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Kaunertal (Extensive)

Operator: Institut für Interdisziplinäre Gebirgsforschung der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften
DEIMS-SDR Database: Kaunertal
ContactAndrea Fischer

Site description

The LTER site Kaunertal reaches from the glaciated peak of the Weißseespitze (3600 m) to the Gepatschferner, the second-biggest Austrian glacier, down to the community of Kaunertal. The Gepatschferner is one of the most thoroughly studied glaciers in Austria, with a chronology of advances and retreats that covers the Holocene.

Comprehensive data also exist on changes in the tree line and the distribution of permafrost and rock glaciers. Run-off and mass balance data on the glacier and detailed studies on the geomorphology of the glacier forefield and the role of biota for sediment mobilization complement the studies in the glaciated catchment area. In 2023 we started a project on butterfly monitoring. In 2021 the community of Kaunertal created a museum dedicated to research.

Publications


  • Helfricht, K., M. Huss, A. Fischer and J.-C. Otto (2019) Calibrated ice thickness estimate for all glaciers in Austria. Front. Earth Sci.

  • Stocker-Waldhuber, M., Fischer, A., Helfricht, K., and Kuhn, M.: Long-term records of glacier surface velocities in the Ötztal Alps (Austria). Earth Syst. Sci. Data, 11, 705-715, 2019.

  • Fischer, A. and G. Markl, (2009): Mass balance measurements on Hintereisferner, Kesselwandferner and Jamtalferner 2003 to 2006: database and results. Zeitschrift für Gletscherkunde und Glazialgeologie, 42/1, 47­83.

  • Abermann J., Schneider H. & Lambrecht A. (2007): Analysis of surface elevation changes on Kesselwand glacier. Comparison of different methods, Zeitschrift für Gletscherkunde und Glazialgeologie, Band 41, Seite 147­167.