply put, it is the difference between the ice gained during winter and the ice lost in summer. So a negative mass balance means that the glacier is losing ice and is receding. The ACINN calculates the mass balance for the Hintereisferner every year based on the data collected. Since 1985 the glacier had only negative mass balances. The year 2022/23 was the third worst since the start of measuring in 1953. It is clear that the glacier is clearly not doing well and is melting away more and more. I won’t bother you with more scientific terms or numbers, but if you are interested in that, have a look at the website of ACINN. The complete report for this year (2023/24) should be available soon. The total mass balance of 2023/24 was -1100 kg/m2. This corresponds to a loss of glacier ice equal to a 110 cm thick layer of water on the entire glacier surface. According to glaciologist Rainer Prinz the Glacier Loss Day 2024 of Hintereisferner was around 10th August 2024. The Glacier Loss Day marks the day a glacier has lost all the mass gained during the previous winter and from now on melts constantly. It serves as an indicator of a glacier’s health and is comparable to the Earth Overshoot Day.
A satellite image of Hintereisferner from 28.08.2024. The glacier is almost snow-free. Only the top parts have some snow cover left. Sadly, this is the new normal for our glaciers in the alps. They are out of balance and cannot form enough new ice to compensate for their losses in summer. Normally at least 1/3 to ½ of the glacier should be still covered with snow at this time of the year. © Sentinel Hub EO Browser
This futuristic design is the steam drill that used to melt holes in the ice. Water is filled in the container and heated with gas to create steam.
The hose used to make the holes for the ablation stakes. The steam comes out at the tip.
The drilling takes some time. First you have to wait until pressure is high enough, then the hose is slowly melting its way in the ice.
Almost there. 10 meter (marker on the hose) deep holes are melted into the ice, then 5 wooden sticks, each two meter long, are connected with plastic tubes and inserted into the hole.
Checking the weather station on Hintereisferner.
Another ablation measurement device, that uses sonic waves and needs to be redrilled, so that it does not melted out. It measures the distance between the small, black device on the crossbar and the ice surface. During summer, the ice melts and distance between the surface and the crossbar grows. The data is stored on a memory card in the box on the right.
Changing memory cards.
After the redrilling, Lindsey measures the difference between the sonic waves sensor and the ice surface.
Measuring another ablation stake. Again over 4 meters of ice loss.
Crossing small streams on the ice.
Two long days are coming to an end. However, there is still a 11 kilometre hike back the valley. With the last sun rays of the day, we reach the car park.
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Melting Giants – Construction site: Glacier Ski Resort
Visiting a glacier ski resort during summer feels like being on a huge construction site.
If you visit a glacier ski resort during summer, it feels like being on a huge construction site. Big trucks loaded with boulders and dirt driving up and down the mountain, excavators removing huge boulders and levelling slopes. Blasting work is also common. Why? Because the retreating glaciers are leaving big rocks and dirt behind, which need to be removed and levelled to create safe skiing slopes. Additionally even glacier ski resorts now need to build reservoirs for snowmaking. Lastly, at the end of summer, you can find excavators on the glacier, digging up the ice to bury the lift posts, that melted out of the ice during the summer heat. Or they use the ice to fill up crevasses.
Melting Giants – Retreat of Lüsener Ferner (2016-2024)
During the last years, I have visited the Lüsener Ferner several times and have witnessed its retreat due to climate change. Take a look how the glacier has changed.
The Lüsener Ferner is the second largest glacier in the Stubai Alps and currently (as of 08.2024) covers an area of around 2.6 square kilometres, with a downward trend. It is located in the Sellraintal valley and can only be reached via challenging alpine trails. It stretches from just under 2,750 metres to over 3,200 metres and is a good three kilometres long. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find information on the thickness of the ice. In a study from 2010 (https://doi.org/10.3189/2013AoG64A108), I was able to find an average value for the ice thickness of 58 metres, but take that one with caution.
Although the glacier faces north-east, the ice surface is exposed to the sun for a large part of the day in summer, as the surrounding mountains are only up to 300 to 400 metres higher. As a result, a lot of ice is melting on hot, sunny summer days.
View of the Lüsener Ferner, 20.08.2024. Almost no snow left on the ice.
Since 2016, a person I don't know has been screwing a metal plate with the year onto the edge of the ice every year at the beginning of September. This makes it easy to follow the retreat of the glacier without having to be there every year. Many thanks at this point to this person. If anyone knows the person, please let me know, I would like to take a photo of him/her putting up the sign.
I have a personal connection to the Lüsener Ferner myself, as it was the first really big ice giant that I marvelled at. In October 2018, I stood on the top of the Rinnenspitze and looked down onto the vast ice. Since that day, glaciers have held a special fascination for me. In 2022, I climbed up from the Sellraintal valley to the end of the glacier for the first time and have been there every year since. During the last years, I have witnessed the melting of the ice up close. In the following, I will show you the steady retreat of the glacier with photos from recent years.
Unfortunately, I was unable to find any official numbers on the decline, as the glacier is apparently not measured annually. As you can see in the following pictures, the Lüsener Ferner has lost both length and thickness in recent years. It is remarkable that it has lost a good one to two metres in ice thickness every summer since 2021. If you now consider that the average ice thickness at the beginning of the 2000s was around 58 metres, then it is easy to calculate how quickly large parts of the glacier will disappear if the melting continues at a rate like that. Another eyeopening observation is that in recent years the ice has been completely free of snow at the end of the summer, with very few small exceptions. No snow on the ice means that no new ice can form. The glacier is completely out of balance and is ‘dying’, so to speak.
The first two pairs of images show the change between 2018 and 2024. The left-hand images were taken on 17 October 2018 from the top of the Rinnenspitze, the right-hand images on 20 August 2024 from the same perspective.
The following photos show the loss of thickness and length of the Lüsener Ferner up close from the edge of the ice.
At the beginning of September 2023, the sign with the red 23 was attached to the edge of the ice. Just about a year later, on 29 August 2024, almost 2 metres of ice thickness had melted.
At the beginning of September 2021 (sign), the ice still reached as far as this sign. On 29 August 2024 (photo taken), you now have to climb down several metres to reach the edge of the ice.
There is an estimated height difference of a good 5 metres between the ice edge in September 2022 (sign) and 29 August 2024 (photo taken).
Since the sign was installed in September 2023, over 2 metres of ice have melted at another location, as of 29 August 2024.
September 2018 (sign) vs. 29. August 2024, when the photo was taken.
In September 2016 the edge of the glacier was right here at the sign. Now, 8 years later, the ice has retreated quite a bit. The photo was taken on 29. August 2024.
At a different place at the glacier, there is another sign from September 2016. This photo is from September 2023, so seven years difference.
Standing where the ice was in September 2020 and looking towards the glacier. Photo was taken 29.08.2024.
Standing where the ice was in September 2021 and looking towards the glacier. Photo was taken 29.08.2024.
A few meters difference between September 2023 (sign) and where the ice is now (29.08.2024).
One year difference: September 2022 (sign) vs 10.09.2023 (photo taken)
A few years ago, the ice was still above the hill on the left. The photo was taken on 10.08.2023, standing on the ice.
Melting Giants – Covered
In late June 2023 my friend Christopher and I visited the Rhone Glacier in Switzerland to take photos for the Melting Giants project. At this glacier, geotextiles are used to delay the melting of the ice. These textiles on the glacier create a surreal landscape, showcasing our helplessness with climate change.
In late June 2023 my friend Christopher and I visited the Rhone Glacier in Switzerland to take photos for the Melting Giants project.
At this glacier, geotextiles are used to delay the melting of the ice. This method is only suitable for small areas to delay melting.
These textiles are not a sustainable solution nor will they prevent the glacier from eventually melting.
Geotextiles are used for economic reasons, so that ski resorts have enough snow to open early or that there is still an ice cave to visit at the Rhone Glacier. They won‘t save a glacier!
However, these textiles on the glacier create a surreal landscape, showcasing our helplessness with climate change.
Here are a few photos from that day.
Enjoy :)
